2006 Week 3, Cold, Rain, and Sunshine

This has been a fun but crazy week.  The news cycle from home continues to be chaotic, the weather swings from cold to rainy to sunny and back again, and the building is abuzz with 91 new faces whose names and stories we are slowly learning.

Every semester there are always a bunch of students with the same first names--last semester, for instance, there were 3 Hyrums--but this semester takes the cake!  We have duplicates of Sam, Ben, Jack, Caroline, Julia, Liz, Megan, Chloe, and Bekah.  Then there's Ellie & Ella, Madison & Madi, Elissa & Alyssa; not to mention Katelyn, Caitlyn, Katie and 2 Kates; Grace, Gracie and Gracen; 3 Andrews and a Drew!  That's forty percent of the student group with overlapping names!  

But we'll get there little by little.  By the end of last semester, each of those Hyrums had their own unique identity, and eventually all of this semester's duplicates will be disambiguated, too.  

As many times as we have been here, there are always new places we haven't seen or old places we have forgotten.  On a free day, Frank and I drove to the Tayelet ("tie-YELL-et"), which is the crest of a hill south of Jerusalem where Abraham probably got his first good look at Mount Moriah.  On this hill is the location of the UN headquarters, a portion of the ancient Roman aqueduct which once carried water from Bethlehem to the Temple Mount, as well as the starting point for a 731 meter long zipline - nearly half a mile.  I have not tried the zipline, but I hear it has a great view.  

From the Tayelet looking north you can see the old city as well as the Mount of Olives.  We walked a little further east past the U.N. building, and from the top of the hill you can see all the way to Bethlehem and the Herodion, (Herod's hilltop fortress/monument to himself/tomb).  I always wonder if these hilltop fortresses were intentionally within sight of each other.  There are records of ancient Jews using beacon fires from hilltops to relay a signal to northern communities that the new moon had been seen, which was important for the beginning of a new lunar month. 

This tall iron sculpture is called the Tolerance Monument.  It is located near the U.N. building and depicts an olive tree growing between two halves of a split column.  This was the artist's expression of hope that divided communities could be bridged or healed over time.

Over the Christmas break I sat in on another art lesson taught by Shulamit Near, which is always a treat!  In one sense, an art lesson is all about the excuse to practice.  But in another sense, I learn so much from watching Shulamit and her students and getting instruction and feedback. I started on a charcoal copy of Michelangelo's Delphic Sibyl, using a grid for composition.  By the time I was working on shading, I had moved this eye three times, erasing and redrawing it a few millimeters up or to the right. It's not finished yet, but I hope to literally go back to the drawing board soon.  

 

We had a very cold and rainy outing this week!  We took students to the Garden Tomb and the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.  I was grateful for the raincoat and gloves and every bit of shelter we could rest under.  The Garden Tomb is always a lovely place to visit, and considering we were discussion the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, a somewhat dismal day seemed just about right.  Behind us is the hill with caves that resemble a skull.  A busy road ran by here in the time of Jesus just as it does today, only today there is a bus depot here.  

Crucifixion was brutal, a form of torture as well as a message of deterrence for others who might resist Roman authority.  So being near a busy area outside the city gate is a vivid but accurate way to imagine how humiliating it would be for Jesus to be crucified at a place where throngs of people would be forced to witness the horrible sight.  

Our Garden Tomb guide from Brazil reminded us that the burial of Jesus was in a new, rock-cut tomb near a garden.  In this part of the world, a garden meant a place for olive trees or grapevines or some other agricultural commodity that grows here.  Not far from the tomb there is a deep cistern and an ancient wine press.  In addition, the caretakers have filled this site with lovely flowers and trees.  So in ancient and modern ways, this is a wonderful place to imagine the Savior's  followers bringing his body here to rest among his creations after his final mortal ordeal.

You can imagine the mourners preparing the body of Jesus Christ in the main chamber of the tomb, then resting his linen-wrapped body on one of the rock-cut benches that would have been off to the right.

The benches have since been broken, so you can see the cavity below the bench.  This is the type of tomb used in the 7th or 8th century BC.  So actually in Jesus' time they would have had niches to put the wrapped body in, as benches had fallen out of fashion.  

Jewish burials did not include embalming (except in unusual cases like Joseph's father Jacob in Egypt) so the body would be wrapped laid on the rock within the tomb, and the door would be closed.  This process happened within 24 hours.  Then the family would mourn for a seven-day period called "shiva."  

The Jewish custom of rapid burial and sitting shiva still continues to this day.  For the death of a parent, mourning continues for a year, and for other relatives, 30 days is the accepted time to refrain from joyful social occasions and say extra prayers, if they are observant.  Often the headstone will be installed on the anniversary of the death.

In antiquity, another ritual happened on the anniversary:  the surviving family members would return to the tomb, gather the bones of their loved ones (the flesh would have decomposed by this time), and either put them in an ossuary (a stone box, see below), or move their remains to the cavity under the bench where other family bones would be lying. This secondary burial would free up space for future burials.  This illuminates the phrase "being gathered to their fathers" (2 Kings 22:20), although in a larger sense, that phrase also meant that a person's soul goes to join their loved ones who predecease them in the realm of spirits.   This secondary burial practice may be what the disciple of Jesus meant when he said he needed time to bury his father before following Jesus (Matt. 8:21-22; Luke 9:59-60). 

Here is an ossuary, used anciently in the "secondary burial" customs described above.  They are usually about 2 feet long, a foot tall, and 10 inches wide, and can be seen in museums and in several locations on the Mount of Olives.  

Back to my point about how the Garden Tomb provides a visually appealing backdrop for the story of Jesus:  In the Garden Tomb you can easily imagine the apostles running through a garden to the tomb, bending down to look in, seeing the linen cloth for the head folded together off by itself.  We heard that the doorway was lower in ancient times, which means that the rock that closed the opening wouldn't have had to be 6 feet in diameter, but maybe only 4 feet in diameter.  Then it would have been able to be moved by one or two people.  Or a few angels.  I put a photo of a rolling stone later in this post.

This type of tomb was not new in the time of Jesus, but it was clearly considered special by ancient Greek-speaking Christians in Byzantine times, as evidenced by the red writing on the wall.  "IC XC" stands for Jesus Christ, as does the Alpha-Omega symbol and the cross.  

Gaye Strathearn told the students about her first time visiting the Garden Tomb as a young person, and the impact this place had on her testimony of Jesus Christ.  Students were grateful that the rain let up a bit as they took their first look inside this very special place.

In this setting, it's easy to imagine Mary weeping outside the tomb and mistaking Jesus for the gardener.  This feels like the perfect place to see a gardener just meandering through. And this is a beautiful place to picture Jesus, the Lord of Creation, full of majesty, telling Mary that he has a new role now, a different relationship than before.  

Jesus told Mary, “Touch me not, [the JST says "Hold me not"], for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God"  (John 20:17).  Many people suggest that Mary was already holding him in love or in disbelief that he was resurrected.  What an incredible moment that must have been!  

This is definitely an empty tomb. Wherever tomb it was Jesus was buried in, it could not keep him inside! 

I am grateful for the hope of a future resurrection, for the chance to see my sister Robyn who is waiting in heaven.  I can't wait to hold her and dance with her someday!  I am grateful for second chances and repentance paid for by Jesus Christ, and I am committed to using those second chances he offers to try again.  And again.  And I'm grateful for the hope of spending an eternity with this guy!  

Our second stop of this rainy day outing was the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.  Pictures can't do justice to the size and scale of this place, its ubiquitous ornamentation, and the many ways people express their devotion within these walls.  Here, you can see people praying by the stone of anointing.  In the far distance people were lighting candles. Up the stairs, people were kneeling to touch the surface of the ancient bedrock commemorating the site of crucifixion.  

We walked around the corridor, looking at various chapels. 

Mauro Properzi explained that in Catholic and Orthodox traditions, holy sites are venerated by covering them, building a church over them, then building chapels or altars as a place to focus the visitor's devotion.   This is slightly different than, say, the approach to church history sites held sacred by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.   When we visited Palmyra, Kirtland, and Nauvoo this summer, we saw many sites where an effort was made to return the site to its original appearance.  

The churches and temples were built near these sites, but not on top of them.  

The Armenian chapel is usually dimly lit, but while we stood there, a man turned on the light switch.  How nice!  

This is the Armenian chapel in the lower floor of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.  The paintings and mosaics tell the story of Noah and the ark, as well as prominent churches in Armenia.  The Armenians have a close connection to the ark and Mount Ararat, including it in their national coat of arms even though the mountain is currently within the borders of Turkey.   

This picture shows the Cenacle, which means little room, or shrine housing the tomb of Jesus.  Here you can see how the tomb has been encased in marble.  A lofty dome lets in natural light and keeps out the weather, for which we were very grateful on this rainy, windy day.  

Although the Church of the Holy Sepulcher makes it harder to picture a garden, a rock-cut tomb, or reverent mourners stooping to look through the doorway, there are archaeological remains of first century tombs within the church.  (First century means the near the time of Jesus).  There is also evidence of a nearby garden.  The decor is different that what we might be used to for worship spaces, but this is a neat place to see how centuries of pilgrims have celebrated the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Paintings with silver or gold leaf, mosaics, candles, lamps, all are part of how Christians have sanctified this space.

We walked back through a city full of puddles.  

Later that same week, we explored the Hinnom valley and areas west of the old city.  We started at the YMCA, which was designed with Hebrew, Arabic, Aramaic, and German inscriptions, Biblically meaningful numbers such as 12 cedar trees and 40 columns, and a replica of the Madaba map in its entryway.  (The Madaba map is a famous ancient mosaic that showed pilgrims how to navigate the Holy Land.)  One inscription on the northern part of the building said, "In essentials, unity, in non-essentials, liberty, in all things, charity."  This quote was by a German theologian in the 17th century and has resonated over the years with many Protestant Christian groups. 

Across the street from the YMCA is the King David Hotel, which has floor tiles signed by famous people, but nowadays you can only enter the lobby if you have a reservation.  Which is really expensive, so this picture is from the internet.

Behind the King David Hotel is a first century tomb complex considered to have belonged to Herod's family.  (But not Herod himself, who was buried at the Herodion fortress south of Bethlehem.)  This is one of the few tombs with an in tact rolling stone still in place.  Rolling stone tombs are very rare, and most are associated with royalty.

The stone is about 5 feet in diameter.  There is now an iron door blocking the tome itself, but that was added much later.  You can see the arched frame in front of the rolling stone.  This would keep the stone tightly in contact with the opening of the tomb to keep out animals or other intruders.  

Seen from above, it's clear the stone has not been rolled in a really long time.

Another view of the Herod's family tomb.  The doorway has filled with sediment, but even so, you'd have to stoop or crawl to enter.  The interior is pretty big according to the internet, with five chambers, one containing a sarcophagus.

Next we walked through the Artists' Colony neighborhood, also known as Yemin Moshe (right hand of Moses) which was one of the first residential areas outside of the city walls in the 1890's.   

Moses Montefiore was a wealthy philanthropist who wanted to improve living conditions for Jews living in the crowded Old City, so he financed the first housing area, complete with a windmill to grind grain.   

The windmill still turns, but the base is a bar connected with a nearby cafe.  

Today, the Yemin Moshe area is a posh artsy neighborhood with narrow alleyways.  It is a popular place for wedding photos. 

Next, we visiting St. Andrew's church.  It still has Christmas decor, which is fitting since Orthodox Christmas was a week ago, and Armenians in Jerusalem celebrate on the 18th.  

Here is the apse.  The green stone in the altar is also inlaid in the floor behind the altar, said to be a famous Scottish stone, so the worshipper could set foot on a little piece of Scotland here.  

A  guidebook tells a grisly story of Robert the Bruce who desperately wanted his heart to be buried in Jerusalem before his death in 1329.  But as a courier was on the way with the cargo in a jewelled box, he was waylaid and killed.  So the heart ended up in Scotland, and this copper plaque was placed in the floor of this church in the 1920s.  

More unique features of this church:  It commemorates Scottish soldiers, and also honors the Palestine Police force who served in World War II and during the British Mandate.

This church also had what looked like a sitting area at the back with comfortable padded seats, wider and softer than what is found in most churches. I was feeling some holy envy right there!  We have sofas in our churches, but they are relegated to the foyers.  

Just east of St. Andrews is a significant burial area called the Ketef Hinnom tomb complex..  This was excavated by Gabriel Barkay, who recently passed away, and dates back to first temple times (6th or 7th century B.C.E.).  

When the excavation started in 1979, most of the tombs had already been robbed or broken open.  

Dr. Barkay (bar-KIE) loved to tell how he had a pesky 13-year old named Nathan helping on the dig, and he was always asking for something to do, so to keep him occupied, Dr. Barkay sent him to clean out a repository (under one of those benches like you see in the Garden Tomb).   When Nathan came back later with some intact pottery, Dr. Barkay asked where it was found.  Apparently Nathan had banged on the floor with a hammer and found a secret chamber below.  

Within this chamber was a lot of amazing things, including what looked like 2 tiny crumbled rolled cigarettes.  After painstaking restoration, these were discovered to by tiny silver amulets containing Paleo-Hebrew writing.  Both scrolls contain parts of the Priestly Blessing from Numbers 6:24-26: "The Lord bless thee, and keep thee; The Lord make His face to shine upon thee … and give thee peace."  The first scroll also says, as a preface, “God, who keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love Him and keep His commandments” (Deuteronomy 7:9).   The word "hesed" is found in the first scroll, in the phrase "them that love Him."  You can read more about the discovery and its effect on dating ancient scripture here.  

Dr. Shon Hopkin pointed out how cool it is that the Dead Sea Scrolls were found by Bedoin youth and these Ketef Hinnom scrolls were found because of a 13-year old boy.  He compared that to the Book of Mormon, which was revealed to a teenaged Joseph Smith.  These were each landmark texts that made waves in the world and changed how people think about scriptures and about God.  

It was a chilly day, and hot chocolate and soup were a welcome source of warmth.  And the pizza was a welcome source of carbs.

We continued exploring eastward into the Hinnom valley itself.  Looking up we could see an ancient cable car that was used to supply the old city during its conflicts in 1948 and 1967.  You can see a light line heading toward the upper right hand window in the picture above, and a rickety rusty box is still dangling from the cable.  

We were heading toward another form of cable-supported transportation, the new suspension bridge.

The northern end is near Cinemathique elevator, so we walked across the Hinnom by the Solomon's pools stadium, passed near the Farm in the Valley National Park.  From the bridge we could look down on plants and donkeys and camels below.  

The bridge swayed just slightly as we crossed, but it was mostly stable and very enjoyable.  The sun had come out and the sky was blue and there was a lot of green thanks to all the rain.

Here is a lovely stone with a menorah carving.  No idea if it's ancient or modern, but it's definitely secondary usage and very eye catching.  Afterwards we walked back to the elevator, passing even more tombs and caves.  

I had the chance to give a spiritual thought about Hannah on one of the field trips.  Here are some of the things I learned while preparing:

Hannah's name derives from the Hebrew word for Grace: "hen" (with a harsh "h" sound as in "Bach").  I love the concept of grace.  If "hesed" is love based on a trusting relationship and covenantal obligation, we can contrast that with "hen," which is grace or favor given freely even when undeserved. 

At the beginning of her story, Hannah is unable to bear children.  Her husband tries to honor her with extra portions of the sacrifice (he bestows favor or grace on her), but she is still feeling a loss.  This reflects how pivotal family expectations are to our self-definition; when those expectations are unmet, they can bring exquisite heartache.  

 So Hannah takes her heartache to God at the temple.  This is a great example to show that she feels confident in her role as a daughter of God.  After fasting, she arranges time for some individual prayer, and she expects to be heard (1 Samuel 1:11).  This is a unique record of a named woman offering an individual prayer in the temple.  Even though she is misjudged by Eli, instead of getting offended, she calmy explains herself and invites him to change his attitude and respond with grace instead.  The concept of grace is embedded in this exchange, and the word for grace, "hen" is explicitly found in 1 Samuel 1:18, when Hannah expresses, "may thy handmade find grace in thine eyes."  

Hannah comes to the temple expecting her prayer for a son to be heard, and it is mercifully answered.  Hannah completes her vow to consecrate her son to the Lord.  I remember how hard it was to say goodbye to my daughter when she served an 18-month mission in Costa Rica; I can't imagine how hard it would be for Hannah to leave her pre-school aged son with Eli!  By gibing Samuel to the Lord's service, Hannah is setting aside temporal benefits like social prestige and financial security that raising such a child would bring her.  Instead she focuses on the spiritual blessings that will result, which eventually include a great prophet who would anoint kings.   

Hannah eventually bears more children, but the climax of this happy ending is Hannah's prayer, also known as Hannah's song.  The concept of grace echoes in this prayer which praises the Lord for powerfully overturning the worldly hierarchy.  In elevated language which prefigures the Magnificat of Mary, Hannah celebrates a God who brings up those who are low, poor, hungry, barren, and even the dead (1 Samuel 2:1-10).  The impact of this imagery comes because these people may not seemingly deserve to be elevated, but God's mercy and grace and favor are at work.  At the end of this prayer is the first prophecy of the Messiah as the anointed one in the Old Testament:

10 The adversaries of the Lord shall be broken to pieces; out of heaven shall he thunder upon them: the Lord shall judge the ends of the earth; and he shall give strength unto his king, and exalt the horn of his anointed.

Many centuries after Hannah, Mary would echo these themes as she prepared to raise her own miracle child, Jesus.  And it is in Jesus that we see both the covenantal love, that hesed, which we hope to receive from Jesus as we keep our covenants with him, and in return we are willing to keep his commandments with a love rooted in trust and also obligation.  But in addition to hesed, we rely on hen, the grace of God.  In our humble inability to keep all the commandments, we come up short.  We find ourselves lacking, and low, and sometimes barren of the good works we expect of ourselves.  It is in this state of spiritual hunger and poverty that we turn to Jesus Christ, pleading to find grace in his eyes, not because we deserve it, but because he is righteous and mighty.  In the enabling power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ, we have hope for strength and exaltation.  This is worth remembering always.

I hope you have a wonderful week, and that the rain that falls will be tempered by hopes of sunshine!