Week 5 Jordan Valley and Mosaics

 

Hi, friends and family!  Another week has elapsed, with lots to see and do here, mixed with prayers and yearning for other parts of the world.  The legislatures of the US and Utah both have strong forces that seem like they're trying to widen existing polarization.  We shall see what happens.  I emailed my senators, and one wrote back with a very thoughtful letter.  I highly recommend emailing representatives whenever you feel helpless or have the time to turn that angry rant feeling into a clear and civil explanation of what you think matters most.  

On to the real reason y'all are here:  Photos of very old and mysterious places, to distract you from the very current and all too familiar challenges of life.

Here is the Jordan river, as seen from Qasr al-Yehud baptismal site.  This is a place people like to go to commemorate the baptism of Jesus Christ by John the Baptist.  Behind us on the other side is the country of Jordan.  Overlooking this site are armed guards watching to make sure no one tries to cross either way.  The Jordan river is not much to look at in size or water quality, but this place has a reverent feeling and many people immerse themselves in the water here.

Dr. Gaye Strathearn taught a devotional here about John the Baptist's message to repent, for the kingdom of Heaven, as embodied in Jesus Christ, is at hand. 

In Jericho, there is a little-known but fabulous site called Hisham's palace, built in the 8th century C.E. by an Ummayad ruler.  This was a monumental building in its day, with royal hall 2 stories tall and an elaborately carved window seen below.

The main attraction here are the mosaics- they are amazingly intricate, showcasing dozens of patterns, and spread out for 825 sq meters (88,800 sq feet).

Japan donated significant funds to build a roof and and walkway over the mosaics, allowing visitors to look down on them from above.

The tree of life mosaic is especially lovely and replicas of this mosaic are popular in this area.  The gazelle on one side of the tree are grazing peacefully, while on the other side, a lion is attacking a gazelle.  You could think of this as a representation of a powerful ruler, or the moment in the garden of Eden when death is introduced into the world.  Omar, our friend who makes mosaics in the old city, made a replica of this mosaic which had peacocks instead of the gazelle and lion motif, because he said he prefers peace to the violent image here.

This is a huge sycamore tree in Jericho reminding us of the story of Zacchaeus, a vertically challenged man in Luke 19.  One takeaway from this story is that it's not enough to watch and look as Jesus goes by, but to take action to welcome him in and be changed.  A good reminder for us as we navigate the balance between pilgrims and tourists here.  Also this is a good spot to by delicious Jericho bananas!

Here is a photo from Tel Jericho, the archaological site.  In the lower center section of the photo you can see what looks like a rock wall partially hidden in the shadow.  This is a tower built a crazy long time ago, identified as one of the oldest man-made structures on earth because it was in a layer of deposits so deep there wasn't even any pottery there.  In the middle of the picture, also hidden in shadow, sorry! is a pathway carved by early archaeologists through the mudbrick center of the tel, and currently someone is doing construction there with a bobcat, maybe to build a walkway allowing closer access to this tower? That's just a guess.

On the other side of the tel, you can see stone walls, and there are interesting mounds of mud brick that once were extensions of the stone walls but fell down.  

Here is a Jericho's replica of the Madaba map, which is located in Jordan.  You can see the names of places in Greek.  Its purpose was to guide Byzantine pilgrims after the Roman Empire was Christianized.  Recent rain had left puddles on the map, and water is great at heightening the contrast of colors in mosaics.

Here is Jericho's replica of the Tree of life mosaic, mentioned above.

On the way to Jericho, we stopped at a National Parks site called the Inn of the Good Samaritan.  There are remains of a Byzantine church there, and also a nice collection of mosaic rollers.  Mosaics from places near Samaria have been collected here, which is a lot more convenient than travelling to the West Bank which is mostly off limits for us and the students.  Except for rare and supervised trips to Jericho. 

Here is a modern replica of an ancient mosaic found at Huqoq depicting the construction of the tower of Babel.  A man named Mohammad was the artisan, and his workshop was in a cave near the Inn of the Good Samaritan.  Cave sounds more primitive than it was--it had electricity and even a projector showing videos about the site.

Jumping to a different day:  This is an outdoor sculpture park near the National Library of Israel.  Each sculpture shows the negative space of a Hebrew letter.

Here we are at a tour of the Knesset, which is the legislative body of Israel.  They have 120 representatives (in imitation of the Great Assembly convened by Ezra and Nehemiah), and many, many political parties.  Voters choose a political party, and each party that makes it over a minimum threshold is given a number of seats in parliament proportional to the number of votes.  Obviously bigger parties get more seats.  The majority party is given the mandate to form a coalition of 61 or more votes that can agree to compromise enough to be able to move forward on their agenda.  If the coalition breaks up before their 4-year term ends, elections are held again.   Regular elections are scheduled for the fall.

This is a replica of Israel's declaration of independence declaring themselves a sovereign state.  

This is a tapestry hanging in the Knesset designed by Marc Chagall, with three panels depicting depicting Bible themes combined with contemporary themes, such as creation, King David, the exodus from Egypt and the exodus from WWII Europe, the hoped-for peaceful time at the end of the world

Here is a peek at St. George Cathedral, an Anglican Church.  This week they celebrated Christian Unity week with a big interfaith Christian service.  Our friends the Smiths and Bertins attended, and they said it was packed!

This church has worship services in English and Arabic.  We have many friends from the Anglican school who attend here.

The Jerusalem Center as well as Brigham Young University actively uphold a position of political neutrality toward the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.  This is more difficult than ever as the middle ground has been more and more eroded.  But one expression of this neutrality is making sure that students learn from as many responsible narratives as will give a full and balanced understanding of the complexity here.  Arab Culture night is part of that effort.  Students learn about the call to prayer, eat Palestinian foods, and celebrate with traditional Palestinian dances led by members of a local Christian drum and bagpipe band.   Later in the semester when students experience a simulated Jewish Seder (Passover), there will be photos of students wearing headscarves and kippas.  But for this week, it was headscarves and galibiyes, the loose-fitting dresses seen on men or women.

It is important to note, in case this isn't clear to any of my readers, that there is a distinct difference between mainstream Muslims and fundamentalist extremist groups like Hamas.  We can be completely against the horrific actions of extremist Islamic groups who commit acts of terror, while simultaneously teaching students to respect mainstream Muslims who seek to live in accordance with the best of the values they learn in their religion.   And at the same time we can commit to opposing prejudice against Jews worldwide.  To insist that you must be completely for one religion, no matter what, and completely against another religion, no matter what, is a false dichotomy.

If the concept that Hamas is a separate, extremist offshoot from Islam is a difficult concept, try to picture other religions with fundamentalist breakoff groups whose practices and central tenets are completely different from the central religion they derive from.  And try to read from mainstream sources that are responsible enough to acknowledge the difference.  You can read about common ground between Muslims and Latter-day Saints here.  And if, in the end, you still disagree with this idea, we are still friends, and let's talk sometime. 

We visited a Greek Orthodox monastery near Jericho that specializes in... you guessed it, Mosaics!  I have been in mosaic heaven this week.  

This hanging wood plank acts like a bell to call people to gather for worship.  There is a similar but bigger plank in St. James' Armenian  church.  The story goes, that there was a time when bells were very rare (outlawed?  or metal was precious?  Sorry, I forgot which).

Frank said he wanted to buy this work of art and display it in our home.  

This is an ampitheater area with a huge curved map, similar to the Madaba map, but labelled in Greek with the tribes of Israel and their ancient locations in the Holy Land.  

Qumran - where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found!

In this picture you can see the location for cave 2.

Here cave 1 is circled in black.

Behind Frank are two large caves where people looked in vain for treasure.  Over to the right in one of those small shadows is cave 11, where the Temple Scroll was found.

Here is Cave 11.  

Not much to see at the present day, but this was a pleasant hike with good company. And this place yielded a historic find!

This is called An Nabi Musa, commemorating Moses's death, although the Bible says he didn't cross the Jordan river.  But many other prophets have what's called a cenotaph, an empty marker for the grave where the actual place of burial is not known or inaccessible.  That is the case here. 

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An Nabi Musa was an ancient caravanserei, like a motel.  People and camels could stay in the arched recesses within the walled complex.  

And last but not least, more MOSAICS!  

This is a micro-mosaic, with tesserae a few millimeters wide. 

These are in Omar's shop, on Christian Quarter Road, where Carrie Smith, Jennifer Bertin, and I signed up for a mosaic-making workshop.  

We cut thin strips of stone into small tiles, about 1 sq cm or less.  Most of the colors we used are from local stone, except one color that was from Greece.  we sketched a pattern onto a frame, then glued the cut tesserae right on the frame. 

 It was tedious and long, and I am only half done after 5 hours, but it was fun to chat with friends and make new friends from the people who wandered in the shop.  From a distance, mosaics look like thousands of identical squares, but actually they have tiny variations that make them fit just right with the tesserae around them.  Once a tiny tile is cut and placed, it is unique and just right for that spot.  It plays a role and is needed right there and then.  

I met Jenn Gale, who is actually on the Orem City Council!  I thanked her for her service, and she said she is looking forward to serving with our new mayor.  For the first time, our city council has a majority of women.  Cool!  

So I end where I began, thinking about the wider world, with hopes for wise leaders to make choices out of courage and not fear, choices that will lead to greater middle ground and safe bridges where we can be honest and empathetic.  Here's to hedging against the worst of human nature by honoring the checks and balances built in to our democratic institutions.  Here's to holding fast to values while also standing up for the underdogs in this world.  And here's to the unique role of each person, whether that's a city council member or a student or an empty nester mosaic fan having a blast in Jerusalem!