Jerusalem Overlook Field Trip

Today was our first of many field trip Mondays. We went to five different places all around Jerusalem that had high towers or hills so that we could get a sense of what the city looked like at all angles. The first place we went was right on the Mt. of Olives. It was a beautiful view of the city from the East side. My professor gave us a little history of the temple mount and the city of David, which is directly below (south) of the Old City’s wall.

Next we went to the Augusta Victoria Lutheran Church Tower and climbed 199 steps to the top to see another view of the city from the east side. So looking west was the city, but looking east was the Judean plains which is the start of the desert. The chapel inside the church was beautiful and we got to sing a couple of hymns. The acoustics of the room were beautiful and we sounded like the Mo-tab. One of my friends got a recording of us so hopefully I will be able to post that soon.

The next place we went was a lookout from the south side of Jerusalem on a hill called the Hill of Corruption, which is where Judas supposedly met with the Jews to betray Jesus and where the UN set up their presence in the city.

The next place we went was basically just a hill in the middle of nowhere that looked over some new settlements and over Bethlehem. From where we were standing, we could see the wall that was recently built to separate the Israelis and the Palestinians.

The last place we went was called Samwil which is an old Crusader’s tower that a Jewish synagogue is now. It is called Samwill because it is supposedly where Samuel the prophet was buried, but evidence has been show that that isn’t the case. It was a very old place. We when inside the synagogue and it was interesting to watch the Jewish men and women worship.
Other than that, today I just studied and studied some more. This group of students so far has been really good about doing all their homework which makes it easier to stay focused on school first. I have first paper and quiz on Friday.