Chapter 26 Monday May 16th cont.

After lunch, we walked over to the Western wall and receive more information about Arab culture and the political problems of the area. Apparently, Arabs teach their children history with a timeline beginning with Mohammed and this produces the misconception that the Israelis have stolen lands from the Muslims. I tried to verify this account on-line but couldn't find any corroboration although it does seem plausible.

The Al Aqsa mosque with the grey metal roof is very close in proximity to the Dome of the Rock with the gold roof.

Mohammed never set foot in Israel yet most Muslims believe that Mohammed received the Koran at the site of the Dome of the Rock. That is not substantiated by Wikipedia which offers a different explanation and worth a read. Quran - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Barbarosa the Mamaluk built the Muslim Quarter in the 13th century.

We walk over to the south wall and see the steps going up towards the main entrance to the temple. The steps had different widths so it was not an automatic process to climb. You had to pay attention to what you were doing so it would be more special than an ordinary staircase.

It must have been an awe-inspiring site walking these stairs 2,000 years ago. The Turks rebuilt the stairs but the stones that comprise the wall date back to Herod.The top section of wall at the far end is part of the Al Aqsa mosque.

Next we go to the Archeological Park where we tour a site discovered while excavating to build a Yeshiva. We see the remnants of 3 cohanim houses including cisterns and mikvas which were located in the basements.

That's us, except for yours truly, waiting to get into the Archeological Park.

When we complete this part of the tour, most of the group heads back to the bus while Ronit, Dave, Rick, Steve, Harvey and me go back to the gift store to reclaim the days shopping bags. We walk at a very brisk pace thru the Arab Quarter which looks quite interesting and makes me sorry that we don't have time to shop in this section. We arrive at Bar-On Gifts, collect the bags and head to the bus, passing part of the wall where you can climb to the top and walk the parapet.

Trying to redistribute the shopping bags on the bus turns into a balagan (ah, that word again). There are bags inside bags with multiple owners of the gifts inside. It takes almost the entire ride back to the hotel to sort everything out but I think everyone wound up with all of their purchases once Marcia realized she had Bernice's shawl in her back pack.

Tonight we have our farewell dinner for the part of the group going back to the states tonight. There are gifts presented to Ronit & Yaron and also to Mark and Meryl from all of us. Seventeen people leave for the airport and the rest go to the Night Spectacular at David's Tower which part of the group had seen last night.

Once we get past a group of really unruly, pushy children, we are treated to one of the most beautiful presentations I've ever witnessed. You can't really call it a light show because it is a motion picture projected onto the walls of one of the most breathtaking outdoor venues I've ever seen. The movie, which depicts the history of Jerusalem, is set to haunting melodies. No photography is allowed inside but there are some YouTube videos although most are shaky, hand-held smart phone videos. It's one of those experiences that you've got to see it in person to believe.  Tower of David Museum of the History of Jerusalem | Night Spectacular Click on the video in the upper left of the website and enlarge to fill your computer screen for just a taste of what we saw.

Incidentally, there was a full moon that night and the air temperature was perfect.

At the conclusion of the show, we walked back to the hotel by way of the Mamilla Mall, stopping for ice-cream and other assorted treats. I can't speak for anyone else but I was on an emotional high that night.