Walking on the Walls of Jerusalem

You can see a lot from the top of the walls of Jerusalem. On a clear day view stretches for miles. It's incredible to see all of these historical places in perspective from up high.... definitely gives a new understanding of this important and beautiful city!

On a hot July afternoon, my friends and I decided to walk on the Northern route of the Ramparts walk, starting at the Jaffa Gate. In the distance (below) you can see the Tower of David (next week's post). These walls are almost 500 years old, constructed by Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent of the Ottoman Empire in the 1500s.

The entrance to Jaffa Street!

I love this French hospital. Such a beautiful building!

Definitely very little shade up here! Bring water!

Looking out from the Arab quarter:

I'm not sure why, because I knew where we were, but when I looked up and saw the hillside beside the building, it took my breath away. There it is: Golgatha.

The ancient and modern together always amazes me.

Turning to look inside the Old City, here's the rooftop view with the Mosque in the middle:

A peek at the Mount of Olives:

That's it for the tour of the northern part of the Ramparts Walk. I hope to go back and walk the southern route later this year. Stay tuned!

This Jerusalem Wall dates back to King Hezekiah!

You'll never know what you'll find when walking around Jerusalem, especially in the Old City!

I was walking through the Jewish quarter to the Western Wall when I saw this. It's an ancient city wall dating back 2,600 years—to King Hezekiah!

 

It is 7 meters thick (around 23 feet)! 

It's hard to see, but on the corner of the building back left, there is a marker showing the believed height of the wall.

Could this be the wall Isaiah refers to in 22:10: "You counted the buildings in Jerusalem and tore down houses to strengthen the wall"? I'll have to ask him one day!

Where was Stephen buried?

According to tradition, this church is built over the place where Stephen, the 1st martyr who followed Jesus, was buried.

I've been to a lot of churches in Israel, and I didn't expect this one to be so breathtakingly beautiful.

The light! 

The colors!

Take a look for yourself at what is now one of my favorite churches in Israel:

Meaning “the House of the Camel”, but it’s also suggested to have something to do with Rabbi Gamaliel the Elder.

Nowadays, there’s a monastery here and some caves. In one of these is where tradition says that Nicodemus and Gamaliel buried the body of Stephen, the first Christian martyr in from Acts 7.

The murals tell the story. Can you see the man in blue holding garments at the stoning? That would be the man responsible for writing most of the New Testament: Saul of Tarsis, before he met Jesus.

King Hezekiah put WHAT in this temple?!?

Last week, we talked about Lachish's story as the 2nd most important fortified city in Judea. This week, we're going to tour the tel!

First up: the city gates! You can walk up the ramp and right into them. But first, there's this artist rendering of the outer gate from the time of Hezekiah is very helpful:

Then, the inner gates:

Just inside these gates is the remains of temple... with something else very interesting...

This shrine is from King Hezekiah's time. He was a righteous king, and he wanted to stamp out all forms of idolatry and false worship. So, he had the altars smashed and a toilet placed in the corner. Tests of the soil say it likely wasn't used, but that is very interesting nonetheless!

Next, on to the palace! It was HUGE, covering 14 dunams (3.5 acres). Outside of it is a really cool installation: a row of chairs representing all the kings of Judah, in order. The height of the back of the chair indicates the length of their reign. Pretty neat!

And, on top of the palace ruins, are nice overlooks with an interactive display where you can line of ancient cities written in Biblical Hebrew, Modern Hebrew, and English.

Finally, there's a beautiful viewpoint towards Jerusalem with signs and displays talking about the Assyrian conquest and the history of the tel. 

You can also go up to the side of the tel where the Assyrians came up the ramp. On top is a place that looks like a wall or blockade was made in order to stop the Assyrians. Something fascinating about this area is that when the ground in the area was tested, they found the soil in the opposite order it was supposed to be: oldest remains were on top, with the newest on bottom. That's because when you overturn earth to build, what's on top goes to the bottom, and what's on bottom goes on top.

And finally, the Biblical record from 2 Kings 19 showing how God defeated the Assyrians on behalf of Israel.

That's it (for now) of Lachish's story and tour. It was so incredible I'd love to go back. What about you? Did you know the story of Lachish? Let me know in the comments below!