The Roman Forum

After the Colosseum, we headed towards the Roman Forum.

Walking from the Colosseum, by the Arch of Constantine, and then up into the Roman Forum, at the foot of Palatine Hill....you can just imagine the triumphal parades from generals and their armies returning from war.

And then, almost suddenly, you are in the Roman Forum—the center of commerce, government, and life in the Roman Empire. The very heart of Rome.

Walking amongst the ruins, my tour guide explained many of the important buildings nearby (we didn't have time for them all). The pictures he painted of ancient Roman life were enthralling—suddenly, we could see Julius Caesar, Domitian, Nero, Titus, and so many others in my minds eye.

The Colosseum

My first priority for my trip to Rome was to see the Colosseum—of course! And it did not disappoint.

To say it was... colossal... is pretty redundant. It was so big, I kept having to back up to get it all in my viewfinder. And the truth is, this is only part of the Colosseum; it was actually much taller.

A plaque inside the Colosseum says that it was built by Titus and was funded by the spoils of war (which were the spoils from the war with the Jews) in the first century. The arch of Titus outside clearly shows images of Titus bringing back the spoils from Israel, including the Temple. (Edit on Feb 2020): see Amir Tsfarti's teaching from Behold Israel here for more reference)

this is my friend, Julius

The inside was just as impressive. From the second tier, you could see all the way around and across of the amphitheater, as well as down into the area below the partially reconstructed arena floor (the areas where the gladiators and the animals stayed). As my tour guide talked about the different types of "shows" that were here and described the customs of the day—from how the games were sponsored to some of the rituals, it was incredible to imagine what it had been like.

It was also very sobering. These games were games of death. Those fighting for their lives were prisoners fighting for their freedom (if it was possible at all). And for those who weren't fighting, who were being crucified or eaten by animals or some other horrible thing, endured the worst of nightmares in front of a yelling, taunting crowd.

I specifically asked my tour guide if he knew if Christians were martyred here, since I know they were in other arenas throughout the empire... and also the Nero liked to light his garden parties with their burning corpses. He said that to his knowledge, none were ever killed here, but I honestly am not sure I believed it.

We'll talk about this more in another post, but the Colosseum is just steps away from the Roman Forum (the center for commerce and governing of the day, as well as prisons) and Palatine Hill. It's too convenient for me, when we know that Christians were martyred here—and Peter and Paul were imprisoned here in the city—to think that this didn't happen. 

ROME

Okay, I'm going to change gears here just a little. As I mentioned in my first post, I love any and all kinds of history, especially when it comes to Israel and the Bible.

In fact, outside of actual Biblical history, my favorite time period is definitely the Roman Empire—which influenced and impacted the New Testament world in so many ways. You can clearly see Roman remains today in Israel, and of course, the Romans played a huge role in the Gospel story... since Jesus was crucified on a Roman cross.

Earlier this year, I had the opportunity to spend a few days in Rome. It was everything I'd hoped it would be and more. It completely ruined my feet (story to come), filled me with the most delicious food and entranced me with her beauty.

So for the next few weeks, I'm going to share stories of that trip here. But not to worry—more posts about Israel are still to come!

What an incredible trip!

I hope you enjoyed this journey with me to Jerusalem! It was fun for me to relive the trip and all that I learned. 

Israel is a beautiful country and I highly recommend visiting. I'd love to go back! In fact, I really hope I can someday. I saw so much, but there's still so much I didn't see (or even things I forgot). My trip might be over, but I want to keep learning as much as I can. Maybe one day I can even learn Hebrew!

The Isaiah Scroll

The final day of our trip was a free day. My friend and I went to a local shopping area, as well as to the Israel Museum to see the Isaiah scroll. 

It was so neat to see the oldest remaining whole Isaiah scroll—1000 years older than any others' previously found!

The museum also had a model of the Second Temple, which was pretty cool to see!

Via Dolorosa

The Via Dolorosa, or "Way of Suffering", is the traditional path believed to have been taken by Jesus to the cross in the Catholic faith.

Along the way are 14 stations where it's believed certain things happened as depicted in the Bible, like Simon of Cyrene picking up the cross, or where Jesus stopped and talked with Mary.

In addition to going to the Garden Tomb and seeing the possible location of Calvary nearby, we walked the Via Dolorosa to experience this as well. There were different churches along the way, and the road wound through a particularly crowded section of the city. We walked single file through a market in the narrow streets until we reached the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. Included in this church were the locations where it is also believed Jesus was beaten, crucified, buried, and then rose again. It was dark, crowded, and difficult to see, and I personally didn't experience the same peace and confirmation as I felt in the Garden. In addition, there are some pretty valid arguments of this location being inside the city walls at the time. However, it was still beautiful to see this place of worship.

The View from the Mount of Olives

The view from the Mount of Olives is beautiful. From the top, you can see down into the Kidron Valley and back up into Jerusalem. We know that this is the road Jesus took when entering the city on a donkey on Palm Sunday. It's also a road lined with important landmarks, like old cemetery, where the first person buried was Absalom, David's son.

Walking down this road, I couldn't help thinking of Jesus and how He wept for Jerusalem as He entered that final time. And, I can't help but notice the sealed gate and the cemetery in front of it.

See, the Bible says that when Jesus returns to stand on this earth, He will first set foot on the Mount of Olives. He'll have to pass through both a cemetery (unclean for a Jew) and a sealed gate in order to get to the Temple Mount. 

Something tells me that won't be a problem.

The Jerusalem Cross

The Jerusalem cross is a beautiful symbol found throughout Israel.

Formed by one giant cross and then 4 smaller crosses in each "quadrant", it symbolized the good news of Jesus reaching all corners of the earth—north, south, east, and west.

This particular image is from a piece of pottery in the courtyard of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem.

The Construction of the Temple

Going down into the tunnels below the Temple Mount was amazing - and a little bit claustrophobic.

I already shared my favorite part of that trip here. My second favorite part was learning about the construction itself. The deeper we went, we were able to see the difference between the stones. The ones further down were larger, more like bedrock, chiseled with much simpler tools.

(you can see above where the bedrock from the 1st Temple was joined with the stones from the second Temple)

The higher we travelled, including walking outside to the Western Wall, we were able to see how the stones were more square or rectangular in shape, constructed with more "modern" tools. The ones closest to the ground level (they continue even lower) are so large they weigh several tons.

The Wailing Wall

After entering Jerusalem, we went straight to the Temple Mount, where we spent time at the Wailing Wall. Originally part of the Second Temple (constructed by Herod), this is the closest remaining portion to the old Temple.

Herod's Temple was destroyed in AD 70, and ever since then, Jews from around the world have visited in efforts to be as close to the old Temple as possible.

There are two sections, one for women and one for men. You can approach the wall and and place a written prayer into the cracks. 

After placing my own prayer request in the cracks, I joined my group for a tour of the underground tunnels. 

BIG NEWS!!!

I have big, exciting news!

Next week I'll be going to ROME!!!!

I cannot wait; I've always wanted to go and explore this beautiful city personally. I'll also be able to visit the Vatican, and I am so excited!

For now, I'll continue with stories of Israel, but be looking for updates from Rome after.

The Secret of the Date Palm

As we headed south towards the Dead Sea, we saw many groves for date palms along the road—miles and miles of orderly lines of beautiful, stately palm trees growing... in the desert.

My tour guide explained to us two very interesting things: 1st - about the process of drip irrigation and 2nd, a really interesting phenomenon that was discovered upon the date palms growing in the region of the Dead Sea. It turns out that the salt in the ground actually make the fruit sweeter.

Needless to say, I've added a little bit of salt to my fruits and vegetables ever since. 

The View from Mount Scopus

Entering Jerusalem for the first time was one of the most incredible experiences. We rode up the mountain and suddenly our tour guide started playing an old hymn.

Suddenly, there it was—the beautiful limestone city of Jerusalem.