Three Former Gates To The Temple

South Wall of the Temple Mount

If you look carefully in the center of this picture you can see three doors that were filled in with stone. That lower section was the entrance to the Temple Mount in Jesus day. 

During the siege of Jerusalem by the Romans The great doors were filled in to fortify the Temple complex for a last ditch stand by the Jews. It didn't work!

No Sinking the Dead Sea

A Day Swimming in the Dead Sea

Here are some of my friends from the Ashkelon dig floating is the Dead Sea. What an interesting feeling to not be able to sink into the water. At 1300 feet below sea level there is no escape for the water but evaporation that leaves the salt behind. On that day the Jordan river did not quite make it to the Dead Sea.

Even a  minor abrasion of the skin was a cause for instant pain in that brine.

One of Many Qumran Caves

A difficult cave to enter

One of the most exciting things about digging in Israel was visiting the dig site at Qumran on the west side of the Dead Sea. Here a community of Jews set themselves aside to live according to the Law of Moses and prepare for the battle between the sons of light and the sons of darkness.

When that community saw that their place was being threatened they hid their most precious scrolls high up in secreted caves where they remained until 1947 when they were discovered by accident.  Practically no other material in Hebrew and Aramaic has survived from the time of Christ so these manuscripts have been studied carefully by many scholars.

The site is hot and very dry so many of the scrolls were well preserved. Many others were in small pieces that were almost impossible to reconnect until the age of the computer. Some of it was scripture like a complete Isaiah scroll but others were more like a laundry list for the community.

This is a place that you MUST visit if you travel to Israel.

Qumran Living Quarters

Where People Lived

Archaeological excavations at Qumran are revealing how the residents lived and worked. The place was occupied at three different times by three different groups.

Sorting them out is part of the fun. I would love to dig there.

Brother was it ever HOT!

The Cave At Cumran

The Cave at Cumran

In 1947 a goat wandered up the side of this cliff being chased by a Shepherd boy. The goat ran into the cave and the boy tossed a rock in to the cave to scare the goat out of it. He heard a clink and the sound of breaking pottery - The "Dead Sea Scrolls" had been discovered.

Today there is a trail up the side of that cliff but it is still a tough climb - It was awesome to clime up and go into the now empty cave.

The Cave Opening at Qumran

Entrance to THE cave at Qumran

My friend Carol - a preachers kid - and my self are in the opening of the cave where the first scrolls were found.

What an exciting day that was!

Interesting Jerusalem Baptistery

Unusual Episcopal Baptistery

While in Jerusalem I visited an Episcopal Cathedral and was surprised to find this baptistery near the entrance to the sanctuary. It has two sections one dry for the priest to stand in and the other wet for the person being baptised to be immersed in. 

The interesting thing is the the Episcopal church sprinkles and does not immerse. 

The priest on duty there told me that it was there to appease the Greek Orthodox. Go figure!