Day 4
(my roommate Brianne and I at the lookout on Mt. Scopus)Once we arrived in Jerusalem, our first stop was a lookout on Mt. Scopus. From this vantage point we could look out over the entire city. It truly is an awe inspiring sight, when you can take it all in at once. There is a law there about using the same stone in all their buildings, so to see this city rising around you, a sea of beige stone...there are few words to truly describe the feeling that comes with it.
The next morning took us to the Davidson Visitors' Center, an 
archeological excavation site at the Southern Wall of the 2nd Temple. The size of the stones used to build the walls and the temple are enormous, most definitely leaving you with one simple question: How the heck did they build this thing?? (That's our guide, Mony, in front of the remnants of some of the stones that were pushed down when the Romans destroyed the temple.)
archeological excavation site at the Southern Wall of the 2nd Temple. The size of the stones used to build the walls and the temple are enormous, most definitely leaving you with one simple question: How the heck did they build this thing?? (That's our guide, Mony, in front of the remnants of some of the stones that were pushed down when the Romans destroyed the temple.) 
I know I use the word amazing a lot, but it just blows me away that so much of this history is still left standing, over 2000 years later. It's especially hard to imagine when the oldest piece of history around here is only about 100 years old, give or take a decade. This is what would be left of the stone road beneath, if you were to remove the stones (seen above). Can you imagine what might have happened if someone had been caught under the falling r0cks? Yikes!Labels: travel
posted by Erin @ 4:08 PM
1 Comments:
All of your pictures look freaking amazing. What an amazing trip it must've been.
And I'm completely with you as regards the awe over such ancient structures. The Temple ruins have been there for two millenia. *whistles* It's a sobering thought.
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