Words cannot adequately describe...

what we saw and experienced today. We passed through the Old City again today. Where you would least expect it, amongst the busy shops and walkways there are ruins and excavations showing actual walls that were constructed as far back as the 8th century B.C. We stood over the remains of the walls that the Romans destroyed in 70 A.D. The walls were at least 10 feet thick! We then walked to the City of David, the 10 acre piece of land that David and his men conquered from the Jebusites. We stood above the city, looking up to the Temple Mount in the north and the city's parameters to the south, with the Kidron Valley on the east and the Central (or Tyropoeon)Valley on the west. The sight was overwhelming. It's one thing to see pictures of Jerusalem; it's quite another to actually be standing on the ground that might possibly have been King David's Palace! We could even hear David playing his lyre! The events and the people that we read about in the Bible came alive as we stood there. It was truly amazing!

Then we walked to the source of the Gihon Spring in order to traverse Hezekiah's Tunnel that was built by King Hezekiah in the 8th Century B.C., in order to create a secure water supply for the city of Jerusalem should the city come under siege by an enemy. The water in the tunnel was at times up to mid-thigh as we sloshed through the cold, but clear, running water. The tunnel was dark so we had flashlights. It was only shoulder width and at times we had to duck so we wouldn't hit our heads. At other times, the ceiling of the tunnel was 4 to 5 meters above our heads. The fact that the tunnel was hewn out of limestone with just iron axes by the men who wielded them from opposite directions, coming together in the middle, is a miracle in itself. Feeling those close walls and the darkness enfolding us was a bit unnerving, but then we'd hear someone laughing or calling out to one of the other 45 people in our group and it made the 45 minute walk quite interesting! When we emerged from the tunnel, we came upon the Pool of Siloam, where Jesus healed the blind man. This pool was only discovered in the last five years.

Stay tuned for further escapades with this fun-loving group. The reason why we are larger in size than just those of us who came via APU (21), is because there are other groups here at Jerusalem University College. They come from all over the US and they have become new friends!

Shalom!