Walls, Caves, and Fields

Ramparts Wall...The walls of Jerusalem include 35 watchtowers, half of which were never completed. Each tower is 2-3 stories high and were used for defenders to guard and attack. We walked the wall, noticing openings in the stone every few feet where fire could be made. In this picture the ledge to walk on is to the right of the wall...notice the little heads

Zedekiah's Cave... was used as a quarry for stone to build much of the city's buildings, including materials for the first temple, King Solomon's Temple. We met a little Muslim family inside the cave who were very friendly. Well...at least the father was, Ali. He kept saying over and over again how much he respected and loved Americans. He apologized for the 9/11 attack and for his poor English grammar, although it was most likely better than mine.

Katie enjoying the little random lonely chair found in the dark abyss of the cave. We loved Ali and the chair.

The background of this picture is Bethlehem. I am excited to go there in the Christmas season. This same day we saw a view of the valley of Gibeon, which is where Joshua 10:8-13 took place (The story of the Prophet Samuel and when the Lord fought for Israel by casting a hailstorm and by making the sun stand still, lengthening the day) and the setting of 1st Kings 3:4-14 where Solomon made 1,000 burnt offerings unto the Lord and where He appeared to Solomon in a dream. We had a little devotional and read those scriptures while looking out at Gibeon and sang some hymns. It was so cool to see the scriptures come to life. Also at Gibeon I tried my first fig, not too bad :)