jewish quarter field trip

This was seriously one of my favorite field trips!! It started on Tuesday when we went to the Kotel Tunnel. It was the first time we got to be in the Old City at night! It was kinda fun! This was our guide. He was HILARIOUS. He also loved to talk. a lot. This field trip was significant because we got to go underground which means that you're taking a step back in time.

This is the inside of the Western Wall so it was the side that was even closer to the temple during Christ's time. We also got to see original streets from that time period and tools and other construction materials.

Then on Thursday we left in the morning and walked through the Old City to the Jewish Quarter.

Over the last couple weeks in Jeru we took probbbbaably a million class pics haha!

We first went to the Broad Wall. I had been here a few times but each time I went I knew a little bit more about it so it became more significant to me! The Broad Wall was built by Hezekiah when he was fortifying the city. It is also part of the wall that Nephi and his brothers would have hid behind when they came back to get the plates.

We then went to two old homes from Christ's time. They were most likely the mansions of priests. We know this because they had mikvahs in them which are baths used for ritual cleansing.

Everything that they have in their houses has to be ritually pure as well. So even that table and those containers are. Those containers would be similar to the ones that were used when Christ turned the water to wine. And I just love all the mosaic floors and the frescoed walls!

Not even kidding. One of our professors recreated this mosaic in his bathroom floor in Utah.

This is how big the mansions would be! These are people that knew about Christ and his teachings. He probably even visited some of these homes.

When American astronaut Neil Armstrong, a devout Christian, visited Israel after his trip to the moon, he was taken on a tour of the Old City of Jerusalem by Israeli archaeologist Meir Ben-Dov. When they got to the Hulda Gate, which is at the top of the stairs leading to the Temple Mount, Armstrong asked Ben-Dov whether Jesus had stepped anywhere around there.

“I told him, ‘Look, Jesus was a Jew,'” recalled Ben-Dov.
“These are the steps that lead to the Temple, so he must have walked here many times.”

Armstrong then asked if these were the original steps, and Ben-Dov confirmed that they were.

“So Jesus stepped right here?” asked Armstrong.
“That’s right,” answered Ben-Dov.
“I have to tell you,” Armstrong said to the Israeli archaeologist, “I am more excited stepping on these stones than I was stepping on the moon.”

Christ walked on these steps. He taught people on these steps. These are the steps that lead to the temple. I miss the opportunity to attend the temple whenever I want. So being close to such a sacred space means the world to me!

This stone says the place of trumpeting. It is where the would blow the shofar on high holidays and other religious times. This stone was on the pinnacle of the temple!

I had walked by this place so many times but had no idea what it was! I loved it though! It was the neatest park. Basically just everything about the temple. Oh my goodness. LOVE.