40 degrees with intermittent rain. Had to buy gloves. Tour of the Old city was nonetheless well worth it. Our guide was with Ibrahim ghazzawi.ibrahim@gmail.com). Ibraham is muslim, grew up in the Muslim quarter of the Old City, owns a bus company. He knows a lot about the roots of Christianity, Islam and Judaism in Jerusalem, and so his tours are faith-oriented. He himself is not interested in the faiths, but he believes in God, whom he knows he cannot know.
Here's a view of the Old City and the weather in which we visited it.
Other highlights include:
A view through some gardens of the Dome of the Rock on the Temple Mount., from where Mohammed flew up to heaven. This is a no-go zone for non-Muslims.
Here's an image from the station of the cross known as Ecce Homo in Latin, but the Greek shown on the image is Ide O Anthropos. This hangs in the church marking the station of the cross where Jesus was tortured.
These murals are on the ceiling of the Greek Orthodox chapel in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. There are also chapels for the Armenians, the Copts, the Syriacs, and the Roman Catholics. But the Greeks did the best art.
The American Colony Hotel where we are staying has a unique history, as it was originally inhabited by a commune of Americans from Chicago and Swedes from Sweden in the 1880s. Among the ways the made their living was as photographers. Here are a few notable examples.
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| The Hordan River -- picturesque as always |
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| Turkish gunners |
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| TE Laurence, Gertrude Bell |
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| General Allenby with Anna Spofford at the 4th of July celebration at the American Colony Hotel |
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| Lewis Larsson -- one of the Swedish photographers two whom we are indepted for these photos |
A view through some gardens of the Dome of the Rock on the Temple Mount., from where Mohammed flew up to heaven. This is a no-go zone for non-Muslims.
These murals are on the ceiling of the Greek Orthodox chapel in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. There are also chapels for the Armenians, the Copts, the Syriacs, and the Roman Catholics. But the Greeks did the best art.
Great pictures Dan! I have the biography of Gertrude Bell. When you are in Nantucket next you can borrow it. It is a great read and very different from the movie which usually the case.
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