Well, since I am now posting notes about my trip to the Holy Land a full year AFTER the trip (possibly a new mark in procrastination, even for me), I've decided to stop trying to record my day to day impressions--heck, I could hardly remember them a month later, let alone a year later--and just go for the highlights that I find in the notes I kept at the time.
Masada: An extremely cool site. The photo of me on this blog was taken on top of Masada. One can climb to the top, or take the tram. I did not even consider the climb! One of the things that I liked most
about the site was the way that archeologists, and reconstruction experts, worked together and drew large black lines at the point where the walls were excavated, and the portions that had been reconstructed. From the top, the outline of the Roman encampments is clearly visible. There are some historic sites that one visits that are difficult to imagine; others that are quite clear; Yes, you say, this can and did happen here. I can see it, I can feel it. Masada is one of those places.
Ein Gadi: An oasis, with a waterfall. Quite lovely. Kassim, the guide, tells me that this is the site of the cave where David, in hiding, was able to creep up behind Saul, and cut off a piece of his clothing,proving that he had the ability to kill him, but refrained from doing so. Maybe, I think. We've climbed back into the hills, past a series of small waterfalls, until we reach a much larger one, flowing in front of a sort of a cave--though it seems to me to be more of a large hollowed out space behind the waterfall. Can't see how David could have hidden from, or snuck up on, anyone. Admittedly, I didn't venture behind the waterfall, and so there could be a better hiding place that I'm just not seeing . . .but it doesn't really matter. Chuck takes a lot of photos, but I just sit and put my feet in the water. Its peaceful--except for the parties of tourists.I wish they weren't here-- but, really, why should I be the only person touring these lovely spots?
Qumrun: Desert. Museum. A few ruins. The Romans did a pretty good job destroying this area post-Masada. Good exhibition. Good gift shop,
Jericho: Jericho is one of my most vivid memories of this trip. I never realized it, but Jericho is, essentially, a very large oasis. You come through the dry land, alongside the Dead Sea. We take a turnoff, and see green,a large hotel, and palm trees, lots of palm trees, ahead. Beautiful. But Jericho is in Palestinian territory. To get there, you need to clear an Israeli security checkpoint. The line of traffic is long--but when we finally inch up to the checkpoint the magic word, "tourists" and the even better American passports, get us waved on rapidly.
Jericho is much much much less prosperous than the Israeli areas we have been travelling through. The buildings are unkempt. People and dogs wander the streets. The traffic lights do not work.
We go to Tell Jericho, the site of the original city. Kassim says that it has not been heavily excavated, though one shaft dug to bedrock showed 22 layers of civilization dating back to the Bronze Age. I believe it. This greenland, surrounded by the brown, lying between mountains and the Jordan River--a logical place for human habitation, no matter what era. Later, in Jordan, on the opposite side of the river, I stand on Mount Nebo, where Moses theoretically stood, looking across at Jericho, and I see, I see, how it could indeed have been the Promised Land, the land of milk and honey, the square of green, with water, and palm trees distinct against the brown of the surrounding desert. Jericho. I will always remember it.
And then--the "tile factory" . A place where all my suspicions regarding tourist souvenirs appears to be confirmed. As well as producing some beautiful mosaic tile pieces--and we dutifully buy some--the factory is making leather, and wood, and plates, and other items I've seen in the gift shops everywhere. Souvenir central at last!
I buy stuff to take home for everyone.
Another day, another site; Bethlehem. Getting there, from Jerusalem, should be easy, but it isn't. Bethlehem, like Jericho, is in Palestinian hands. Because it is, in our terms, quite close to Jerusalem, Israeli security is difficult. We pass through in the car, with relative ease, the "tourist" and "American passports" being the key. Kassim, who is Palestinian, Christian, and a resident of Bethlehem, must get out, and walk though a buiding where additional security checks are made. We wait for him on the other side. This is one of the places where Israel has erected its security wall. It is very intimidating. Its path is not straight--for example, it veers to incorporate the site of Rachel's Tomb on the Israeli side. The weather is bad--sleeting and raining--manger Square is deserted, and the Church of the Nativity has few visitors. St. Catherine's. and the adjacent Church of the Nativity, are churches with "custody" issues, as well as layers of church history. The Byzantine, the Crusader, the 18th century restorations, all are layered here. I try to feel something at the place of the Nativity, but it isn't easy. I try to pray, and there is more "connection" than I've had at other sites. Perhaps it is more closely aligned with what, in my mind's eye, it should be. You can imagine Christ born in one spot, laid in a manger in another . . .Chuck finds it more touching than I do.
But for sheer excessive kitsch, the Field of the Angels--with "Gloria" in writing everywhere. One cave looked as if it were set for an angelic tea party--table, chair--I'm not sure why. Perhaps the cave could have been used to shelter the sheep, I certainly can't discount it. But oh, the "Glorias" that surround it. My notes say that "somehow, a neon arrow would seem tame" in this environment.
As we leave, to return to Israeli territory, and Jerusalem, I am moved to say that whatever the security issues are, whatever the political issues, the right and the wrong of both sides, it seems that this is a place that has always been, and perhaps will always be, steeped in conflict. On the human level, though, I think that power is always a difficult issue for those who have it. Sometimes it seems that all of us use our power, whether expressed in the official status of the Israeli soldiers, the AK 47s that you see on men accompanying school groups, and even the status of our "American passports" ---we use it because we can, because others can't, and all too often without thought, or without empathy.
This is not an easy place to be. Not now, not 2000 years ago.
