Hi there,
Last night we toured underneath the wailing wall that I told you about yesterday. It's an active archeological site that's only been operating for the last couple of decades, but the area's amazing. Some of the tunnels were recently created, others are ancient aqueducts, and others are simply spaces between the wall and buildings that were built next to it. As we went deeper into the tunnels, we saw modern Jerusalem turn into remains of the Muslim, Christian, Roman, Herodian, and original Hebrew periods. We went hundreds of feet down below the current street level, to the level it was at in ancient times. This was some really cool, seriously historical stuff. In fact, a few years ago, when an entrance to the base of the temple mount was found, a very quiet operation was started to enter what was essentially the basement of the original temple. This is underneath a very important mosque, and the worldwide Muslim community went into an uproar, as they saw it as undermining their territorial possessions. The conflict quickly escalated, and within a day of starting the excavation, the UN had to step in to avoid another all out war. The entrance was filled with concrete, and that's how it remains today (I saw the actual gate, it's huge). The Jewish community was extremely disappointed, since they suspect some very important artifacts to be down there, like the Arc of the Covenant and the original gold menorah from the second temple (you know, the one of Hanukkah fame). This is such an important site (for several religions), and I'm pretty surprised at how close we got.
Today was spent walking around a huge Jewish marketplace as the locals got ready for Shabbat. It was just as you'd imagine, lots of black suit-clad men buying food and supplies from actively hawking merchants. Yet another step back in time. I've got a few pics, but my sister's got the camera cable, so I'll have to post them tomorrow.
Oh, wait, tomorrow is Saturday, the Jewish Sabbath, so everything in the city shuts down, especially internet cafes. The group has arranged for a bunch of the neighborhood families to take us in, which means good food, a real bed, and (this is the best part) no alarm clock. Very religious Jews don't drive, don't use computers, don't write, and don't worry, they just sit around and eat. This is one custom that I could really get behind.
M
