Day 11, November 19, 2012

Today started with a trip to Old Jerusalem where we saw what according to tradition was the room where Jesus had the last supper with his disciples.  However, the building that contained this room wasn't even in existence when Jesus walked this earth.

We then saw King David's tomb on top of Mount Zion. This is not likely the actual tomb as David was buried in his palace which was not on Mount Zion. Our guide told us there are some holy sites that are tradition and can't be proven, while some sites have almost 100% certainty of being the actual sites. David's tomb and the upper room are two traditional sites.

We then went to a church built on the site of Caiaphas' house. There was a dungeon (pit/prison) under this building where according to tradition Jesus was scourged by Pilate and by Caiaphas. Beside this church are the original steps up which Jesus would have been taken for this scourging.

Next stop was the Mount of Olives where Jesus went to pray with his disciples after the last supper. You could see much of Jerusalem from this vantage point, especially old Jerusalem. The side of the Mount of Olives is a big graveyard. It is the most desirable place for a Jew to be buried as they believe that the Messiah will come to this mountain and the closer they are to the top the sooner they will be resurrected to see him. Grave plots here cost between 400 and 500 thousand dollars.

We then saw the pool of Bethesda where Jesus healed the man who had been crippled for 38 years. This was close to St Ann's church, the traditional birth place of the Virgin Mary. We went inside this church and sang some songs to hear the wonderful acoustics.

After lunch we went back to Old Jerusalem for a long afternoon of walking. We walked the Via Dolorosa and saw most of the 14 stations of the cross.  Only 9 of these are actually in the Bible. The other 5 are only traditions. The last 5 stations are in the Holy Sepulchre Church, a huge structure.

We then went to the Western Wall and a tour of the tunnels under Jerusalem beside the Western Wall. This tunnel goes all the way to the North West Corner of the Temple Mount. After exiting the tunnels we walked back to the Western (wailing) wall and actually went right up to the wall to pray.