Category Archives: Old City Tour

King Hezekiah and King Menashe of Judea – the archaeology

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If you’ve been following my podcasts recently you might know that I’ve been talking mainly about King Hezekiah and his son Menashe of Judah. Hezekiah lived around the same time as the Assyrian Emperor Sennacharib 705-681 BCE. There is a clay prism in the British Museum which chronicles Sennacharib’s life. It mentions Hezekiah too. It describes Sennacharib’s conquest of Judea and siege of Jerusalem.

(If you are looking for the podcasts scroll to the bottom of the page)

The Taylor Prism viewable in the British Museum

The British Museum used to have a complete transcript available online. It got removed, I will update this page with any further resources.

In addition to the Prism there is also a display  in the British Museum of a wall frieze of the  siege of Lachish, a town in the foothills of Judea. This siege is both mentioned on the Prism depicted above and the Bible, namely in the book of Kings (II Kings 18) and Chronicles (II Chronicles 32).

The Frieze includes:

A depiction of Sennacharib sitting on his throne at the gates to the city:

Source : Wikimedia Author : User:oncenawhile

Depictions of the battle:

Photograph by Mike Peel (www.mikepeel.net)

And, as mentioned in the podcast the capture and punishment of enemies, possibly a cruxifiction, possibly a flaying, what do you think?

Source: Wikimedia Author: Zunkir

Fairly recently an archaeologist called Eilat Mazar found an official Bullae or clay stamp of Hezekiah in an archaeological park called the City of David. I have also sketched my observation of the stamp. Note that the lettering is “Proto – Canaanite script and the “logo” of Hezekiah is a sun with wings and an Ankh.

If you listen to the podcasts posted at the bottom you will hear that this is part of the evidence confirming both Hezekiah (podcast 8) and Menashe (Podcast 9) as historical actors.

Source: Wikimedia Author: Rubén Betanzo S.

“Artist”‘s impression of Hezekiah’s official stamp

Similar “logos” were found on numerous jug handles from the same era possibly for the collection of money or produce for the King, in fact “for the King” was written on many such handles.

More stylised sun with wings logo common to the jug handles.
Author: Hanay
Source: Wikimedia

In addition to this we have a 533m long tunnel outside the Old City of Jerusalem amongst other building projects that as you will hear in podcast 8 Hezekiah and later Menashe (Podcast 9) build structures that include the tunnel depicted below.

IMG_1056

On Tour at Hezekiah’s tunnel, City of David

Podcast 8 : Hezekiah

Podcast 9 : Menashe

As of March 25th 2020 I have been furloughed from all tourism related work, due to COVID-19 all tourist flights have stopped.

If you want to help: please share this article.

In order to produce more articles and podcasts I need to pay bills, contributions will be happily recieved by clicking on the coffee mug below.

Building the Temple – a work in progress

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A work in Progress

A visit to the Roman Engineering exhibit at the Davidson Center

It is believed that the Herodion Temple Mount took much longer to build than Herod actually lived for. Consider how long it must have took to even build the machinery and work out the engineering to build the entire massive structure.

The Temple Mount had 140,000 square meters surface area. The Western Wall is 488 meters in length alone. The largest stone is well over 280 tonnes (some say 570 tonnes). According to the Christian Scripture it took more than 46 years to build (John 2:20).

It is highly likely that , not unlike this blog, there were many starts and stops!

Stay tuned for more interesting and entertaining blogs, podcasts and videos!

 

Chanukah Old City Scavenger Hunt

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Looking for something fun to do with the kids?

I am running a Jewish Quarter Scavenger hunt for all the family!

Where? Meeting Point Jaffa Gate, next to the tourist information center look for a guy holding a placard.

When? Thursday November 10th, 10:00 am – 1pm

How Much? 20 shekels per child, accompanying adults go free. (Unaccompanied adults do not go free)

Mystery Star Prize (edible)

Age Range: 4-7, 8 – 12, 13 – 15. (different tasks will be given to different ages)

Schedule

10:00-10:30 Introduction, formation of teams, rules

10:30-12 scavenger hunt

12-12:30 Sharing our findings

12:30-1 giving out of prizes

The Rules

  1. ALL children must be accompanied by an adult.
  2. We split into groups based on how many people turn up
  3. Lists will be handed out of things you have to acquire, this can mean you physically take that item or you photograph it / bring proof that you found the item.
  4. Upon completion of all the list return with your list to the designated meeting point.
  5. The first group back with a completed list wins.
  6. All adults will be given a map and clearly demarcated boundaries are asked NOT to wander beyond those boundaries for safety reasons.

For more information email: yossisilverman@gmail.com

Old City Caves

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Known today as 'Zedekiah's Caves'

A new Library of Congress addition.

This is just one picture of a recent addition to the Library of Congress. The collection was recently reported on by Lenny Ben David in a Jerusalem Post article. In the article Lenny Ben David recalls how a settlement of American missionaries came to Jerusalem and recorded the many astounding features of their new lives in Israel in photo form, this is known as the American Colony Collection. This collection in particular documents the discovery of a quarry from the time of King Herod. The mine has been thought to be from a number of different eras from the Solomonic era to the time of Zedekiah. It was the site of cultic activity, a rubbish heap and a curiosity at various different times of history.

One thing that should be noted is that since most of the building from ancient times to the present day are made out of Jerusalem limestone, known as ‘Jerusalem stone’ (that wonderful sandy / pinky / off whitey stone that shines gold in the Jerusalem sunset. The British even made an ordinance that all buildings, by law, had to be made out of this stone. It is sure that this quarry and many like it saw much use. This quarry is responsible for the way the Holy City looks today.

You too can request to see this on one of my Old City Tours !

(My first of many new blog posts since my vacation after my wedding, watch this space for more!)

Torah Portion Ki Tavo – Where to stay ?

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This week’s Torah Reading describes an obligation for all Jew’s to the bring first fruits of their produce in the Land of Israel to the Temple at three times in the year.  The picture above is an artist’s impression of what one of the Gates to the Temple (Robinson’s arch) would have looked like. One can well imagine thousands of Jews crowding these steps waiting to present their first fruits. A good question to ask would be; if all the Jews in ancient Israel came here, where would they stay?

Visit the Davidson Centre

A guided tour in the Davidson Archeological Centre would answer this question. At the bottom of the park their are a series of excavations where the remains of massive structures were unearthed. It is thought that these massive structures dating back to the Herodian period were hostels for pilgrims.

Free Room and Board

In the light of certain aspects of Jewish law (See Tosefta Maaser Sheni 1:12) where renting rooms in Jerusalem was forbidden,  it seems possible that there was not only a Hostel for a large number of people, but it  was a a free hostel. There is a source where one Rabbi Elazar ben Zaddok even restricts the rental of linen or beds (see Ahron Horovitz’s book Jerusalem: Footsteps Through Time).

Come and See it for Yourself !

The Jews would come and present the first fruits every Pesach (Passover), Shavuot (Pentecost) and Succot (Tabernacles). It is still a tradition to make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem at these times of year. If you want to see some tour ideas click here !

To book your trip click here ! 

Haftorah for Torah Portion: Matot – Jeremiah’s Northern Prophecy

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Stearn Family Tour - Pointing North

Stearn Family Tour – Pointing North by YossiTourGuide

‘And the word came to me a second time and he said;

“what do you see?”

I said; ” A bubbling pot and its face its pointing North.”

The eternal said;

“From the North shall spout forth evil on to all of the inhabitants of the land.”‘ (Jeremiah 1: 13 – 14)

This week’s reading of the Prophets (Hafarah) is from the Book of Jeremiah. It is part of a series of Haftarot leading up to the ninth of Av, the day commemorating the destruction of the First and Second Temples and subsequent Diaspora of the Jews.  In it God speaks to him telling him that “From the North Shall spout forth Evil”.

Trouble Up North

 

Historically Jerusalem was invaded from the North. In the period of history before, when Isaiah was prophesying, Sennacharib, the King of Assyria invaded (unsuccessfully) from the North. During Jeremiah’s time Nebuchadnezzar conquered from the North, as did the Romans and when the Crusaders invaded Israel they came from Lebanon and Syria. In recent history, in 1948, the Jordanians shelled the City from the North and East. Though, counter to our rule, the Israeli paratroopers, in 1967, entered the Lions Gate in the North to conquer the Old City. Seemingly most conquests Jerusalem come from the North.

The Meaning of North

 

In tactical terms we can say that conquests typically come from the North because that is where the highest ground is; from the Mount of Olives and Mount Scopus. However there is a more spiritual reason to do with the meaning of the word North. In Hebrew North is:

צפון – Zafon

 

As we learnt in the Torah Portion of Balak, words in Hebrew have ‘root’ letters which tell us about their meaning. We can make a number of words from the root letters of Zafon:

A Zofe in Hebrew is a scout.

Lizpot is to forsee

Mazpen is a compass

Mazpun is a conscience

The word North is to do with looking forward, forseeing and looking with an agenda in mind.

 

Negative Prophecies

 

Not all looking with an intent is negative, without an ability to foresee certain actions and their  moral consequences we would not have a conscience. There is a type of prophecy that is always negative, this is the type that is common amongst people with depression. It consists of statements such as:

‘I always make mistake X’

‘I will never succeed

‘This type of thing is always happening to me.’

These over generalisations plague our speech and harm our lives, and become true, not by virtue of an innate truth of these statements, but by the belief of the person stating them.

It was God that told Jeremiah to look North, normally it would have been a really bad idea to make such a negative prophecy. In fact if we look at the text it took two prophecies, one with a almond tree stick and the other more disturbing image of a bubbling cauldron. Surely one warning was enough?

The lesson that we learn by the doubling of the prophecy and the harshness of the imagery is that it was not a normal matter, rather it excels in abnormality. The prophecy is the exception that proves the rule:

that a person should not become the prophet of his own downfall.


Movement of the Month :The Aliyah of Yehuda Hachasid

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Finally …. as promised – The Movement of the Month this Month is the Aliya of Rabbi Yehuda HaChasid.

Yehuda HaChasid’s followers built this beautiful synagogue pictured above. This synagogue was destroyed in 1948 by the Jordanian forces and was rebuilt this year. But this was not the first time that it was destroyed….

Judah the Righteous or Yehuda HaChasid (the Righteous) was a mystical leader in Southern Ukraine in the late 1600s. He wrote many mystical works and started 2 movements: a movement for mysticism in Easter European (Ashkenaz) Jewry called ‘Chasidei Ashkenaz’ and a group to settle Israel. He believed that the Messiah ‘s coming was imminent and so he went with some of followers  to the Holy Land. This group that went to Israel were called the Holy Community or ‘HaChevra HaKedosha’.

The group was shunned by many who assumed them to be associated with the groups of the False Messiah Shabbtai Tzvi.

Before their ‘Aliya’ or immigration (also means to go up) they collected many pledges of money to help them build their new community.

Calamity befell- soon after their arrival in the Holy Land Rabbi Yehuda fell ill and died. As all the pledges were in his name, the community became impoverished and unable to pay their debts to the local Ottomans. The synagogue was destroyed and the people beaten and a law was made forbidding Ashkenazic Jews entry to Jerusalem until a repayment was made nearly 500 years later.

The synagogue was known as a ruin or ‘Hurva’ for a very long time., so long that when it was rebuilt in the 19th and twentieth centuries (yes it took that long to rebuild it! – nearly 80 years due to money problems, again!), even though it had the name ‘Beit Yaakov’ (House of Jacob) it was still known as the Hurva. Unfortunately the name became a prophecy, it joined 56 other synagogues destroyed by the Jordanians.

Today one can still visit the remnants of the old European Jewish colony (Deir Ashkenaz) and the Hurva Synagogue; the ruin of Rabbi Yehuda HaChasid.