Israel pilgrimage, tenth in series

Hello, everyone.

On this day, the fourth (?) day of visiting, we were in the area of Jerusalem. We began by walking from the road to the Ottoman walls, which were installed centuries after Jerusalem had become a Christian pilgrimage site, and which enclose not the ancient city of Jerusalem in Jesus' time--that had been destroyed in the Roman sack of Jerusalem--but the later built-up area around sites relating to Jesus' crucifixion. The "old city" is, therefore, actually the less-old city!

The Ottoman walls are in surprisingly good shape for their age. Of course nobody has taken a mind to tear them down since they were built.

Another reminder of how everything is close together. Our first stop was Dormition Abbey, the Church of the Dormition of Mary.

An aside here: Mary, being protected by Jesus from original sin when she was conceived--remember that God is outside of time here!--is taught not to have died in the regular fashion. This teaching is because death is the fruit of original sin. She did, however, "fall asleep" when her days on earth were completed. This falling asleep, the Dormition of Mary, is remembered by our Orthodox brethren as a separate feast from the Assumption of Mary.

 Above the memorial statue (below) is a mosaic meditation on women of the Scriptures. Here are two: Judith with the head of Holofernes and Ruth holding wheat sheaf from the threshing floor.

Below the mosaics, the statue of Mary.

After visiting this place, we walked through the gate of the old walls to the Church of the Last Supper, which is not the site but a nearby place that could be acquired for a shrine to be built, and the Room of the Last Supper, which is administered as a historical site by the Israeli government.

 I'm not entirely sure if this altar is in Dormition Abbey or in the Church of the Last Supper. At the time, I knew, but now the memory is a little confused.

The room of the Last Supper, which was openly venerated for centuries after Constantine made Christianity legal in the Roman empire, was included in the Muslim conquest of Jerusalem. The Muslims decided to make a mosque of the site. At the left, the mihrab which indicates for them the direction of Mecca so they can kneel in the proper direction for their prayers. The alcove on the far side, I think, was where the imam stood to preach. When the Israeli government came into authority over the area, they commenced to administrate the site as a historical place. None of the various changes made over the centuries were disturbed. The guides point out what was added by the Persian or Arab or Ottoman governments and what was original.

For lunch, we walked into the Muslim Quarter, past a Turkish shop or two, crossed the road a couple of times, turned into an alley, and came to a nice restaurant. After the mezze course--the appetizer plates that are spread out on the table first--the restaurant served a lovely chicken and saffron rice dish. At the end of the meal, they gave us Arab coffee. Cardamom is ground in with the beans and so the finished, thick coffee has a nice spicy flavor. Like with espresso, the coffee is good but you want to be careful not to drink the residue that forms in the bottom of the little cup.