CLIMBING JERUSALEM
Travelogue
Prof.Joseph K Alexander
CONTENTS
Message
Preface Page
1 Why the Holy Land
Tour
2. Preparations
3. Trivandrum and other Air Ports
4. Thirty
Days in Bahrain
5.
Holy Land Tour
6. Jerusalem
7. Egypt and Cairo
8. Giza Pyramids
9. Red Sea Crossing
10. Crossing the Taba Boarder
11. Sodom the Dead
Sea
12. Jerusalem
City
13. Enter Bethlehem
in Palestine
14. Nativity
Church
15. Re-enter Israel- En Karem
16. Gethsemane
Olive Garden
17. Mount
Tabor
18. Sea of Galilee
19. Tour of UAE
20. Dubai
Preface
When my grand daughter came to
know of my tour she requested and I agreed to write about my Jerusalem pilgrimage; no our tour. I went
with my wife: and my son Alex and his wife Lalitha. We went along with a tour
group arranged by Rev. Fr. John Sankarathil Secretary, Martha Mariam Samajam,
Catholicate Aramana, Devalokam and Mr. Cherian Kuriakose of Keli Tours, Mumbai.
This pilgrimage was started by H G. Zacharias Mar Theophilos of Malabar Diocese,
when he was the President of the M M Samajam.
Many have written about Jerusalem tour and many
have gone there within the past dozen years. The first written “Sanchara
Sahityam” in Malayalam at the end of the 19th century is the tour of
Jerusalem
written by Late lamented Saint Parumala Mar Gregorios. Since then a few such
books have been published. I have not seen one in English. There are also very
good DVDs on Jerusalem .
I write in English only because I can type it on the computer leisurely.
When I started writing, my idea
was only to give a description of what all we saw in the tour. As I proceeded, I found that what I learned
from guides and what I saw is not enough.
Therefore, I read the Bible, internet and books on Jerusalem
monuments, archaeological research materials and the book “Holy
Land ” of Fr. Godfrey OFM. Hence the letter is lengthy than
intended. However, it is worth.
“Personality can open doors, but
only character can keep them open.”
-- Elmer G. Letterman
-- Elmer G. Letterman
1. Why the Holy Land Tour
I should first explain why I
ventured into this hazardous journey at this not very young age: nay old age. Being
a Christian, Jerusalem , the place where the
historical person Jesus lived and was crucified, is the “Mecca ” of Christianity. Just as Muslims go to
Mecca , walking
through the very places and streets Jesus traversed, thinking about his
teachings and his extreme sacrifice for humanity, is pilgrimage par excellence
for any Christian. For him Jesus is son of the Triune God Father, son and Holy
Ghost He Incarnated in flesh and lived among us as one of us. Hence re-living
his incarnated life in Jerusalem
is worshipping God. Walking through the streets of Jerusalem like Jesus did on the dusty roads
of Judea 2000 years ago, confirms your faith in Him, His historicity and His
Teachings. In other words, you acquire more faith in God and Christianity.
Seeking God and His ways is what is expected of every Christian. It is the best
method to ensure a better and peaceful life in this World, and after. I think every Christian who can afford the
cost of this tour must do it to lead a better Christian life. It will make him
to believe in the death of Jesus on the Cross- and His resurrection, and
realize the significance of His teaching of the “Universal brotherhood of man
under the fatherhood of God”. Loving everyone as you love yourself is the
essence of His teaching. You should also think of such a pilgrimage some when
in the future to believe and to try to practice His teachings...
Frailty- weakness- thy name is
man. Even before normal natural calamities and physical phenomena like thunder,
lightning and floods; cyclones, and whirl winds; cold winds and frost; heat
waves and moving sand dunes, man is a frail puny creature. Physical ailments
and old age make him still more small and helpless. My anxiety was ailments due
to my advanced age, prostrate problems and the extreme heat of Persian
countries to which we were flying in. Therefore, we decided that we could
undertake the tour only if our son Alex and Lalitha join us for the tour. When
contacted, they agreed with alacrity and pleasure. That was the greatest
booster of our spirits. In retrospect, now I know that it was only a fear of
the unknown. We both went through the entire tour in perfect health.
This was my third time dream to
go for Jerusalem
pilgrimage. About a dozen years ago, a priest gave us an ad talk in our Senior
Citizens monthly meeting at Trivandrum
on this tour. That kindled in me a desire-not a demand- to go. In Economics,
demand is a term with wider meaning. It is desire for a thing with resources to
spend for it and thirdly readiness to spend the money for the demanded
consumption item. Mine was only a desire
to go to Jerusalem .
It was not backed by the readiness to spend money for that. The fact that some
time later Mr. K E Cherian and wife, our relatives, went and presented us with Jerusalem souvenirs was a
strong persuasion.
In the second time it was not
merely a dream, but a real demand to go for the tour. But I could not make it.
We four (including Alex and Lalitha) decided to go on May first with Omania
Tours at Cochin and remitted Rs. 40,000/- as registration fee. They insisted
medical insurance for wife and me. That created umpteen worries in getting
medical check-ups and reports from the qualified doctor. Because of our
advanced age, according to them, the insurance company representative imposed
more detailed check-up, a second time. We underwent that too with demur. Just 3
days before we were to report to Cochin
for the commencement of the tour Lalitha’s brother-in-law passed away. She and
then Alex had to go for the funeral. The tour was thus got cancelled. A
question you might ask. What happened to the registration fees? It was lost.
They said they made all preparations for us and had spent the amount.
2. Preparations.
In August 2008, Alex phoned
that Martha Mariam Samajam of the Malankara Orthodox Church is arranging a
pilgrimage to Jerusalem
on Sep. 15 under the leadership of Rev. Fr. John Sankarathil, its Secretary.
Since it is Ramadan, it is a lean business period for his company and he will
be a little more free than otherwise to go with us. We agreed. This was my
chance to fulfill my dream. Then things happened in a moment. He contacted
immediately Sankarathil Achen and discussed our itinerary to join the tour
party at Cairo .
In two days time he booked our flights to Bahrain ,
Cairo and return journey to Trivandrum . He requested me to remit US$ 100
each for four of us in Indian rupees to Achen at Kottayam. This amount I
e-mailed to Achen on the next day and we were registered for the tour. Since
Achen knew me from his student days, he was delighted to learn that I am
joining his tour group and said so much to me and others.
Our itinerary was that we two
were to fly on Air Arabia on 17 August via Sharjah to Bahrain , and
stay with Alex for 30 days. Then the four of us are to fly to Cairo via Abu Dabi on Etihad Air lines to
join the tour group. On our return, we are to leave the tour group at Amman and fly to Sharjah
for a 3 days stay with Alvina. On 26 Sept., we were to return by Air Arabia to Trivandrum . Alex booked
all these sector flights up to Cairo and from Amman to Trivandrum .
There was no insistence on medical insurance. Again, Alex did all arrangements.
He lifted the entire burden including our expenses on to his shoulders. It is
true that I later paid it all back to him. All our anxiety about age, physical
ailments and climate withered into thin air.
Kunjannamma and I were thence
on our toes getting ready for the journey. Once again, I checked our passports
issued nine years ago, for its validity. It was OK. Photocopies of passports
and our photos were couriered to Sankarathil Achen and e-mailed to Alex to
arrange our visas to the various countries we were to visit. We met our doctor
for prescriptions and medicines for all eventualities including nausea,
vomiting, diarrhea, fever and even sleeplessness.
Since we were to stay for more
than forty days, enough dress was to be carried. My wife as usual wanted to take
all the dress for the three changes she do every day. After much persuasion by Alex
and me over the phone, she agreed to reduce her requirements. Still the volume
was too much that compelled me to purchase a new big bag from the market. I
sold away my old car. It was idle for months together as I was getting old to
maneuver it in the thick traffic of the city. I was loosing touch of my
vehicle. It was becoming a white elephant. My legs rose to the occasion and
pumped all the distances around me. As I am staying in the very center of the
City all the service centers like market, chapel, banks, post office and even all service centers and payment
counters were at the tip of my stretched hands. So clearing all the short
distances proved to be good for my health also.
We got a caretaker to look
after the house in our absence. Our neighbours, telephone, water and
electricity authorities were all informed about our intended absence. I
installed an extra light for the verandah for the benefit of the watchman. Meanwhile
Alex e-mailed the minimum dress that we are to carry including a woolen sweater
for each. It also contained photocopies of our visa to enter Bahrain and instructions about what to expect at
the Trivandrum , Sharjah and Bahrain Air
Ports
3. Trivandrum and other Air Ports
We had to be at the airport at
00.00 hours for our flight at 03.00 hrs. Since the road from Petta to airport
is solitary and goonda infested, the advice was to pass that area before 09 00
PM. Our night watchman Johnson came at 08.00 hrs. We locked our doors and got
into a taxi at 08.30 with our bags and travel papers. At Eanchakal Junction. I
wore a brave face with inner anxiety and my wife a more masked appearance. When we came to the gates of the
international airport, our face muscles relaxed and we were calm. Johnson, the watchman
lifted the bags to the trolley. We sent the driver and watchman back. At the airport,
they would not allow us to enter their premises so early. I approached the airport
manager through the receptionist woman, and had a telephonic interview with
him. We got permission to go inside on probably, considerations of our aged
appearance reported by the woman.
The long hall into which we
lugged in was empty, lonely and silent, except for an occasional service
man/woman traversing its length. Air conditioning was off. I found out a wall
fan, worked it and sat down for our small talk. Time ticked off until 01.15 AM
when the entrance became live. We moved with our luggage and papers to one of
the slowly becoming alive counters and got our boarding pass to wait again for
checking into the security area. That
happened only at 02.15 AM, Imagine the hours wasted by waiting for the flight.
We came to the airport by 08.50 PM and we could fly only by 03.15 AM.
Sharjah and Bahrain Air Ports
Air Arabia
flight G9442 took us to Sharjah airport at 05.30 AM. Armed with the copies of entry visa to Bahrain we found out a counter and got the
boarding pass to the next flight G9103 at 09.00 AM to Bahrain .
Leisurely I went around and purchased from Mac Donald’s a cup of morning coffee
priced UAED 12 (around Rs.144). It was highly concentrated and packets of sugar
stirred in could not reduce the bitterness. We shared it. I also took the
sandwich brought from home. The duration of Sharjah – Bahrain flight
was only one hour. Because of the difference in time zones, we left Sharjah at
09.00 hrs and reached Bahrain
at 09.05 AM. Trivandrum
on the east at that moment was noon 12.35 hrs. We queued out of the plane and
were moving to the security counter where we had to show our original entry
visit visa. We had the copy of it. It was to be exchanged at a special counter
for the original by paying UAED.5 per visa. Suddenly a young man sent by Alex
approached us asking the old woman in sari from behind “Are you Annamma Joseph
from Trivandrum ?”
We turned back. He smilingly took us to the nearby counter, gave UAE D.10, and
pointed us the counter to give the visa copies and the money. The clerk took
them and in a moment gave us the original visas. With that, we moved into the
queue to get entry visa punched in our passports. In about ten minutes, we were
moving out of the airport. At the exit, Alex and Lalitha were waiting for us.
The very hot air of Bahrain struck
us on our face. They whisked us in 2 minutes to the parking slot and his car.
Even within that time, my skin felt the burning sensation. The urge was to
remove the sweater I was wearing. In another two minutes, the air inside the
car became cool and smoothing. He drove us fast to his residence some twenty
minutes away. They took us to his flat. Alex without wasting much time went to
his office. Lalitha served us appam and chicken curry as breakfast. After a few
niceties, we two went into our bedroom for a nap. Thus, we were in Bahrain on the
FN of 17 August. For the next 30 days our son Alex and daughter-in-law, Lalitha
took us all over the island, pampered, and fed us well with all varieties of
food made at home / available in the food courts and hotels. However, he
persuaded us from not going to any small or local hotels on grounds that food
in such places is too oily and acrid, hot and pungent
I have given a fairly detailed
report of the preparations of our journey and anxieties we encountered. In fact, there are three distinct laps in our
journey. First, we went to Bahrain
for a 30 days stay with Alex. The second was the Holy Land tour of Egypt , Israel ,
Palestine and Jordan . The third sector of our
visit was to Sharjah and Dubai
in UAE (Unites Arab Emirates). I am trying to give a brief sketch of our tour
of Holy Land and, what struck us as worth
noting from my point of view. Now you can enter any search engine on the
internet and get more or any information about any thing or any country in the
World. So, you too can read more detailed history or writings on any feature
that I mention in this letter to you. But, you would not get my view of them. That
you can get only from this letter. It is thus a personal report about what I
saw in the tour. It is written for reading by people like you
4. Thirty days in Bahrain
You might be wondering as to
what we were doing all the 30 days. I myself was musing over it when Alex
suggested to us about it a month before we went. Well, we fell into a routine
to which we soon escalated. Alex used to
leave for the office at 08.30 AM after breakfast. In full suit and with an
executive bag, he gets into his car. His lunch pack was dry chappathi and
chicken. He returns only after 05.00 PM. Most days Lalitha and Kunjannamma
would skip the breakfast for self-imposed fasts. So, I had to take it alone. In the FN, I used
to spend time by reading Manorama and Gulf News, an English daily, and my
internet mails. There was Google chat / talk with Alvina and Alna, and my blogs
on the internet. After lunch, we would go for a catnap. Chocolates, cookies and
exotic dates stored on top of the cupboard used to enliven our taste buds.
Alex, on return from the office will have a bite or two on any of them. After a
few exchanges, he will change into casuals and is ready for the evening drive
to show us Bahrain .
We went out all the days except one, when he was indisposed and felt feverish.
He drove us in different directions on each day, explaining the sights and
buildings on the route. Malls and eateries or food courts were there in our
daily itinerary.
Getting ready
for Holy Land Tour.
On Sept.14th Sunday evening,
we went to the Bahrain
Church Bahrain .
We also prayed for protection in our Holy Land
tour days lying ahead. We purchased some dress as souvenir presents to you all
in Trivandrum . However,
we limited the purchases in Bahrain
because we have to carry them in our luggage all through the 8 days of the
tour. So, we postponed our further purchases hoping to do so at Dubai on the final lap of
our journey. On 15th, once again we reviewed our luggage that
nothing is left behind. Our flight from Bahrain
to Abu Dhabi is
at 3 AM and so had to report at 00.00 hours to the airport. We locked up the
flat and were on the car with all the luggage of the four of us in the dickey
and in the laps of us. Alex was to leave
the car in the airport to be taken back by the company driver.
We went through some anxious
moments in the morning hours of 15th. Alex discovered that his
identity card called “Akkama” is not in his wallet. He thought that he
misplaced it on the bank counter on previous day when he went to purchase US $
for the journey. So, he went to the bank. But it was not anywhere there. On
this information, Lalitha ransacked his belongings at home. The card was still
out of sight. Without the card, he cannot go out of the country or for the
tour. Therefore, he went to the office to report the matter to the Boss to
manage a duplicate, which is rather impossibility in eight hours. On reaching
the office his driver brought the card, saying that he found it in the car when
he was sent on an errant given by Alex and failed to inform him yesterday
itself. This news relieved us all. God visibly stepped in to protect us.
We are nearing the date for our
pilgrimage starting on 16 Sept. The anxiety was that we have not received visa
for Kunjannamma and I to visit Sharjah and UAE on our return from Jerusalem .
We had planned a trip to UAE for 3 days. Alex
and we were made to understand that the practice was to issue the transit visa
at the airport. Due to terrorist outbursts the UAE, authorities changed that
system in Sept. beginning. Alex was in regular touch with Raphael, his
son-in-law in Sharjah. After several approaches, Raphael was made to apply for
our visa in the usual way. The application was to go to the ministry to get
their permission. We even thought of the possibility of not getting out of the
airport and wait for the next flight to Trivandrum
on the next day. Raphael was knocking at the doors. Finally, four days before our arrival in
Sharjah we were informed on the phone that the ministry has agreed to issue
special sanction, as we are transit passengers holding ticket to Trivandrum . We were not
sure until we got it at the Sharjah airport on 23 Sept. Thus, the anxiety
continued till we were allowed to go out of the Sharjah airport to the
residence of Raphael. Because the luggage of four of us on our way to Trivandrum was weighty
and large, Booby brother-in-law of Raphael also came to drop us in Raphael’s
flat.
5. Holy
Land Tour
Because of “globality”, fast
transport and internet connectivity, now any can sit before his computer and
see, talk and transact any trade or commerce with anyone in the World. In early
history, caravans and goods moved out over land and sea for trade and commerce. Israel- Canaan- the country of Jews (later
called Palestine )
in those days was on the main road of such movements. Its area is around 20770
Sq.Kms It lies between Europe, Asia and Africa .
So, all mighty hoards. Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, Greeks, Syrians,
Romans and Arabs (in 639 AD) successively captured and owned it. During the
Crusades, the European Christians attacked it many times (from 1099-1270 AD) to
recapture it. It went again into Arabian hands and later to Turks. In 1917, it
became a British protectorate. At the end of the Second World War
Israel State
UNO at the end of W. War 2nd
divided Palestine into two states of Israel and Palestine .
Arabs rejected the proposal. The conflict between the two is the result of the
ancestral and wider Zionist and Arab populations—progenies respectively of
Isaac son of Abraham born to Sara and Ishmael born to the slave Hagar. God said
to Hagar that her son “Would be against everyone and everyone would be against
him”. (Gen.16:12) Anyway, Jews all over the World soon migrated to this Israel , their
original homeland.
Sea of Galilee and such other
areas in northeast was under the control of Jordan . In the 1967 battle, Israel drove Jordan from these places and
occupied those areas. The Palestinian Arabs of today got back from Israel
through little skirmishes and finally
negotiation, the Gaza strip on the Mediterranean Sea coast and the West
bank on the Jordan boarder in the north. After the death of their leader
Arafat, HAMAS a resistance group got control of Palestinian parliament. They
dominate the Gaza strip area while the late Arafat’s FATAH dominate the
Palestinian West Bank area The HAMAS foment problems for Israel with drastic
Israeli reactions. This is the nature of the present unrest in Israel . Series
of international negotiations, conferences and peace proposals to reconcile
them continue.
..
6. Jerusalem
The center of ancient Judaism
was Jerusalem . Babylonians
destroyed the first temple built by Solomon in 587 BC. On the return of Jews
from captivity, they started re-construction of the temple on its old ruins.
After a break, they completed it in 515 BC. This second temple was renovated by
the Roman Governor Herod to please the Jews. He did it very magnificently in 20
BC... Jesus on his way to Gethsemane ,
foreseeing its imminent destruction lamented.
Romans and particularly Hadrian completely destroyed the temple and the
city in 70 AD Emperor Constantine and his mother Helena reinvented Jerusalem in the fourth
Century (around 325 AD) and started the age of Byzantine Christianity. They
built a number of churches and monuments in Jerusalem as memorabilia of Jesus’ mission in
this World. The Muslim onslaught of 636 AD once again destroyed Jerusalem and its
churches. The European Crusaders
re-established Christian supremacy in Jerusalem
to be suppressed again by the Turks in 1517 AD. It continued under Muslim rule
till 1917, when Jerusalem
was made a British Protectorate.
Judaism, Christianity and Islam
are monotheist religions claiming descend from Abraham and his God. However, their Gods are different. According
to some Talmudic traditions of Jews, Jesus is the son of a prostitute. For Islam
he is only a simple prophet. But, for Christians, he is the triune God: the
father, Son and Holy Ghost who came to the World and was crucified. He is to
have a terrible second coming for which we all wait.
Our itinerary of the Holy Land
tour was from Egypt to Israel , Palestine
and Jordan .
Some other tourists start their tour in Jordan
and end it in Egypt .
Thus, we started the journey on the route taken by Moses in the exodus of
Israelites from Egypt to Canaan .
Mesopotamia and Babylonia in
central Asia between the Tigris and Euphrates
rivers was the cradle of the early civilizations. Now this area is Iraq . Garden of
Eden (Geneses 2: 10-14), Tower of Babel (Gen. 11: 1-4), the building of Noah’s Ark (Gen. 6: 13-22) were all in Iraq . Abraham came from Ur
in Iraq (Gen.15:7) to Canaan
(modern Israel )
around 1900 BC. It was his grandson Jacob’s descendants who were enslaved in Egypt . The
Exodus in the Bible is the story of the retrieval of Israelites (Jacob’s
descendants) from Egypt
by God. Moses and his brother Aaron lead them from Egypt
in 1250 BC in the 40 years journey through the Sinai desert to Canaan .
We four, I, Kujannamma, Alex
and Lalitha landed in Cairo , the capital of Egypt on 16th
Sept. noon by the Etihad Air lines. The agents of the Keli Tour operators
received us. Soon we found out that Alex lost his bag in transit, most probably
at Abu Dhabi airport...
Four of his pants—pieces of his suits--, mobile phone, chargers of movie and
still camera were all lost. Luckily, his wallet, passport, etc was in his
pocket.
Cairo
Airport-waiting for the tour group
He ran around to register his complaints while we three
waited in the airport anxiously for over an hour. The rest of the tour party of 47 arrived from
Cochin via Muscat . KELI tours of Cherian Kuriakose,
Mumbai and Rev. Fr. John Sankarathil, Devalokam Aramana, Secretary Marthamariam
Samajam of our Church were the tour conductors. Including them, our group
consisted of seven priests, two nuns, fifteen couples, eight women, and four
men
. We all got into a chartered
coach and traveled through the Cairo city roads
along the banks of the river Nile . Nile is the longest river on earth, very wide and deep;
navigable for big barges loaded with commercial goods. We saw not only barges
and boats, but also very fertile riverbank all along. Dates and even plantains
stooping heavily with fruits, and plants and trees lined our way.
7. Egypt and Cairo
Coptic Church.
First, we went to St.Mary’s
church MAADI. This is built on the site
where the Holy family; Jesus, Mary and Joseph, first stayed a few days before
going further on the boat to south of Egypt. They were fleeing from Bethlehem and King Herod,
on instructions of the Angel. Herod had ordered the massacre of all children below
two years. Inside the church there is an
old well covered with an iron mesh. It is supposed to be the well from which
the holy family quenched their thirst. The church is on the bank of the Nile . Just in front of the church and to its right, very
much on the riverbank is a shrine, where an open holy Bible is kept in a glass
case. The tell-tales of water soaking is evident on the showpiece. The story is
that the Bible was found floating on that spot in the river in 1976. A shrine and altar is built on that place. In
these two churches candles and incense burn. Some of us went down a few steps
to get their hands or feet wet with the Nile
water.
The Holy family stayed in Egypt for two
years until the death of Herod. After that, they returned to Nazareth
in Galilee, away from Bethlehem
and vicinity of Herod’s successor... Jesus grew up in Nazareth as the son of carpenter Joseph. His
public life started in Capernaum and places near
Sea of Galilee .
The next site we visited was
the shrine of St. Mark, the author of second Gospel. He was executed by Romans in Alexandria . The holy relics are now entombed
in this shrine. We prayed at his sepulcher. He was the originator of the Coptic
(Egyptian) Church. Oriental Orthodox Churches with which Malankara Indian
Orthodox Church has Holy Communion are: Coptic, Ethiopian, Armenian, Eritrean
and Syrian (Antiochan) Church. The supreme head of the Coptic Church is Pope
Shenuda III. His cathedral church is very near. It is a magnificent building.
We went in. It was being renovated. Pope was out of station.
Tomb of St. Mark in the shrine
We could not meet His Holiness
and pay our respects. From there we were to go to the Hotel Delta Pyramid for
night rest.
When we were boarding the bus a
very fat Egyptian woman in her forties accosted Alex with a folded palm
“namasthe” and pleaded by gestures to take her photo with our V. Rev. Remban
Gabriel. Alex agreed and had to call him back from the bus. Probably because of
the Masnapsa (special head cover) he was wearing, she perhaps presumed that
Rembachan is a bishop from India
and desired a photo with him. She seemed extremely happy when a couple of
photos were taken, and thanked Alex profusely.
On our way back to the city we
noted that most of the buildings were unfinished and with unplastered walls.
The city corporation levy property tax only on buildings after its completion. Therefore,
owners keep it outwardly unfinished to escape the tax. Egypt is not a rich country. We
were warned that Egyptian pipe water is not potable and we should use only
bottled mineral water. It is costly. One 1.5-liter bottle cost US $ 3. We
rested at the Hotel for the night. It is
a three or four-star hotel. They gave us a buffet dinner of rice, meat, fish
and many other palatable and not so, items.
8. Giza
On 17, we were to be ready at
6.30 Am for breakfast and to bus by seven Am. Elders like me in the party were
awakened by phone bell in the room. We all came down on time for breakfast.
Bread, eggs, and a number of sweet and sour items, tea / coffee were the buffet
menu. We had it quickly and entered our bus. We three had heavier luggage
because we were on our way to Kerala and Alex was to Thailand . Wheeling them out of the
bus to lifts and our rooms and back again to the bus in the next morning was a
task. With our little help, Alex did it for us. Thanks to God for him.
We were warned that we will be
making a 6 ½ hour-long journey by bus through the Egyptian Sinai desert and that
the bus will not stop for rest or for easing us. So, we were to take as little
water as possible in the morning and to carry mineral water for use on the way.
After ascertaining that all our things are in the bus, we started at 7.45 Am to
the Red sea coast. The Egyptian guide who
joined us the previous day and the bus driver comprised the 53 of us in the
bus. While we were going through the
streets of Cairo Fr. Sankarathil led us in the Morning Prayer. We also sang a
few Christian songs, making the tour really a pilgrimage of the faithful.
Our coach stopped at Giza pyramids on the outskirts of the Cairo city. It was 9.25 Am and the hot sun
was blazing on us. . In my College days, I was a student of Ancient History:
particularly of Greece and Rome . Hence, Nile River
Basin
There were a few other tourists
coaches unloading the passengers. We wanted to be the earliest to avoid the
crowd. We were in front of the three
biggest of the 80 and odd pyramids so far discovered. Pyramids are funeral
chambers. Egyptians believed in life after death. Those who had money, used to
arrange for embalming their corpses and preserve them in chambers, along with
articles used by them for future use. Mummified corpses of their chief aids
also used to be entombed with the master’s Mummy. The process of embalming a
corpse is explained in the “History of Herodotus” Vol. I.Bk 2. Para 86. (Written around 460 BC) translated by George
Rawlinson, 2 Volumes, Herodotus toured in Egypt and gathered as much
information as possible to write this part of the history. On Para
124-133 he also describes the method adopted for the construction of the
pyramids of Cheops (Khufu), Chephren and Mycerinus. They were constructed
around 2600 BC. Around there were a number of basements and remnants of smaller
pyramids of lesser chieftains.
Cheops pyramid
Cheops pyramid is the biggest
occupying 13 acres of land, 450 ft high and using 3 million stone blocks, each
weighing about 2.5 tons. Herodotus says that they used some kind of a machine
made from wooden planks for lifting these blocks. Our guide said of a different
method. After the first ground layer of stones, mud banks were built around to
haul the stones to the next higher level. This was repeated till the top was
reached. It took 20 years to construct and another 10 years to scrape off the
mud bank crust. The middle pyramid of the son of the emperor is small compared
to the third one. The coffins containing mummies and other articles were in the
inner chamber at the center of the pyramid. I am leaving out other stories
about pyramids given in Herodotus.
Our leaders allowed us enough
time to go up the stairs to the door to the inner chamber of the big
pyramid. As we had less time, none of us
was allowed to enter the inner chamber.
Entrance to inside
of the pyramid
People are allowed to enter the
chamber of the second small pyramid on payment of an entrance fee of US $5 per
head. Now there is nothing to be seen inside. It is all empty. Thieves have
ransacked all the valuables centuries ago. The mummies have also gone into the
museums in Egypt , England , USA and other places.
Sphinx is a statue on a
pedestal with a human face and the body of a lion in resting position. This
also is a massive structure. Most of us took photos: still and movie, with
these pyramids and Sphinx in the background. A photographer came and arranged
all of us into a group with the pyramids and the Sphinx in the background for a
photo. Those who wanted copies for US $ 4 per copy gave their names. These
copies were given later when we were in the herbal perfume shop. We had taken a
number of photos and movie pictures of all pyramids and Sphinx. Yet I purchased
two copies—one for Alex.
As instructed by our leaders,
we boarded the bus at 10 Am for our next destination, Suez
Canal . The Egyptian tour guide told us that we are about to go
through a long tunnel road under the Suez Canal .
If we are lucky, we may see ships crossing the Suez Canal
just before we enter the tunnel. We were all looking with outstretched necks
like cranes to see the ship. None came to our view. We continued our eastward
journey.
9. Red Sea Crossing.
Our next destination was the
Nuwebia Village Resort in the Gulf of Aqaba in the Red Sea .
The bus was cruising towards the east on more or less straight road through the
desert. Both sides it was arid land of ash like top soil. It reminded the moon surface shown on TV.
By about 11.30 Am we reached an
herbal shop for a stopover. They seated us in a small hall and gave us a
welcome drink of grape juice. Then a sales man around forty in age started
explaining the medicinal value and use of each of the perfume. Meanwhile
another attendant smeared each perfume on the hands of each of us to smell it.
This went on for an hour because they had 15 or 20 varieties of perfumes for
sale. One of it, he explained as midnight perfume. He also told us where to
smear it- the shoulders / mountains, the thighs and the fifth spot being
between the thighs for women and on the machine-gun for men. The smuttiness of
his description made us laugh. Anyway, he was able to sell a good number of
small perfume bottles to us. Alex also purchased a few bottles worth US $ 130
for all his relatives.
From the shop, we walked up to
a nearby hotel for lunch. Around 2 Pm, we were back in the bus. Though it was
very hot outside, air-conditioning everywhere, except the open public road,
saved us from the heat.
Further, on our tour, we
stopped again at a wayside shanty for our evening Tiffin . We brought Tiffin packets on the bus. They gave us
seating space and demanded in return purchase of soft drinks or mineral water.
Most of us obliged. Our packets contained chicken fry; potato filled bonda
balls, two unusually large ripe dates, and guava or pear fruit. It was too
heavy for my stomach to do justice to the contents. In another 30 minutes, we
continued our eastward journey on bus.
Red Sea has two gulfs jutting
into the Eastern desert in Egypt :
Gulf of Suez and Gulf of Aqaba . In between the
two Gulfs is the Sinai wilderness—an extension of the Sinai Desert
All the way through from Suez
Canal to Aqaba Gulf Aqaba Gulf Nuweiba . Our aim was to
reach the Nuweiba Village Resort in South Sinai, in Egypt early enough for a dip in the
Sea. It is a beautiful expansive village resort on the Aqaba Sea Red Sea could not materialize. Nevertheless, me and few
of us rolled up our pants and entered for a couple of feet into the Red Sea , until we were in calf deep water. For me the
division of water into two walls and its closing on the Egyptian army to
destroy them was a real happening. So getting into the Red
Sea at this point was very significant for me. The resort had
boats and diving gear for those who wanted. But, we had no time for such
pleasure.
The name Red
Sea comes from the red colored corals in the sea. Even from the Aqaba Gulf Red Sea is further down south in the map.
In Bible Exo. 13, the Red Sea
crossing of Israelites happened in the Suez
marshy place. It is also presumed to have happened at the Nuweiba beach on the Gulf of Aqaba . A third opinion is that crossing was on Red Sea : but where? I am inclined to believe Ron Wyatt,
the archaeologist that it happened at the Nuweiba beach: exactly at the
location of the Resort where we were staying.
The Aqaba gulf of Red Sea Red Sea in 1210 BC with his Israelite
hoard of 2 to 3 million people. The opposite side of the beach in Aqaba gulf
(north end) is partly in Jordan and the rest in Saudi Arabia . Moses and his people
after crossing the Sea went into the Sinai desert in Saudi Arabia . They camped there in
the foothills of the Sinai
Mountain Mt. Sinai are in Egypt . We could not go to either of
these locations
There are people who question
this miracle of water moving to either side to form a wall to open a Dry Land
Bridge for Israelites to cross the sea. Moses had miraculous powers from God.
(Exo. 4: 3- 5). We know how difficult it is to keep a few people under one’s
command. Moses exhibited his miracle powers given by God a few times to keep
the 2 million within his ranks. The Israelites were fleeing from the chasing
Egyptian Emperor’s army. God devised this scheme to destroy the entire Egyptian
army by drowning them in the Red Sea . When all
the Israelites crossed over to the other side, Moses stretched his hand over
the Sea. The water wall closed on the
chasing Egyptian army. Men, horses and chariots were all drowned. The very high
water walls on either side of the land bridge under the sea miraculously fell
on the Egyptian army drowning and burying them in deep waters of Aqaba Gulf of
Red Sea. (Exo.14:26-29)
With archaeological and
documentary evidences Ron Wyatt, proves that the crossing took place at the
Nuweiba beach. With sonar depth measurements, Ron Wyatt shows the land bridge
under the Sea. He went to this spot in 1978 and 1984, conducted scuba diving to
the Sea bottom, and took photos of wheels of the Egyptian chariots and bones of
drowned army men. (Ron Wyatt- Moses
& the Red Sea Crossing Truth or Fiction- a power point presentation—Source
Internet) With hundreds of evidences, he also states that Bible is “one of the
most accurate books in the World”.
Israelites took 40 years in
their “Exodus” to travel from Ramese (Cairo ) to
Canaan (Jerusalem ).
We covered the distance in 32 hours on bus from 10 Am on 17th to 6
Pm on 18th. We had enough rest on the way and an overnight stay in
Nuweiba Resort. They were on foot and had little idea about the destination.
The map below shows the route we took from Cairo
through the Sinai
Desert
Tour route- From Cairo-through Sinai desert-to Suez Canal –to Nuweiba Beach-
to Taba boarder of Israel-
to Eilat town -to Dead Sea- to Jerusalem Town-to Bethlehem -to
Tel Aviv- to Haifa- to MT.
Carmel- to Sea of
Galilee- toMt. Nebo- to Jordan Boarder.
At Nuweiba, each pair of us was
given a cottage in the village resort for stay. The attendants wheeled our
luggage to our respective cottages. I got cottage 311 and Alex 312. It was
fully furnished to four-star facilities. We were asked to be in the dining hall
before they close at 8 Pm. So we postponed our bath and washing to a
post-dinner time.
After a good sleep, Alex and me
packed our things and waited for the attendants to take our boxes to the bus in
front of the Resort. When they took the boxes and left, we locked our cottages
and moved through the gardens to the dining hall on the sea front. It was only 6.30 Am and the sun was blazing
hot from the eastern horizon. Alex took a number of photos of the gardens and
sea front. Two pleasure boats and a fishing boat were seen at a distance. The
gentle morning breeze was lovingly caressing the Sea to wake it up from the
night sleep. Small wave like movements on the Sea surface was the sign of
awakening sea. A couple of priests and two nuns among us entered the sea to wet
their feet by the lapping ripples of the partially awoken Red
Sea .
At 7 Am, the dining hall
opened. The buffet breakfast menu were too many including four or five sweets
and cakes, cookies, fruits including pears, figs and very ripe black giant size
dates, kebabs, steak, eggs, soft drinks,
coffee, tea and so on. We went after breakfast to the bus just in time and gave
back our room keys to the receptionist. Suddenly Alex noticed that I was not
having my walking stick. He took back
the key, and rushed to the room. He returned with the walking stick.
10. Crossing the Taba Border.
We started at 7.45 Am for a one-hour
drive northward to the Taba Boarder of Egypt
to Israel .
On our right side of the road was the Aqaba Gulf Israel
side. We lugged our bags to the emigration counter of Egypt and then to the security check and
immigration counter of Israel .
It was 200 yards away and the checking was meticulous. We waited in queue for
our turn. Lalitha’s passport and photo were old, much used and full of entries
due to her regular travels. The officers conferred with superiors and finally
got convinced. She was then permitted to go forward.
There were three immigration
counters, one for Israelites only. The checking was slow at the two
counters. Therefore, Kunjannamma and I
went to the vacant counter. Disregarding us, the girl officer took the papers
from one who came after us and processed it. Was I a bit irritated? The officer
then took our passports and papers and remarked that it is a counter for
Israelites only. Yet she punched our papers and permitted us to go into her
country. The special counter was only for the speedy disposal of incoming
Israelites. We had instructions to request to the officers at the counter not
to punch our passports. Instead, they were to issue a punched special slip with
our name and passport number. The officers at the counter also had instructions
to put the Israel
entry stamp only on the slip and not on the passport. The enmity between the
Jews and Arabs is such that if by mistake Israel stamps a passport, that
passport holder cannot get in into any Arab country. Our tour itinerary
included Arab States ,
Palestine and Jordan . We were to preserve that
punched slip—our passport to get out of Israel . One by one, we checked into
Israel and went with our
luggage to the other side where the Israel bus was waiting for us.
Eastern Israel from Eilat up to
Syrian boarder in the north is in the rift valley and lies far below the sea
level The Dead Sea, the Sea of Galilee and river Jordan are along this valley. Dead Sea is 411 meters below the sea level. The south
west of Israel
is the Hanegeve desert. From King Solomon’s days, copper was mined from this
area. Movement of caravans from Jerusalem to Alexandria in Egypt was through this desert. Well-developed
cities and towns like Memphis and Beersheba came up
wherever wells and water were available. Remnants of these ruined cities are
seen in the archaeological excavation sites.
Zionism.
Jews are not only intelligent,
but also very industrious. Many of the University professors and scientists of USA and other
developed countries are Jews. Most of the financial institutions of the Western
World are owned / controlled by Jews. The migrant Jews who came in after the
formation of the Israel State in 1947 made the deserts of Israel into
good arable lands and gardens. From the Bible they identified the trees that
were grown in different parts of Israel
and are now replanting them to make Israel green. Similarly, the wells
of Biblical times are also being dug out to water Israel . Before 1948, there were
only a few Jewish families in Jerusalem , Haifa and Tel Aviv towns in Palestine . The migrant Jews who came in since
then were housed in community homes called Kibbutz. They adopted sprinkle
irrigation and green house cultivation to make intensive use of all possibly
arable land around their Kibbutz. Now they have converted all these lands into
fertile areas and made themselves prosperous. Kibbutz is communal living that
combines socialism
and Zionism.
It started as plantation communities owning everything in common. Later they entered into industrial endeavors.
In course of time individualism cropped in to the decline of Kibbutzim. Some of
them encourage tourism. We went on our route to two Kibbutz’s' common dining
hall for food.
Green Houses
We saw on our way to the Dead Sea , Green houses covered with plastic roofs,
cultivating all kinds of fruits, vegetables and flowers in controlled humidity
and temperature. Their sprinkle irrigation to economize water is now copied by dry
land cultivators everywhere. It is said that they grow and export fruits and
vegetables demanded by the Europeans in seasons when European climate do not
allow cultivating them. Extensive date palms, banana and olive farms were seen
in the rift valley on the right side. The left side was barren hill country.
The hills near the Dead Sea are salty
containing a variety of salts and minerals. The very rare rains wash down the
outer crusts of the salt hills and drain it to the Dead
Sea to make it more and more salty.
Hebron
We were traveling from south to
north along the western shore of the Dead Sea .
Abraham came from Ur in Babylonia to Canaan . Because of too many sheep to graze, Abraham and Lot , his nephew decided to separate. Lot preferred the very fertile Jordan valley and Abraham went to Hebron hills in the west.
11. Sodom and The Dead
Sea
The fertile Jordan valley
of Sid dim and Sodom
selected by Lot were full of tar pits (Gen.14: 8). In due course, the
sinfulness of Sodom and Gomorrah forced God to destroy them by a rain
of burning sulphur. Everything was destroyed. (It became the Dead
Sea .) Lot and his family were
spared. They were asked to run for life to the western hills and not to look
back. (Gen.19:12-21). Lot ’s
wife looked back at what she had to forgo and was turned into a pillar of salt.
(Gen. 19:26). Our bus stopped for a couple of minutes for us to see a solitary
salt pillar among the hills on our left side of the road. It is said to be Lot ’s wife.
Ein Gedi.
We also passed Ein Gedi—an
Oasis on the western shore of the Dead Sea in
the Old Testament times. Ein Gedi is between Hebron
hills and the Dead Sea . The Dead
Sea has receded eastward due to evaporation and has become more
salty. New modern roads have now come up further down near the Seashore. So,
the towns and cities of old times are now on the left side of the new road and
away from the Dead Sea . Near the road on the left,
there are many small salt hills. Further left in the interior there were little
rocky mountains, caves and hot and fresh water springs. During rains fresh rain
water gush down, as a spread out river, to the Dead Sea .
Even now, tourists may face such roadblocks of rushing water.
David hid fleeing from King
Saul’s wrath in the hill caves in Ein Gedi (1 Samuel. 23:14). David instead of
cutting off Saul’s head cut off a piece of his coat while he was easing in a
cave (1. Samuel. 24:4) He did this to prove to Saul that he (David) is not an
enemy, but a friend of Saul. King Saul thus reconciled to David. (Ibid. 24:
7-22). After Saul’s death David became king of Judah (1010-970 BC)
.Masada.
Another area we passed on our
route was Masada . Guide told us the story of this Desert
fortress overlooking Dead Sea . On the eastern side,
it is a steep rocky fall of 450 meters to the Dead Sea .
Hearing the harrowing story, I looked up the internet for more and correct
information. King Herod constructed this fortress during 37 to 31 AD to protect
himself from Jews. The only written account of this incident is of Josephus
Flavius, a Roman Governor at that time in Galilee .
In 66 AD, there was Jewish rebellion against the Romans. Romans routed the
Jews. So some Zealots ran into the fortress and stay put there. They stocked enough food, water and other
supplies. Then they raided Jerusalem
and harassed Romans. Therefore, Flavius Silva the Roman Governor marched with a
large army and made a siege of the fortress. 930 including children under the
leadership of Eleazar realized their plight and decided to kill themselves than
be killed by Romans. Ten of them were chosen to kill all others and to commit suicide.
Two women and a child hid in a cave and survived the massacre. Josephus got the
narration from them. Archaeologists have dug up the beautiful hill palace,
rooms and storehouses, water ducts and tank constructed by Herod. Two skeletons of a young couple and that of a
little child with the pleated long hair have been dug up and are preserved in
the Rockefeller Museum Masada
is a term that springs a fountain of patriotism in Jews. They vow that Masada will never again be allowed to be repeated.
Qumran and
Essenes monks.
Further up, on the shore of the
Dead Sea is Qumran where the religious sect of
Essenes scribes copied the famous Dead Sea Scroll. A Bedouin boy named Muhammad
rearing his sheep discovered this scroll of the books of Bible in 1947. In
search of one of his sheep, he threw a stone into a cave. A tinkling sound came from the cave. He with
a friend explored the cave and found a jar. There was this scroll in papyrus
neatly rolled and preserved in skin. They sold it to an antique merchant for a
small sum. He took it to the Antiochan Syrian bishop Jesu Samuel Mar Athanasios
of Markose Dayara. . Experts told the bishop that it is a very old hand written
Hebrew book of Isaiah of the Bible. Realizing its antique value, he sailed to USA and conducted
a series of its exhibition. Thus, he sold it to the highest bidder, a Jew for
US $ 0.25million. This discovery leads
to a series of searches of the caves (nearly 200) in Qumran .
Practically all the books of the Bible were recovered. They are now kept in the
museums in Israel .
These books were hand copied by
the Essenes monks. These monks were a group of Jews who returned from
Babylonian captivity. Finding that Judaism has deteriorated, they started their
puritan version of it some when around 150 BC. The community was of monks
devoted to spiritualism. They lived in the desert caves waiting for their Messiah.
By around 70 AD, this community disintegrated.
We stopped for lunch and then moved
to a Spa in the Dead Sea . This Sea is the
lowest spot on earth. Hence, the oxygen content of its air is the highest. The Seawater
is rich in minerals and salts. It is nearly 40% salty and 10 times more salty
than the ordinary seawater. This high
density of the water makes you to float in it. No one can be drowned in the Dead Sea . You will only float. However, we have to be
careful that even a drop of its water should not get even accidentally into
your eye. The eyeballs and cornea may be bruised and wounded by the salt
crystals. You may even loose eyesight. Persons with high blood pressure may
aggravate it by bathing in the water or sea mud.
We had instructions to bring
towels and dress to change for bathing in the Sea. Alex, Lalitha and me floated
in the sea for about 10 minutes. Then I joined a group taking fresh water bath
under an overhead pipe system fitted with many taps on a circular pipe. Each
opened by a hanging chain. Pull the chain. Water gushes on to your head. We
were a medley: men, women, Indians, Westerners, and yellow skinned; and even Negros . I went into an enclosure for changing while Alex
and wife went up the steps to the spa‘s changing rooms.
14 different kinds of salts are
extracted from the salt farms in the area. Powdering of rocks and stones of the
sea and nearby salt hills to extract the salts is a major industry. Potash used
for the manufacture of fertilizers is an important export of Israel . Dead Sea water is said to be medicinal for curing skin
diseases. Plenty of multi-storied hotels have sprung up to lodge people from
all over the World to come and stay for one day to weeks, to be cured by
bathing in the sea. Some smear the body in the black mud of the Sea and wash it
off after hours. I saw a few completely smeared in this dark mud, along with me
on the shore. Dead Sea resources are encashed by Israel in many ways. Seawater and
its mud are processed as cakes, soaps, creams and what not. They are
beautifully packed in colourful cartons to lure the customers. After bathing,
the bus took us to a nearby medicinal shop, which has a stock of these soaps
and creams. Some of us purchased a few items from that shop.
It is feared that in another 50
years the Dead Sea may dry up and become
history. Daily three million tons of its water is evaporated. During the last
50 years, the sea level has gone down by three meters or more. The roads and
luxury hotels have all come up on such sea drained new land. Jordan River
originates in the spring of Banias at the foot of Mt.
Hermon and flows into the Sea of Galilee . From there it flows to Dead
Sea . The river is 251 KM long. Now the latter part of the river
has dried up. However, Government is diverting water from Sea of Galilee to an
artificial canal to keep Jordan River and the Dead Sea
alive. This project is not a success. They are now scheming to bring water from
Aqaba Gulf
to Dead Sea .
We left the Dead Sea around 5
PM to Jerusalem .
Jericho the
oldest city was very near our bus route. Joshua, the leader of the Israelites
in their Exodus to Canaan in 1210 BC,
conquered it. Modern Jericho
is a little south east of the old Jericho and
north of the Dead Sea . In the 1967 war, Israel wrested from Jordan ,
Jericho and the
areas around. But, in the peace talks, they gave West Bank area to Palestine . Jericho is now in the West Bank area of (Arab) Palestine . We passed it
twice on our tour, but could not go in. It was
on this road from Jerusalem to Jericho that robbers as referred to in the
Bible attacked a man. (Lk. 10:30-36). It was in those days a rugged country
place of winding roads. While the priest and the Levite saw the wounded man and
left on their way, the Good Samaritan (of the Biblical parable) attended to him
and took him to the nearest inn to be nursed and cured.
12.Jerusalem City
We were coming down a steep
road from the east through a valley to climb up the Jerusalem Hill. “The
deepest darkness” of King David’s Psalm 23.4 came to my mind. In those days,
the narrow way in this valley must have been dark with thick forest and beasts
to frighten any sheep. The golden dome of the mosque El Aksa (Dome of the Rock)
glittered in the evening Sun inviting us to Jerusalem —the
“Mecca ” of
Christendom. The left turn in the road
took us to be between the Sun and the Dome. The golden dome dazzled in the
evening rays of the Sun.
Because of the roadblock, we
slowed down. This gave us an opportunity to see the whole Jerusalem city on the slope on our left. On
our right side was the highest point of the Jerusalem Temple Jerusalem .
Caveat.
Dung Gate.
At the Dung Gate there was very
heavy rush. We queued and edged forward for about four hundred meters into the
Wailing Wall square. It was the western wall of the old Jerusalem temple. Muslims constructed their
mosque over its ruins. So now, it is part of the “Dome of the Rock” complex.
The lowest seven rows of huge cut stones of the wall were part of the original
wall of the temple. Jews were praying with forward shaking heads near this
wall. Jewish guards insisted every one to wear a cap to go near the wall. Those
not having cap were given free paper caps. Women were allowed to cover their
heads with cloth or sari ends. There is a belief that your prayers scribbled on
paper and tucked in the crevices of this wall will be answered by God. Therefore,
some were doing this and others were reciting their prayers. Batches of
tourists go near the wall to be edged out after a few minutes, by other
batches.
The Wailing Wall
A large number of Jews were
viewing a passing out parade of young Israel military cadets. The army
had temporarily cloth-fenced an area in the square for the parade. Their
announcements on the microphone, drums, band music and the din and bustle of
the pilgrim crowd created pandemonium. A couple of hundred military chaps in
uniform and rifles were also on the scene. In the wake of the Palestine , Israeli conflict, and the jostling
of Jews, Palestinian Arabs and Christian pilgrims and tourists, instilled
anxiety as to what may happen next.
A roll call of our badge
numbers was then heard from our leaders to ensure that all of us are present to
return to our waiting bus. On behalf of the tour operators, our Israel guide had given us booklets and maps of Israel and a green P-cap on the start of the Israel tour.
Locating us in the crowd was easy with the green P-cap. The bus took us around
7.30 Pm to the four star multi-storied Tower Hotel of Jerusalem. 18th
and 19th nights, we were to stay in the same hotel. Some tourist
groups stay 2 or 3 days in Palestine and visit Jerusalem and other places in Israel . We stayed for 3 days in Jerusalem and visited Bethlehem
in Palestine . Some
of the pilgrim centers visited by them, we could not go and vice versa.
Hanging
lights.
Alex and I went out after
dinner for a stroll. From the hotel, we turned left and I was struck by a
stunning sight of thousands of bright lights in the sky. I was wondering at it
and storming my brain for a reason. Then Alex said it is the street and
buildings lights on the hanging slope of the city. The road level we walked was
so beneath them that the scene was magical.
We were seeking an IT shop. Alex
wanted re-chargers for his movie and still cameras. He also wanted to download
our tickets from internet for return journey from Amman . We were to leave the tour group at Amman in Jordan
to be on our own itinerary to Trivandrum .
After a long walk in the night we located a shop, got the things we wanted and
returned by 11Pm.
13. Enter Bethlehem
in Palestine
Friday 19th Sept.
2008 was the fourth day of the tour; we started around 8 Am on our bus with the
routine prayers and singing. Being the Ramadan month and Friday, holy for
Arabs, the crowd during daytime was scanty. Therefore, we changed our tour
route to go first to Bethlehem in Palestine .
We were to celebrate Holy
Qurbana in a Bethlehem
church. But, the time allotted to us was 12 Noon. Therefore, we went first to a
Syrian shop for Religious Souvenirs. Bethlehem
is a city of artisans. They manufacture souvenirs. It is a cottage industry. Many are engaged in
the manufacture of crosses and artifacts with olive wood. Our group including
priests and nuns purchased a number of items. Metal and wooden crosses in all sizes, from one inch to table top size,
vestry items, jute bags and tea shirts with souvenir prints on them, costly
icons and a number of souvenir trinkets were for sale. They were all very
highly priced and offered at a 5% discount hoax. I purchased a few one inch wooden crosses and
two red T-shirts for casual ware.
Authenticity of
sites,
The crowd was thin and so we
moved after the shopping to the front of the World renowned Nativity Church in
Bethlehem- the birth place of Jesus (Mt.2:1). The Roman emperor Augustus Caesar
ordered a population census for fixing tax on the citizens. Joseph being in the
lineage of David had to register his name in Bethlehem . Joseph and Mary went from Nazareth . They could not
find a room in Bethlehem
to stay. Jesus was thus born in a manger-stable. The church built over it came
to be known as the Nativity
Church
Alex and Lalita
It was Empress Helena, mother
of Constantine
who identified the Holy Cross on which Jesus was crucified and other places of
importance in his life. How did she locate those places? Roman Empire was divided around 309 AD into two empires with Rome and Constantinople
as capitals. In due course, Constantinople
became more important. Constantine
was the emperor.
If some one ask 50 years after
your death to a resident near your present residence, “Where did you (named so
and so) lived? “. Quite probably, they will express their total ignorance of
such a person. Then how is that, 300 years after His death, Helena identified the important places in the
life of Jesus? She heard stories about the life and mission of Jesus and became
convinced. She became a Christian. One night she dreamt that the cross on which
Christ was crucified lies buried in a spot in Israel . She went in 326 AD to Bethlehem . Her workers
started digging the place. At last, she found a cross deep down in a well;
probably formed later by the walls erected around it other constructions of
succeeding generations. It is said that
miracles happened to all persons who handled or touched it. They got convinced
of the originality and sanctity of the cross. She called a meeting of forty
most knowledgeable persons in the empire She deputed them to search all records
and all kinds of information from all parts of the world to locate the places
of importance in the life of Jesus. They were to report back in a definite period.
They all returned and submitted their reports before juries. 26 of the 40
corroborated in pointing out the same locations for each incident. It is these
locations that are now venerated with shrines and churches built over them in
the fourth century. They are likely to be the original places. Believing them
to be so, we venerate them. But, for some of the locations, now there are
different claimants. Greek Orthodox Church, Roman Catholic Church and Armenian Churches
Boswell of
Christ.
Christ the teacher got St. Paul to be the
“Boswell to Johnson”, to interpret his teachings. St. Paul interpreted and carried the messages
and mission of Jesus through his speeches and letters. Empress Helena made Jerusalem the “Mecca ”
of Christendom. She identified the places where the historical person Jesus
lived his sacrificial mission in this World. Thus, St. Paul and Empress Helena together erected
the edifice of Christendom. Jesus, the Guru, St. Paul the interpreter and Helena the
locator were the builders of the first Christendom (Byzantine).Emperor
Constantine who became a Christian gave royal imprint to Christianity. By the
early fourth century, Christian religion thus became not only a religion of the
poor, but also of all, including the rich of the World.
The Quintessence of this World
Religion is simple to comprehend, though a little difficult to practice. The
Son God incarnated as man to teach humanity self-sacrifice and Universal love
as the method of building a new society, which we call Heaven (Mt.20:28). He
taught us to create the Heaven immediately in this World itself, by practicing
his own example of “Universal Brotherhood of man under the Fatherhood of God”.
His great command was “Love one another just as God loves you”. (Jon. 15:12).
God loved man so much to sacrifice Himself on the Cross to absolve men for all
their disobedience and sins. The essence of Christianity is “Love your neighbor,
as you love yourself”. (Mk.12:31).
14. Nativity Church
The Nativity Church Nicaea . Huge stone blocks
like that of the pyramids were used in the construction.*
The Persian invaders of the 7th century destroyed every Christian
church and altar. However, this church was spared. The fresco on the wall
depicting the visit of the three Magi from the east had Persian dress on them.
That possibly prevented them from destroying the church
Prophet Micah had predicted the
birth of Jesus in the 8th century BC “God will bring a ruler for Israel from Bethlehem (Mic.5:2). The prediction became
true. He was born in the stable of a cave in Bethlehem . An altar was later built over this
cave. A silver star was inlaid on the
floor to mark the spot of birth. This altar belongs to the Greek Orthodox
Church. Another altar below this belongs to the Latin Catholic Church. The
altar on the side belongs to the Armenian Church. . Roman Emperor Hadrian
(76-138 AD) closed the entrance to this church
and erected a temple over it for a Heathen goddess. Later it was demolished and
the church re-opened for believers
We had to wait a few minutes
before the low-door-entrance to the Nativity
Church
Holy Manger steps.
We have to go down the narrow
steps on the right side of the altar to the front of the Holy Manger. There
again there is a circular shaped five stairs downwards. After that, you lower
your head to enter the Holy Manger. You are now in the birth spot of Jesus and
the Silver Star. It is written here, “Here Jesus Christ was born of virgin
Mary”. We knelt, one by one before the Silver Star in veneration. A number of
incense burners in silver and gold casing hang in the grotto.
The Star at the Birth Place of Jesus in
the Nativity Church
Just on, the left side off the Nativity church is the
Latin church of St. Catherine into which we
emerge from the grotto. Every year, the Latin
Patriarch celebrates the Christmas Eve in this church. Pilgrims from all over
the World come to attend. Under this church, there is the grotto of St Jerome where the saint
spent 40 years translating the Bible from Hebrew to Latin. He is said to be
buried here. We also saw another grotto of innocents close by. This is the
place marked to remember the hundreds of children below 2 years massacred on
the orders of King Herod. (Mt. 2:16). From there we enter into the open
quadrangle. A photographer arranged us in front of the Nativity church for a
group photo. He sold copies to those of us who wanted at US $ 5 per copy.
Celebration of
Eucharist in Bethlehem
By 11.30 Am, we climbed a few
steps up in to a beautiful small church. Here we were to have our Holy Qurbana
of the tour St. Mary’s Syrian Orthodox Church is an Antiochan Syrian parish
church. The priest gives it out to tourists for celebration of Holy Qurbana for
a small fee. They assist the tourists in all ways by supplying Lahamo (leavened
bread) and Mass wine for the Holy Eucharist.
Our tour group included V. Rev.
Gabriel Remban of Pathanapuran Dayara, six other priest and two Nuns. One
priest was Fr.Dr. Joseph Thomas of Manganam
Marthoma Church
We have all earlier
participated in our life in Holy Qurbana. However, to have it at Bethlehem , the birthplace
of Jesus is a lifetime chance for one from Kerala. Recalling through Holy Mass
the birth and the incidents in His life, the last supper and institution of
Holy Qurbana, His crucification and resurrection was all imprinting indelible Christian
faith in us. Partaking in His body and blood through the Holy Communion was
indeed God’s Grace showering on us. Kunjannamma, like all others were in real
ecstasy. We thank God for this great blessing. From the Church we came down to
a nearby hotel for a luxurious lunch. There was a small park in front of the
hotel with a number of olive trees. Some of us plucked unripe fruit to feel it.
It looks just like our hog-plum (Ambazhanga)
Milk grotto
We boarded the bus to go to the
nearby Milk grotto and the attached church. We got out of the bus and climbed a
small hill to the front of the church. This is very near the Nativity church.
The grotto is much below the ground level.
Joseph and Mary in their flight to Egypt rested for a while to feed
the baby. The legend is that a drop of breast milk fell on the ground. The soil
became milk-white. This is not mentioned
anywhere in the Bible. However, it is a strong tradition.
Entrance to the
Milk Grotto church
Through a rock cut window in
the wall of the church, we could look out and see the Shepard’s field at the
bottom of the hill. For lack of time, we could not go to the Shepherd’s Field
church in the valley. It is here that the Angels appeared and announced the
birth of Jesus (Lk. 2: 10-14). “For today there was born for you in the city of
David a Savior
who is Christ the Lord”. We went again down through another flight of steps to
the Milk grotto. The walls of the grotto
are all chalky. The white powder that falls from the rock is collected in very
small phials. It is sold for a small price to the tourists. Tasting it is believed to make barren women
to conceive. Dr. A. A. James of Chittur ,
Cochin
15. Re-enter Israel—Ein
Karem
Birth place of St. John Mepral St
From the Milk grotto, we
surfaced and returned to our bus to re-enter Israel . At the boarder, we left the Palestinian bus.
We went through the routine security checking and boarded our Israeli bus
waiting on the other side with our luggage. We entered a small town Ein Karem
in Israel 7 Km southwest of Jerusalem , and only
3 or 4 Km from Bethlehem . Zachariah and Elizabeth, parents of John the
Baptist lived here. St. Mary visited Elizabeth
already six months pregnant. St. Mary had only just conceived Jesus. When St
Mary, mother of Jesus, greeted Elizabeth ,
her babe (John) leaped in her womb (Lk. 1:41). A church was built on this site
in the 4th century. It was destroyed. The present Church of Visitation St. John
the Baptist. Our St. John’s church in Mepral, Kerala , India
Via Dolorosa
Our next tour was to the Via
Dolorosa- the way of the cross. The Catholic Encyclopedia gives 14 stations in
the Way of the Cross. It is the Roman Catholic Church that developed in the 17th
century, this concept of 14 stations in the path of Jesus to Calvary .
The stations where the pilgrims stop and pray are:
1. The
praetorium where Christ is condemned to death by the people and Pilate
(Lk.23:23-24)
2. The
cross is laid on him
3. His
first fall under the weight of the cross
4. He
meets his mother.
5. Simon
of Cyrane is made to bear the cross (Lk.23:26).
6. Veronica
wipes the sweat of his face. It is said, the face got imprinted on this cloth
7. His
second fall with the cross.
8. Meets
the wailing women of Jerusalem .
(Lk. 23:28).
9. His
third fall with the cross.
10. He
is stripped of his garments. (Jn.19:23)
11. His
crucification at Golgotha .
12. His
death on the cross. (Lk. 23:46).
13. Holy
Body is taken down from the cross by Aremathea Joseph.
14. Jesus
is laid in the tomb. (Jn.19:41).
The Encyclopedia says that
there are other variations for this “Way of the Cross”. It can have more or
less stations according to your own convictions. Anyway for the pilgrim, it is
a real experience to go through, reciting prayers and remembering the
sufferings Jesus had on His way to the cross.
We Followed Christ on the Way of the Cross
Since it was the Ramadan month
and Friday evening there was heavy rush of vehicles blocking the road traffic. People
were rushing home to break their fast. After trying to go by bus, we embarked
on the roadside and walked down a few steps to the Lion Gate of the walled city
of Jerusalem .
We got inside into a small quadrangle. It is part of the old Praetorium where
Pilate tried Jesus and handed Him over to the crowd to crucify Him. Praetorium
was in the extensive Antonia Fortress built by Herod in 36 BC. Pilate lived and
held his court here. Titus later destroyed it in 70 AD. The Gabatha (stone seat) on which Pilate
sat and declared the verdict to crucify Jesus (Jon.19:13) was here. This is the first station of the Way of the
Cross. It is on the right side of the small quadrangle. On turning on your heel
around is the Church of Flagellation.
Jesus was scourged here at the pillar. He received the Cross. A Crown of Thorn
was pressed on to His head. The inside of the dome above the altar of the
church has a mosaic of this Crown of Thorns. From this second station, we moved
a few steps left and were in the third station. Here was His first fall under
the heavy weight of the cross. The fourth station was where Jesus met his
mother. We came out to a narrow road and there was an avalanche of “Nombu
Murickal” Muslims rushing home on their feet. We eased us to the right side of
the road and edged on in single file to stations 5, 6 etc; up to 9th
station of Via Dolorosa. Reliefs of Jesus falling under the cross, the number
of the stations are all etched on the walls of the way of the cross. At one point,
we passed an Egyptian Monastery, where the monks were chanting prayers. 
First fall of Christ on Via Dolorosa.
The last five stations are
inside the complex of the Holy Sepulcher Church. Emperor
Constantine first built it immediately after the Council of Nicaea. (325 AD).
The Empress Helena also identified the tomb of Jesus. Three buildings were
built on the area. A round church over the empty grave of Jesus, a big Basilica
called Martyrium and in between a
shrine over Golgotha- the place where Christ was crucified These were destroyed by the Persians in 614
AD, rebuilt and was again destroyed in 1009 by Caliph Hakkim. The crusaders
reconstructed it in 1149 AD. Now it is all a single complex belonging to Greek
Orthodox Church. However, it has altars of Armenian and other Christian sects.
From outside, if we look, we see two arches of which the right one is the
entrance. Over the roof, we find two domes. At all the five stations inside, the
pilgrims stop and pray. 13th station is where the body was taken
down and kept on a stone for anointing it and preparing it for burial. They
keep the fragrance of the marble stone for the pilgrims to smell.
The tomb of Christ
The inner tomb of Christ in the
complex is the last (14th) station of the Way of the Cross. It has
an entrance called the Chapel of Angel.
It is here that the Angel declared that Jesus resurrected. We had to wait there
for 15 minutes because a high mass by Bishops and monks were going on. They
finally came in a candle procession and showed the censer at the chapel. Only
when they left we were permitted to enter into the chapel in fives. Guards
control the entry into the inner tomb.
Holy Sepulcher
A marble slab covers the sacred
tomb. The body of Christ was here from Good Friday to Easter Sunday. There is
only just enough space to kneel at the mouth of the tomb you kneel down, one by
one, at the marble slab and turn to the left to go up by the same door to the
chapel of Angel. When the former five
return the next five is allowed to go in. Beneath the church there is said to
be the well in which the original cross was found.
From there we went
up to Golgotha and Calvary
(12th station). Here they keep a glass-encased rock on which stood
the original cross of Jesus. One has to
climb up a few steep winding steps to enter the small shrine to pray. At all these stations in this building,
different sects of Christians practice their religious ceremonies. 
Steps to Golgotha
mount
Many Protestants believe that
the place of crucification and resurrection took place not here, but just
outside the wall of Jerusalem
north of Damascus Gate. (Jn. 19:41). This place is the Garden Tomb of Christ discovered in 1883 by the British General
Charles Gorden. We could not go there. We reached the Tower hotel by 7.30 PM
and rested for the night.
Mount of Olives (Ref; website Bibleplaces.com and Microsoft internet explorer)
Next day 20 Sept., was our 5th
day of the tour. We moved out of the hotel with our baggage. We were leaving Jerusalem to the Sea of Galilee .
First, we went to the Mount of Olives . It is a
2900 ft high hill. It is about 300 ft above the Jerusalem city. Kidron valley lies between
the mount and the Jerusalem
Temple Gethsemane garden is on its western slope. Even now,
there are olive trees in this garden. Some of the trees are very old and said
to be those that existed in the time of Jesus.
There were also small caves on the slope. From the top of the mount, one
can get a complete picture of the Jerusalem
city on the opposite hill.
The Mount
of Olives slopes down to the Kidron valley in the west. There are
thousands of Jewish tombs on this slope. Jews believed that the Lord would come
on the Final Day of Judgment and stand on the Mt. of Olives
On the top of the mount, there
is the Church of Ascension
Lords Prayer
We were now in the Mount of Olives . Jesus and His disciples often stayed
here in a cave. It is here that He taught them the Lords Prayer (Pater noster). An altar was constructed on this spot. This prayer is written in
44 different languages on the walls of the cave and adjoining walls on the
way. It was a pleasant experience to
read the Lords prayer in Malayalam. 35 million Malayalees is a microscopic minority
of the 6500 million humanity. Their language Malayalam is only one in the
thousands of the dialects used in the World. It is a matter of great pride for
every Keralite and its Diaspora all over the World that, their language is one
of the 44 in which Lords Prayer is displayed. Alex took photos of it and of us
in front of the Malayalam version.
Patter Noster-They have written Lord’s
Prayer on the wall in 44 languages. We are standing in front of the Lord’s
Prayer in Malayalam.
The last
Supper
The Bethany
and Beth phage are just on the eastern slope of the Mt. of Olives Jerusalem
(Mat.21:1-13) got the donkey for the ride from here. It was to this Bethany that he returned
after the ride for the night rest. Again two days before the Passover, it was
at Simon’s house in Bethany
(Mat.26:2) that Mary Magdalene anointed Jesus by pouring a very expensive
bottle of perfume on His head. It was symbolic of His preparation for the
impending supreme sacrifice of death on the wooden cross.
We started our descent from the
top of the mount. To repeat, Jerusalem city is
on the west of Mt.
Olives Temple with
the City of David
on its south. Later the New City
came up westward on the slope above the old city. The Roman Fort and Praetorium
of Pilate were outside the ancient wall of this expanded city. The Jerusalem city later further expanded upwards to include
Herod’s palace and Golgotha . The present city
wall encompasses all these.
All Jews used to come inside
the Jerusalem
city only rarely. Celebrations of the Passover, and Pentecost were such
occasions. Jesus and disciples came to
the upper room in Zion
mount to celebrate the Passover, called the “Festival of the unleavened bread”.
It was here that Jesus had the Last Supper and instituted the Holy Qurbana.
(Mat.26:26-27). This incident is written in all the four gospels. Eastern Orthodox Christians believes that the
institution of the Eucharist as the “inauguration of the “The New Covenant
mentioned by Prophet Jeremiah and it was fulfilled at the Last Supper, when
Jesus said, “Take, eat; this [bread] is My Body; which is broken for you.
Partake of the cup, drink; this [wine] is My Blood, which is shed for many; for
the remission of sins”. Many
other Christians view it as the new Passover communion. Jesus himself thus
becomes the Passover bread and wine. We are familiar with different versions of
the picture of the Last Supper. Here is an Icon of the Eastern Orthodox Church
drawn by a Russian painter, Simon Ushakov taken. (Ref: Internet)
Last Supper
The exact site of the Last
Supper is not known. We now only know
that the Last Supper Room was on the Mt. Zion Mount Zion lies to the
south of today’s city walls. It is possible that the present site stands over
or near the original site of the Last
Supper Room.
Sehion Malika inside the city
The Last Supper Room and the Room of Pentecost
are assumed to be the same. Later, Muslims made it into a mosque. The Catholic
Church purchased it from them and retains it as a shrine. It is near the Dormition Abbey where St. Mary died.
She died in a house inside the city. But, the body was carried ceremoniously to
a rock cut cave outside the city far down in the Kidron Valley
.
Tomb of King David (970 BC)
People believe it to be located
beneath this Last Supper Upper Room in
Mt. Zion
The descent from Mt. Olives to Jerusalem
Christ rode this way down on the donkey on the Hosanna day
We started from Mount of Olives
on the route Jesus took for His Triumphant Entry into Jerusalem at Bethphage (Mt.21:1- 3). Jesus
rode on a young donkey accompanied by a multitude-chanting hosanna. They shouted,
“Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord”. (Lk. 19:38). It was a
great procession to the Jerusalem
temple. The entire riff and raff of the city and some others joyously
participated in the chanting. Jesus’ mission on Earth was coming to an end. His
speeches and actions enraged the Jewish priests and elders. On entering Jerusalem temple he drove
out all who were buying and selling (Mt. 21:12), charging them of making the
sacred temple a cave of thieves.
We move down on the Hosanna way
The descent from Mt. Olives
On the left of our way was the Dominus Flevit (The Lord Wept) church.
One could see the temple mount and the entire Jerusalem city from this slope. This is the
spot where Jesus looked at the city of Jerusalem
and cried. He wept foreseeing the
impending destruction of the magnificent city. It was the one rebuilt by King
Herod when he was in charge of Israel
area of the Roman Empire .
16. Gethsemane Olive Garden
In our tour, we then turned to
the right and into Gethsemane in Olive Garden
area. It is here that Jesus went to pray after His Last Supper. On the right of
the road, three or four old first century tomb relics of Jews were seen
preserved in a cave. In the Gethsemane garden,
Jesus knelt down and prayed in agony. “He fell on His face praying “My Father,
if it possible let this cup pass from Me; however not as I will but as You
will” (Mt.26:39). “His sweat fell to the ground like great drops of blood”.
(Lk.22:44). The church built on the rock on which he prayed is the Church of Agony Church of All
A 2000-year-old Olive tree.
The Gethsemane
olive garden is now fenced and entry is controlled. It has over twenty old
olive trees. Of them eight trees are very old and have massive thick trunk.
They are said to be 2000 years old. Scientists have tested the cells of the
tree trunks. The tests proved them to be really so old.
Down on the donkey ride road,
there is a spot on the left wall to mark the place where Judas kissed Jesus
(Mt.26:48) to betray him to the priests and elders of Caiaphas, the chief
priest. What was the need to kiss Jesus? Though he was the leader, he was
apparently one among the thirteen in dress and outward appearance. Therefore,
Judas had to kiss to show him to the soldiers
Just after the garden, further
down, is the Church of tomb of Virgin Mary referred above.
This site belongs to the Orthodox Church.
It was destroyed and later rebuilt by the Crusaders. We have to go down
from the entrance through a number of steps to the bottom floor. The interior
of the crypt is marked as the traditional place of St. Mary’s tomb. It is
behind an altar. Lalitha got a chance to kneel inside the crypt and pray. Monks
wait there to control the crowd. There are many other alters dedicated to
parents of St. Mary, and others. The Greek and Armenian Churches
We returned in quick time to
board the bus to go to the other side of the Kidron valley and to the Palace of Caiaphas Gethsemane and
taken as prisoner. He was led through the Kidron valley and up to this palace.
The Sanhedrim tried him, charged Him for blasphemy, and condemned to execution.
He was then put in a dungeon in this palace.
Peter Gallicantu.
Peter denies Christ- Cock crows three times. The cock is on top of the
pillar
It was here that during the
trial Peter denied three times any knowledge of Jesus before the rooster crowed
twice. (Mt.26:69-75). When “The Lord
turned round and looked straight at Peter”, he felt the shock and self-pity of
his life. So, Peter went out and wept bitterly. (Lk.22: 61-62).This place is
called Peter Gallicantu. There is a statue depicting Peter’s denial and three
cocks crowing on three sides of the statue. Standing there, one can see the way
Jesus was brought from Gethsemane through the
Kidron valley to the Caiaphas palace. Over that palace now, there is a church. One
can go deep down into the dungeon where Jesus was imprisoned. An open Bible
with Psalms 55-58 is kept on a podium. Pilgrims go down and read this portion.
It gives one an idea of the mind of the “man Jesus” and the agony he went
through, predicted by the Psalmist King David a thousand years before the birth
of Jesus Christ. Next day morning Jesus was taken to Pilate and then to Golgotha to be crucified.
Jonah goes to Nineveh
By11. 30 Am we bid good-bye to Jerusalem and was going
by the National High way towards Tel Aviv. This city on the Mediterranean coast
is 62 Km from Jerusalem .
It is the cultural and financial center and the major Air port of Israel Jaffa ). The legend about
Jonah and the whale happened here. God wanted Jonah to go to Nineveh . Jonah boarded the ship from this
Joppa to go to Tarshis (Jonah .1:17).God caused a great storm threatening to
capsize the ship. All the sailors prayed to God. They threw Jonah to the Sea to
calm it. A whale swallowed Jonah and spewed him to the beach. Jonah was thus
forced to go to Nineveh .
Because of his preaching people fasted and prayed to eschew their wickedness.
God then desisted from punishing them and saved the city from destruction. The
canonical Nineveh Fast of our Church is associated with this incident. Prayer
and fasting can change impending disaster in life in good time of God. It is
here that St. Peter brought back Tabitha, a woman follower, to life
(Acts.9:40-41) and stayed with Simon the tanner for many days.
Caesarea .
We moved on further to Haifa city in the north-
a great seaport. It was already 2.15 Pm and we went into a Kibbutz near the
city for lunch. The menu was many including fruits. However, some were
unpalatable for Kerala palate. The Jews have made the area a garden of all
varieties of fruit bearing plants and trees. Abundance was evident all around.
We were back in the bus and moved on to Caesarea .
Herod in the name of Augustus Caesar first built it into a beautiful city.
Cornelius was the first converted Christian of this city. Hearing the preaching
of Peter in the house of Cornelius many gentiles became Christians. Soon it
became famous as center of Christian Learning. On the sea side of the road we
traveled was the ruins of the old Roman city and the city later rebuilt by the
Crusaders .preserved by the Archaeological Department.
Muhraqa
Trees abound in this very
fertile area. It is a beautiful sight to see the sea on the north-west and
green slopes on other sides. They maintain a good garden. The Church is a
massive structure. From there we came down to the forest area on the south-west
slope of the mountain. From the promontory, one can see the plains a 1000 ft
below. We spent a few minutes in this area. Prophet Elijah’s victory over the priests of Baal took place here.
Elijah’s prayer brought fire from heaven and consumed the sacrifice, altar and
even the water. Elijah thus won the bet and the prophets of Baal were all
slaughtered. All who witnessed the incident believed in Jehovah. (1.Kings.18:38-39)
Haifa
The best well-kept garden of the Bahai Center
on the slopes overlooking the Haifa port in the Mediterranean Sea .
Towards evening, we reached the
Sea of Galeeli Sea
of Galeeli
17. Mount Tabor
The 6th day of our
tour was on Sunday 21 Sept. The hotel made special arrangements to provide bed
coffee at 5.30 Am on the corridor of one of the floors of the multi-storied
hotel. We had an early breakfast and started to Mt. Tabor Mt. Tabor is
the city of Nain .
It is here that Jesus performed the miracle of raising the dead son of a widow
to life. (Lk.7:11-15). After half an hour, the taxis took us down to our bus.
Cana
From there we rode to Cana where Jesus performed the first miracle of turning
water into wine. He did this at the wedding on the request of His mother
St.Mary. (Jn.2:1-11). We got into the church built on the ruins of the wedding
house. The crypt of the church holds a Roman stone jar symbolic of the six jars
in which water turned to wine. A little aside some other symbolic utensils used
in those days are also kept. Young couples come here to celebrate their
wedding. We came out of the church and went to a near by wine shop. Good Mass
wine and wine of other grades are available for sale. Other souvenir items are
also kept for sale. I purchased a few key chains. All items are very costly.
People purchase it only as souvenirs.
The Church of Cana
Nazareth
Our next visit was to the Church of Annunciation Nazareth .
It is a very fertile and green area full of trees and plants. In Jesus’ time,
it was a small place where Joseph and Mary returning from Egypt settled
down. (Lk.2:39-40). Now it is a prosperous town. Half of the population is
Muslims. Christians belong to a variety of denominations. There are many
churches and monasteries belonging to these Christians. The Church of Annunciation Middle East . Catholics all over
the World sent icons and paintings of St. Mary to adorn the walls of the
church. Therefore, we can see Indian, Asian, Chinese, Japanese, European and
American St. Mary in these pictures. The church floor is below the road level.
There is another Greek Orthodox St. church
of Annunciation church of Annunciation Nazareth .
A little away, through a glass covered opening and another iron grating covered
opening on the ground, we can see the stream flowing out far below the floor we
were walking.
There is again the St. Joseph’s Cathedral Church close by.
This is built over the house of the Holy Family. A large fresco on the alter
wall depicts the baptism of Jesus and the Holy Spirit hovering above him as a
dove. A painting in the church shows the carpentry of Joseph. On the floor,
level of the church there is a large opening. Far down below we can see the 2000-year-old
street of the time of Jesus. There is also a grotto of the Holy Family below
the church. Jesus was brought up here. He lived 27 years in this house before
he came out for public service.
Jordan River .
We then had our delicious and
sumptuous lunch in Kibbutz Kinnerat. This Kibbutz is famous for dates and
honey. Back on the bus; and it took us to the Jordan River .
God did not permit Moses to cross the river to the Promised Land: Canaan . He was only allowed to see from a distance just
before his death at Mt.
Nebo Israel
horde across the River Jordan. To repeat, this river originates as a small
spring from a cave in Hermon hills. We saw this spot from a distance on the
last day of our Holy Land Tour from Mt.
Nebo
A hundred yards we walked
through an array of date palms on either side of the road into the welcoming
gates of a hotel cum tourist’s center. The outer door leads us to the banks of
the Jordan River . Our expectation about the Jordan River gets shattered. Now it is just a rivulet and
more or less stagnant. The water also looks murky and polluted. We walked a few
yards up stream to the place where people come for mass baptism. Pentecostal
Christians come here to baptize new entrants into their belief. They dip the
head of each entrant in Jordan River . The
place is called Yardenit.
Yardenit.
It is slightly wider here. Here the river
leaves the Galilee Lake to wind its way to the Dead
Sea in the south. The riverbank is paved and the bathing place in
the river is fenced for the safety of the pilgrims. Some of us had a dip in the
Jordan River . I, Alex, Kunjannamma and Lalitha
went down the steps into the River in knee-deep water. After cooling our legs
and minds, we came up the steps to join the group. There is a changing place
for the bathers, who want privacy. However, it is priced at US $.5 per person. Souvenirs
including bottled Jordan
water, snacks and soft drinks were available. I saw one or two collecting water
from the river into bottles. But, I am sure that they will throw it away, when
it gets muddier a few hours or days later. Many pilgrims come here thinking
that it is the place where St. John
baptized Jesus. (Mk. 1:9). The real spot is further down on the Jericho plains where the
river is zigzag, too narrow and often near dry.
Returning from the River, we
entered into the sales wing of the Degania Aleph Kibbutz. Many varieties of
dates fresh, ripe, cured, packed and in bulk were on display. Honey, Olive oil
and a number of edible and souvenir items were there for sale. Some of us
purchased some items. Our tour guide told us that those who want to purchase
olive oil could do so directly from the oil press on our way.
Mount of
Beatitudes.
.
After spending half an hour in
the shop, we headed to the Mount of Beatitudes. On the right side of the uphill
journey, we could see Magdala, the place of Magdalena Mariam. We soon reached
the small hilltop called the Mount of Beatitudes. It is here that Jesus
preached the Sermon on the Mount. The church of the Beatitudes is situated on
the top of the mount. The church is octagonal and the eight beatitudes are
etched on the eight widow glasses of the cupola. The colonnaded verandah around
the church gives a panoramic view of the Sea of Galilee
and the beautifully gardened surroundings.
Alter of the church
of the Beatitudes
On our way to the Eden Tiberius
Hotel, the bus stopped before the oil press and a couple of us purchased olive
oil by ordering it. We did not get off the bus. We then went into a Dead Sea products shop. There was a large array of
beautifully packed, mud, salty water and processed products from Dead Sea . Some of us purchased the soap cakes and creams
produced from the Dead Sea materials. By 5 Pm,
we were in the Hotel. We were requested to be ready by 8 Pm for the “J P Honors
Convocation” meeting in the Hotel.
Jerusalem
Most of us assembled after
dinner in the specially arranged hall of the hotel for the ceremony of
conferring on pilgrims the honorary degree J P (Jerusalem Pilgrim). It is an A4 size black and white certificate
in thick paper with the painting of the Jerusalem
city on the top and signed by the minister of Tourism of Israel and the Mayor
of the city of Jerusalem . Your name is printed in very bold letters in
the middle. It permits the certificate holder to bear the title”J P” (Jerusalem
Pilgrim)
JP Convocation
Foreigners who come to Jerusalem have to report
to the Mayor and pay one U S Dollar per head. In return, he issues a receipt in
the form of this certificate. The tour operators do the formalities and
distribute the certificates to the pilgrims.
We went with the Keli tour operators. Mr. Cherian Kuriakose welcomed
those present in the hall, congratulated, and thanked us for being punctual on
each day and at each tour spot. This enabled him to arrange the entire tour
without missing any planned item of the tour. Then he called each pilgrim and
gave the certificate through V. Rev. Gabriel Ramban of the Pathanapuram Dayara,
the president of the meeting He also gave small cash presents to Mr. David the
driver of the bus and Mr. U Ral (?) the Israeli guide who safely drove and
guided us all the four days in Israel . Rembachan the president, Fr. K V Paul,
Principal St. Stephen’s College.Pathanapuram, Fr.Nathaniel Thomas of the
Marthoma Church Manganam Kottyam, me and Mrs. Kunjamma Mathai, Kozhenchery explained the
circumstances that prompted us to take the tour
and thanked the organizers Mr.
Cheri an and Fr. John Sankarathil for the good and detailed arrangements that
made the tour enjoyable. After some discussions and benediction, we went to our
rooms for a good sleep.
18. Sea of Galilee
On 22nd morning, we
boarded our bus after breakfast. Our entire luggage was tucked in the belle of
the bus. We were leaving Tiberius and Israel that
day. First, we went to the area around Sea of Galilee . In New Testament, the sea is named Lake Tiberias . In Old Testament days, it was known as Sea of Ginneseret
or Lake Kinneret Dead Sea is the lowest spot. Both are in the Rift valley
caused by geological movement of Earth plates.
While Dead Sea is salty, Sea of Galilee
is fresh water. Fishing is still the occupation of some people residing in the
area. The lake is only 21 x 13 Km in size with an average depth of 84 ft. Even
now whirl winds some times create tall waves as it happened in the time of
Jesus ( Lk. 8:23)
Outside the church, marble
benches are arranged semi circularly for pilgrims to sit and meditate. Inside
the church, there is a marble table. Just under and near that is the Mensa Christi Rock- the Table of Christ. It is here that Jesus ate with the
disciples on the seashore after resurrection. (Jn.21:12-14). Pilgrims kneel and kiss the rock. The history
of this church is written on a plaque with the heading “Church of Heptapegon- The
Seven Springs History”. The latest reconstruction of the church was in 1982. On
the night of the trial of Jesus, Peter denied Jesus thrice. After His resurrection,
Jesus asked Peter thrice whether he loved Jesus to reconfirm his faith in
Jesus. On getting confirmation, Jesus entrusted the care of the followers of
Christ to Peter. Jesus at this place thus reconfirmed the primacy of Peter.
(John.21:1-17). We then went to the seashore; some of us stepping into water.
Someone was preaching outside the Tabga. We came back and sat down to rest.
In Capernaum
From there we strolled on to
the ruins of the Jewish Synagogue in which Jesus preached. While other
buildings are in black stone, the Synagogues were built in white limestones.
The foundation, the walls and some of the columns of the old Synagogue are
still majestically standing there. Alex took photos of our group with the
colonnades in the background. Many of the artifacts of the old synagogue are
preserved. St. Peter’s house was near the Synagogue. This house rebuilt by
Queen Helena is also in ruins. It was here that Jesus cured the fever of the
mother-in-law of Peter (Lk. 4:38-39). The earthquake had destroyed all these.
Now the Catholic Church has built a new circular church in that place. It is
opened only for the Catholic pilgrims to celebrate Holy Mass. The ruins of
nearby houses and utensils used in St. Peter’s time are also preserved.
Probably this is the house, the roof tiles of which were removed to drop a
paralyzed man on his bed to be cured by Jesus. (Mrk.2:4). A statue of St. Peter
prominently stands on this site.
From there we went by 11 Am to
the boat jetty for a ride in the Sea of Galilee .
We sat down in the boat and the boat engine puffed off starting us on our ride.
We sang a song or two. Then the Indian National Flag was hoisted on the boat’s
mast.
Hoisting the Indian Flag on the boat mast
in the Sea of Galilee .
The tour managers made me to
hoist the flag. We sang the Indian National Anthem when the flag was hoisted. For
over thirty minutes, we were in the boat cruising in the Sea of Galeeli Jordan
boarder. We were saying good-bye to Israel and
thanking God for keeping us all healthy and safe through all the seven days of
the Holy Land Tour. Priests lead us in special thanks giving prayers.
We were on our last lap of the
tour. In an hour, we reached the Israeli border. The usual security checking
took a long time. We had to lug our belongings from the Israeli bus through the
boarder land. Security checking was rather very strict. We were coming from
Jewish Israel to Jordan ,
an Arab state.
In bus on our way to Mt.
Nebo and then to Amman Airport
Both were and are at war. One by
one, our papers and passports were checked and cleared. But, they detained the
papers and passport of Prof. Mary Thomas. Their contention was that her name is
in the internet as a terrorist. I know
her from the time she joined CMS College Kottayam as a junior lecturer in the
early 1970s. She was very active in the MGOCSM and the Church. She even
represented our Church once in the WCC. The tour managers had to convince the
border security that Mary is from Kottayam, Kerala and is not the terrorist in
the internet. We lost more than half an hour only for that argument with them. Finally,
we crossed over with our luggage to the Jordan bus waiting for us on the
other side. We drove through the Amman
city to the Hill Side Hotel in the town for the last night stay of the tour.
Mt. Nebo
23rd Sept. Tuesday
was the last day of the Holy Land tour. We got
into the bus after breakfast with our entire luggage. We were on our way to the
Amman airport
to go home in Kerala. The flight to Cochin via
Muscat was to
be at 14.30. We need to report to the airport three hours earlier at 11.30 Am. So,
we went to Mt. Nebo
Millennium’s first visit of Pope of Rome.
Memorial to Moses
Memorial of Pope’s visit
From the top of the mountain,
there is a panoramic view on the western side of Sea of Galilee, Jericho and the Jordan
Valley up to the Dead Sea, Jerusalem and Bethlehem . One Km to the east of Mt. Nebo
Moses died somewhere on the Mt. Nebo Canaan
promised to be given to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Therefore,
God allowed Moses to see the land from the top of Mt. Nebo
However, memorial Churches were
built on the mount from 4th century. The Franciscan church and
Monastery built in the 18th century are now in ruins. They are being
renovated. We went to the site and took a number of photos. At the pinnacle of
the mount there is a Metal Serpentine Cross
in memory of the bronze serpent that Moses carried to the desert and the cross
on which Jesus was crucified After taking photos of all these places we
returned to our bus and moved on to the Amman Air port.
Metal Serpent
.Our Holy
land tour thus ended. It was a tour that filled us with more faith
in Christianity and the teachings of Jesus. The tour imprinted in our minds the
supreme sacrifice of Jesus for the emancipation of Mankind from the sins. Jesus
was showing a new way to get immediate peace and happiness for those who seek
it. Even the worst sinner can attain this peace by repentance for the sins and
loving everyone and everything around him as himself. He promised instant
Heaven for the thief on the cross on His right because he repented his sins.
Jesus taught humanity that sacrificing oneself for the sake of others around is
the supreme evidence of loving others as you. He manifested it by sacrificing
himself on the Cross. Such self-sacrificing love, if practiced by any one gives
happiness and solace not only to the person giving such love, but all others
getting that love and peace. One need not wait for successive rebirths to get
this Nirvana or Moksha... While successive rebirth is the method of escape from
sins in certain other religions, Christ gave us an instant solution of
repentance as the best method to relieve us from sins of commission or omission
done willfully or inadvertently. Christ gave us a sure way of complete escape
from our sins through repentance and penance
19. Tour in UAE
Though UAE and its Dubai is not part of Holy Land, I feel that I should not
deny you my perceptions about Dubai
and its “Babel-Towerism”
Our tour friends and group
mangers went for security check into the Amman Air port for their flight to Cochin via Muscat . Alex and I waited. Our flight to Sharjah in UAE was
at 15.30. We went in for security check by 14.00 hrs. Since the passengers that
day to Sharjah were very few, Air Arabia de-routed us to Sharjah via Beirut in Lebanon .
A guide took us through another door to the aircraft. It started westward to Beirut on the Mediterranean
Sea Coast
U A E.
UAE (United
Arab Emirates ) is a federation of small states of Abu Dhabi , Dubai , Sharjah, Ajman , Umm al Qaywayn, Ra’s al Khayamah and Al Fujayrah.
Excepting the last one, all these are seashore city-states in the Persian Gulf . Therefore, all of them have beeches and
that of Dubai
and Abu Dabi are famous. Abu Dabi is the capital. Both are modern cities with
many high-rise buildings and hotels. Dirham is their currency equivalent to
around 12 Indian rupees. Both are famous
for duty free shopping. Dubai
is the center for commerce and trade. Plenty of Indians work in the Dubai offices.
Residential accommodation is very costly in Dubai . Many stay in Sharjah and commute the
20 Km distance in the morning and evening. Raphael also stays in Sharjah and
work in Dubai .
Because of traffic jam, it takes one and a half to two hours to reach Dubai .
20. Dubai
On the morning of 24th
Raphael went to the office and we took rest at home. He returned around 6 Pm.
We got ready and went to Dubai .
We first went to the Mall of Emirates, a seven-storied super market. The first
four floors are the car parking area. You can take the car up to the fourth floor
to find a suitable parking lot. The three upper floors are all shops operated
by franchisees of internationally known branded goods. There are also plenty of
food courts. Vacant shop spaces are waiting for more franchisees. When fully
occupied and completed this mall is expected to be the biggest in the World.
Stairs lifts and escalators move up or down carrying the visitors to the
different floors. Like many others moving around, we also went sight seeing the
shops. Very few were seen purchasing anything. We entered some dress shops and
assessed the price of the displayed items. Most of them were priced high. On
our return from there, we got into Carrefour, another supermarket and purchased
a few items. After eating in a food court, we returned to our residence.
On the 25th, Raphael took leave and took us in the
morning to the Sharjah aquarium. It opened recently in June 2008. There is variety in the specimens. But, it is
in its infancy. By noon, we went on special invitation to the flat of Ammukutty
in Rala in Sharjah. She is Kunjannamma’s sister Sosamma’s daughter. She is a
pathologist in the hospital. We had a very luxurious and delicious lunch. Then
we went to Susan’s house on the south edge of Dubai . She is the Chartered accountant of a
construction company. We met her mother baby-sitting for her new child. Susan
returning from her shopping later joined us.
On our way home, we got into
the Lulu center to make some final purchases. The aim was to give some presents
to Maria, child and Raphael. We searched for some dresses. We found a few items
for Raphael and the child. We also purchased some toys for the child. After
ransacking our brains and discussions, we finally found out a beautiful cutlery
set. Though it was a bit costly, it was worth purchasing. It was a complete set
for a full table of a dozen diners. The set came in its own preserving box. We
then went to the confectionery and food corner and purchased chocolates and
dried fruits of different varieties to be taken to Kerala. While we were in UAE
presents for Achu, Amy, Biju and Beena were purchased on all three days. We
also went for two synthetic pillows that expand when its cover is broken- a
novelty in Kerala. Because of the too many items including the pillows, we had
to purchase a new bag. Alex persuaded us to purchases a three level folding bag
costing around Rs.700. When all the folds are opened it becomes a 4 feet tall
sack that can contain quite a cargo. After visiting some more places and purchases,
we returned to our home in the night. Packing all our things into the bags
engaged us well into the night.
Palm
Jumeiraha
Burg Al Arab
Burg Dubai
Next day 26th Friday
was our last day in UAE. Being a holiday for Arab countries, we went in the
morning itself for sight seeing. We passed through Sharjah Gold Shook, Sharjah
lagoon, Cornish center and moved on to Palm Jumeirah. We went through a street,
which was a barren area in 1990. Now it is a cluster of very many high-rise
structures and a very busy center. Dubai
is famous for high-rise buildings. New constructions were coming up day by day.
It is said that 15 to 25% of all the cranes for lifting construction materials
of the World are now working in Dubai .
It is a crazy city aspiring to
be the first in many aspects. Burg Al Arab, in Dubai is the World’s highest seven star
hotel. It has a cross like appearance on the top. Look at the picture above.
From another angle, it is a cross. This created a lot of hot blood for Arabs.
The architects designed it for balancing the structure. There is a helipad on
its top. It is World’s highest hotel complex.
Palm Jumeirah scheme is a grand scheme to create reclaimed islands in
the sea in the shape of palm trees with leafs. On the sides of the main road and
the roads on the leaf islands, modern buildings are being constructed for
residential stay, hotels, entertainments and whatnot.” Palm Jumeirah has
everything you need to enjoy a wonderful holiday break. World famous hotel
names, amazing tourist attractions, luxury fashion and shopping malls are
starting to open up. Whether you just want to relax or immerse yourself in an
exciting world of leisure and entertainment, this is a truly inspirational
holiday destination.” Three such palm tree islands are planned. A fourth Globe
shaped islands with all the countries of the World-shaped islands and buildings
on them within the Globe set up is also planned. The first palm tree has been
completed. The picture on the left is the first completed palm tree. The two
others are under construction. Each new palm tree construction is bigger than
the previous.
On one leaf island is the
famous Hotel Atlantis .It is the biggest seven star hotel just being completed.
We went to the sea front of it. Suits are as costly as UAE D 2500 for a day. One
such suite was completely destroyed by fire due to short circuit just two days
prior to our visit. That was also the day of the formal opening of the Hotel.
They spent US $ 20 million just for the inauguration of this Hotel complex
However, the most astonishing
structure is the Dubai City Tower
(Berg Dubai).Third picture on the right above is the City Tower Dubai end as “Tower of Babel
After seeing and taking a few
photographs of Atlantis hotel we returned home. In the afternoon, we packed up
our entire luggage and were in the Sharjah Air port at 5.30 Pm for our flight
to Trivandrum .
After bidding fare well and thanks to all including Ammukutty who came to see
us off, we went for security check up. We two reached Trivandrum by 2.30 Am on 27th. A
porter stepped in to help me to pick up my boxes from the escalator to a
trolley. I did not object. I contracted and got a pre-paid Taxi. The porter
then guided us to a taxi. He loaded the luggage into the taxi’s dickey and to
the back seat. We came home by 03.00 Am. Johnson the watcher woke up and
unloaded the bags to the house. Our foreign tour of the Middle
East thus ended. We covered Bahrain ,
Egypt , Israel , Palestine ,
Jordan and UAE states of
Sharjah and Dubai .
We thank God for guiding us throughout the tour and safely returning us to our
home without any health irritants
END
And in the end it’s not the
years in your life that count.
It’s the life in your years.”—Abraham Lincoln
It’s the life in your years.”—Abraham Lincoln
Web sites referred Christian Travel Study Program, Walking in Their
Sandals, Biblewalks.com, and Catholic Encyclopedia.
Appendix -1 Tour Members
It was KELI tours of Cherian
Kuriakose, Mumbai and Rev. Fr. John Sankarathil, Devalokam Aramana, Secretary,
Marthamariam Samajam of our Church, conducted the tour.
These two plus 45 others of the
party were:
Ecclesiasts: V. Rev. Remban
Gabriel, Fr. Nathaniel Thomas, Fr. K V Paul, Sr. Helen and Sr. Persis of
Pathanapuram Dayara, Fr.K.E Mathai, Fr. Simon Scaria, Fr. Dr. Joseph Thomas of
Manganam,
Mr & Mrs. Varghese Mathew,
Mr. & Mrs. Thomas Paul, Mr & Mrs. Sunny Thomas, Mr. & Mrs. K C
John, Mr.& Mrs. Mathew Daniel,, Aleyamma Kurien, Thankamma Mathew, Shyni
Jacob, Jim Nanthiyattu, Mr. & Mrs. C T Kuruvila, Mr. & Mrs.T M
Varghese, Mr. & Mrs. K P Mathai, Saramma Panicker, Santhamma Jacob,
Leelamma George, Mary Thomas, Renmany punnen, V T Yohannan, Mr. & Mrs.
Joseph K Alexander, Mr. & Mrs. Alex Jose, Mr & Mrs. George Joseph, T C
Abraham, Mr & Mrs. Jacob Varghese,
Dr. & Mrs. M A Ittyachan, Mary Varghese , Elizabeth Eapen, and Dr. &
Mrs. K C George.
We with the
pyramids in the back
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