Wednesday, January 4

Hi Everyone,

Once again we began the day with breakfast at the hotel. Scrambled eggs, hard boiled eggs, fruit (pears, peaches, pineapple) various kinds of cheese and meat (lunch meat style), yogurt, pastries, raisins, olives, little sausages, dried fruits, cottage cheese, oatmeal and strong coffee – to give you some idea of what we have available to eat.

It was partly cloudy this morning with pleasant temperatures in the 50s. We walked over to JUC to begin our time together with classroom instruction. We had a little later start time so breakfast was at 7 and class began at 8:30. Emily (our instructor) began by having us mark various items on our maps. We also focused on the various types of soil and where they tend to be located and what they can be used for. We also focused on the reason people would settle in a particular location in terms of survival (water, food, housing/building material, proximity to trade routes, and security).

Lunch was at JUC and we had a main dish of rice with veal. After lunch we made our way over to the old city of David which is south of the Temple Mount. On the way we stopped to look at the Broad Wall, which is in the Jewish Quarter. It is a wall that Hezekiah built which gives us some idea where the original wall was and how it was constructed. David’s City is on the ridge between the Central Valley and the Kidron Valley. We watched a movie that gave a summary of the location. We also saw an active “dig” across the street from “the City of David” location. We made our way down (literally) and took note of the various places that have been uncovered through the digs. We saw a typical 4 room home along the wall just below where it is believed David had his palace. There we saw a ancient toilet.

We also walked through Hezekiah’s Tunnel. I am sure that was a real highlight for most of the members of the group. The water was slightly higher than we expected and so even though we had rolled up our pants or wore shorts most of us got a little wet. The water was cool and a good share of the way we needed to bend over slightly so as not to hit our heads. But there were also places where we could stand upright and walk through. Also there were times when it was a little narrow. Hezekiah had the tunnel dug to bring water from the Gihon Spring, on the east side of the city, into the city in preparation for the siege by the Assyrians that he anticipated. Following that we had the long walk back up and returned to JUC.

Everyone is healthy and seems to be enjoying the trip and information that Emily gives us.