Though this entry is about Monday's activities, I did not have time to write about it until Wednesday, so there are probably gaps. Each day is so full of activity!)
I had more energy today after a good night's sleep. I ate breakfast at 6AM in order to be ready to leave by 6:25 to see the rabinical tunnels - excavation of the Western Wall of the Temple Mount. The excavation done was deep and long. The first rock we saw weighed 500 tons - more than our tour bus! The brochure about this tour reads, "Looking at the Western Wall, perspectives and points of view sharpen; the truly insignifican shrinks. These stones which observe beyond time and place have seen it all, have breathed war and seen peace, experienced calamity, and promise revival."
Perhaps a bit over-the-top description, but the tour shure gave be a new perspective of just how awesome the Temple was! That wall was 488 meters long! One also sees there rooms, plublic halls, water tunnels, arches, and cistens. I can't find a statistic about the height of the wall, but it is taller than what I would have ever imagined. I did read that the wall above ground is 25 stones tall, measuring 18 meters above ground. Below ground they have discovered yet another 19 stones of depth. By my poor math calculations, that would total 31 meters tall. That is a third of a football field!
(TO BE CONTINUED)
No comments:
Post a Comment