BiblePlaces Newsletter
 Vol 6, #2 - December 10, 2007


There never was a plan for this newsletter to skip so many months, but time has been very tight for me all year.  I've managed to keep the BiblePlaces Blog updated, and to respond to emails, and to make progress on some other projects, but the newsletter never made it to the top of the "to do" list.  My apologies to any who have been disappointed.  An additional factor occupying my time has been a move from Israel to the U.S. to begin work on a Ph.D. in Biblical Studies.  My intention is to continue the BiblePlaces website, blog and newsletter even while away from the Holy Land.  I won't have the same first-hand presence, but most of my reporting before was second-hand anyway.  My plan is to continue to share some outstanding photos, point you to the most important articles related to the biblical sites, and to deconstruct misleading news reports as necessary.

The featured photos of this newsletter are of "Judah and Jerusalem in the Snow."  In parts of the world, snow may not be something you want to see at this time of year, but where I'm living in Texas, it was 80 degrees today.  These photos were taken over the last 3-4 years, and I hope you'll find them enjoyable even if you live in a snowy place.

A welcome to new subscribers to the newsletter.  There are more than a thousand who have joined since the last issue.  A reminder to all: if you have a new email address, you can make the switch for this newsletter easily, by unsubscribing from your current address, and subscribing with your new address.

Todd Bolen
Editor, BiblePlaces.com
In Exile in Texas
(On study leave from Israel Bible Extension (IBEX), Judean Hills, Israel)

 

News from Israel

from the BiblePlaces Blog...

Palace of Queen Helena Found? - Scholars have long known that it was built in the City of David and now archaeologists claim to have found it.  Maybe...

Gospel of Judas: NG Blew It - Last year National Geographic created a media circus over a discovery that alleged that Judas didn't betray Jesus but rather obeyed him.  A scholar now says that NG misread the text and it says nothing of the sort....

Nehemiah's Wall Discovered? - For years, I've had to shrug my shoulders when students ask where they can see remains of the wall that Nehemiah built around Jerusalem.  Now Eilat Mazar says that she has found it... (and more here)
 
   
  Excavations around the alleged discovery of Nehemiah's wall in the City of David  

Muslims Recognize Temple's Existence - No, this is not a new development, but rather an old one.  That is, they used to believe that it existed, but now they don't.  A BiblePlaces reader dug up the evidence and you can see it for yourself...

Roman street found near Western Wall - Excavations in the tunnels north of the prayer plaza have revealed a well-preserved side street that connected to a bridge leading to the Temple Mount...

Carta's New Atlas - If you've been looking for the latest scholarship from first-rate scholars but didn't want to spend $100 for The Sacred Bridge, well now you can get 80% of the content for 50% of the price...

The Pictorial Library: Romanian Edition - The perfect gift for the Romanian in your life...

Material from First Temple Period Found on Temple Mount - This is a first - archaeological artifacts from the Old Testament period uncovered on the Temple Mount in an undisturbed context.  Just don't expect that any more will be found... (and more here and here)

And more...
 

Featured BiblePlaces Photos:
Judah and Jerusalem in the Snow

Snow doesn't fall all that often in the hills around Jerusalem, but when it does it is a beautiful sight.  In the last ten years I've lived in Israel, we'd get a good snowfall about once every two or three years.  Sometimes it stuck on the ground only a few hours, but other times (such as the first photo below) it lasted for a few days.  I have never seen more than one snowfall in a winter.  Since people don't know how to drive in such conditions and snow-clearing equipment is not in great supply, the best way to see the beauty of the land is to get where you're going before the storm begins.  One time I sat at a standstill in traffic for an hour when it started to snow.  But if you're at the right place at the right time, you can enjoy a different kind of beauty than most experience.

Each photo is linked to a higher-resolution version which may be used freely for personal and educational purposes.  Commercial use requires separate permission.  These photos are also available for download in a PowerPoint file (2.1 MB).  For more high-quality, high-resolution photographs and illustrations of biblical sites, purchase the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands or the Historic Views of the Holy Land collections. 

 

Vineyards of the Judean Hills


Click picture for higher-resolution version.
 

Just as in the days of the spies of Moses who brought back impressive bunches of grapes from the area around Hebron (Num 13:23), the Judean hills today are still the home of hardy grapevines.  After harvest in the fall, the leaves turn a brilliant array of red, orange, and yellow.  Usually the winter months are not so beautiful, except after a recent snowfall. 

 

Mount of Olives and Wilderness


Click picture for higher-resolution version.
 

The Mount of Olives sits just east of Jerusalem, on the western edge of the Judean wilderness.  As Jerusalem is along the watershed ridge of Israel, the land to the east lies in the rain shadow and gets little rain annually.  Usually this effect is visible with the thinning of vegetation as one travels east.  In the photo above, taken towards the east from the Mount of Olives, you can see the effect more dramatically.  As the clouds moved east toward the Jordan Rift and the Dead Sea, the snowfall quickly ended.

 

Mount of Olives and Kidron Valley


Click picture for higher-resolution version.
 

Looking northeast from the City of David, one gets an impressive view of the Kidron Valley and the Mount of Olives.  Several stories occurred within the view of this photo, including David's fleeing from Absalom (2 Sam 15:30) and Jesus' crossing the Kidron Valley on his way to Gethsemane (John 18:1).  The church in the center left of the photo is built over the traditional Gethsemane and the impressive tomb monument in the lower right is incorrectly known as the "Pillar of Absalom."

 

Hinnom Valley


Click picture for higher-resolution version.
 
The Hinnom Valley bordered ancient Jerusalem on the west side.  Known in Hebrew as Gei Hinnom (Valley of Hinnom), this name became Gehenna in Greek.  Gehenna was used in the time of Jesus to refer to the place of fiery torment for the deceased (Matt 5:22), probably because of its association with child sacrifices in the period before the Exile (Jer 7:30-34).  Seeing snow in this valley is probably the closest you'll ever get to seeing "hell froze over."

 

Old City Rooftops


Click picture for higher-resolution version.
 
This photograph shows the Christian Quarter of Jerusalem's Old City with snow on the roofs of the buildings.  In the foreground is "Hezekiah's Pool," which is no longer used but was probably built around the time of Jesus.  The large gray domes on the left side belong to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, the traditional place of Jesus' crucifixion and burial.  The large white tower just right of center is the Lutheran Church of the Redeemer.  On the horizon is the Mount of Olives, with two of its three prominent towers visible.

 

Tombs on Mount of Olives


Click picture for higher-resolution version.
 
A covering of snow certainly makes the tombs on the Mount of Olives look more beautiful.  There are more than 100,000 tombs on the mount today, most of them Jewish burials.  Famous people buried here include Eliezer Ben Yehuda, founder of modern Hebrew, and Menahem Begin, former prime minister of Israel.

 

Garden of Gethsemane


Click picture for higher-resolution version.
 

The Garden of Gethsemane is renowned for its ancient olive trees, some of which are certainly more than a thousand years old.  The gospels record Jesus praying here on the night before he was crucified (Matt 26:36).

 

Western Wall


Click picture for higher-resolution version.
 

Fewer people go to pray at the Western Wall when it's snowing or cold outside, preferring instead to go to their local synagogues or to pray inside covered areas nearby.  The Western Wall is part of the Temple Mount built by Herod the Great in the first century B.C. It is sacred today to the Jewish people and usually hundreds are praying here at any time of day or night.  For more photos, see the Snowy Jerusalem page I made a few years ago.  Thanks to my friends, Andrei Tsvirinko (#5-7) and Daniel Frese (#8), for allowing me to share some of their outstanding photos in this newsletter.

 


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All contents (c) 2007 Todd Bolen.  Text and photographs may be used for personal and educational use.  Commercial use requires written permission.