The last stand of the Jewish community against the Romans in 70AD. Archaeologists found 10 shards of pottery, each one with a name written on it. It is thought that these were used to draw lots in a collective suicide pact.
Thursday, 5 November 2009
400 metres to go
On the way to the Dead Sea. 400 metres to go.
Jan adds:
Ship of the Desert
At the same place as the Dead Sea level marker, we came across this amazing structure which, from a distance, looked like a galleon in full sail. While other people were entranced by a camel, Michael and I (and a couple of others!) went off to see what it was.
The sculptor was working with shapes she had found in the desert here, fossils, and although once we had named the sculpture “Ship of the Desert” she understood why, she had not ‘seen’ this before, being so close to it. She was using Arab workers to help her; they had no common language apart from the visual and technical. Her other work is quite different: some is representative, other is literal. She gave us her brochure, and her website has many examples of work she’s done for the Israeli government as well as local councils.
Jan adds:
Ship of the Desert
At the same place as the Dead Sea level marker, we came across this amazing structure which, from a distance, looked like a galleon in full sail. While other people were entranced by a camel, Michael and I (and a couple of others!) went off to see what it was.
Wednesday, 4 November 2009
The Armenian Quarter
This area of Old Jerusalem has been inhabited by Armenians for several hundred years. Along with the Jewish Quarter nearby, it was destroyed during the Six-Day War in 1967, and has been rebuilt in typical Jerusalem stone.
Mea Shearim
Sun 1 Nov
Mea Shearim is an Ultra-Orthodox district of Jerusalem, built in the late 19th century as one of the first settlements outside the walls of the Old City. It was originally populated by immigrants from Bulgaria and Rumania, and is said to have something of the atmosphere of an East European shtetl of that period; some of the groups there use Yiddish rather than Hebrew as the language of everyday life.
We were advised to walk through the area in small groups so as not to cause offence, and having seen the notice plastered on the wall on the street corner: "Please - stop this", I was reluctant to be too obvious with my camera, so the pictures are all from the iPhone, and a bit snatched.
There are something like 70 different religious groupings or sects in Mea Shearim, and they all clamour for attention with wordy wall-posters. Unfortunately I can't read Hebrew, so I've no idea what they're about. When you see a poster in English you know it's addressed to you - the outsider.
Mayumana
Sat 31 Oct
Mayumana are a high-energy percussive dance group, with their own theatre in Tel Aviv. This was the first performance of their new show, Momentum - lots of ticking clocks, plenty of audience participation, and tons of momentum!
Earlier in the afternoon we had a workshop with two of their teachers. Banging on assorted pots and pans - and on our own bodies - was great fun, but the session served to confirm that dancers are not necessarily very musical, just as not all musicians can dance.
Earlier in the afternoon we had a workshop with two of their teachers. Banging on assorted pots and pans - and on our own bodies - was great fun, but the session served to confirm that dancers are not necessarily very musical, just as not all musicians can dance.
Women in Black
Fri 30 Oct
Every Friday lunchtime a group of Israeli women hold a demonstration against the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian Terrirtories. They dress in black, and stand in a little square in the centre of Jerusalem near the residence of the prime minister.
Jenny and her group were taking part in the demonstration that afternoon, so we went along with them, and chatted with some of the demonstrators. They get a mixed reception from passers-by, ranging from encouragement to abuse, but they come back every week to make their point, and have been doing so for over 20 years.
After the demo we managed to grab a standing lunch in the last sandwich shop still open - Shabat was closing in fast. Jenny's group then went on to a meeting with the Campaign against House Demolitions, who try to support Palestinians whose houses are torn down to make way for the expansion of Israeli settlements on the West Bank.
Monday, 2 November 2009
Jerusalem in the rain
Fri 30 Oct
We took a walk round the Old City, and it rained. And rained. And rained.
We'd overshot the mark on the bus, and had to walk a fair way back and across to get to the Jaffa Gate, and then meet up with Jenny. So quite by chance our first views of the Old City were from the hill to the west, which gave us some gorgeous views. It's only now, looking more closely at the photos, that I realise we had our first view of the Separation Wall that morning. We were to see it several times a day for the next fortnight - it's everywhere.
Look who I met in Jerusalem
Fri 30 Oct
By complete coincidence, Jenny and I found we were both in Jerusalem the same day. So we met up, as cousins do, and had Arab coffee and baklava - the first of many - in the Four Seasons, opposite the Damascus Gate.
Jenny and Tony were on a visit to Ramallah with the Oxford Palestine Solidarity Campaign, and they were able to advise us on many things, for which many thanks :-) .
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