JERUSALEM

“Now the dogs are barking tonight, Now the men will bargain as they stand beneath the light” – Peter Breinholt

I spent a semester in Jerusalem in the fall of 1994.  There is a special place in my heart for this historical city.  It was a real treat to be able to share it with Yvonne and walk it’s extraordinary streets together.  It would be difficult to describe our experiences here in a way that would do it justice, and I don’t want to bore you with a travelogue…. So, I’ll simply say that we did a lot of walking, and I enjoyed every step.  I  had even more fun watching Yvonne see these sights for the first time.  It was enchanting.

A few highlights:

We stayed in a charming convent and "pilgrim house" within the walls of the old city.  The view from outside our room was as good as you could ask for overlooking the Dome of the Rock, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre with the Mt. of Olives in the distance.  It was right on the Via Dolorosa and actually one of the stations of the cross in the supposed path that Christ took while carrying the cross.  The name of the convent was Ecce Homo, Latin for the phrase uttered by Pilate (Behold the Man).  Tradition is that we slept very near the spot where Christ was presented to the crowds with the crown of thorns. (http://www.eccehomoconvent.org/en/content/presentation)
The view from the balcony outside our room

The western “wailing” wall

BYU Center for Near Eastern Studies

The View from BYU Jerusalem

The path of suffering where Jesus carried the cross


Church of St. Peter in Gallicantu


The walls of the old city (I’m hiding out like Nephi’s brothers)

   

The Mt. of Olives – Graves and Olive Trees

Tradition says that Christ was buried either near here: (church of the Holy Sepulchre)

Or Here: (garden tomb)

Probably more important is this:

We thought these were interesting (notice what is not allowed at the school ;)