Church of the Holy Sepulcher Solo (Sunday, July 3)

For my final afternoon in the Holy Land, I went on a solo adventure. I bused into the Old City with the intent of revisiting the Dome of the Rock and Haram al-Sharif, but a little family drama (everyone was so tired, so some meltdowns are to be expected, and actually happened far less often than you might expect) made me miss the right bus, and the next bus was very slow (lots of traffic). I arrived at the Western Wall (where you go through security to get to the Temple Mount) just as they were closing. Oh well.

However, on my solo bus ride, I saw my dream come true (not really). How cool would it be to make SIX crepes at once! I’m not sure how it works, but the fact that it exists is a game changer for summer breakfasts!

Gorgeous old mulberry tree, near the Hurva Synagogue in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City.

I walked through the Old City and made it to a section I haven’t been to yet–the Jewish Quarter. It is a much more open and modern part (is that an oxymoron?) of the Old City. The Israelis have done a lot of renovations and changes, and it has a WAY different feel than the other parts.

Mosaics representing the Byzantium Cardo. This one represents the glassware shop. Jewish Quarter, Jerusalem.

The Broad Wall. I was SO excited to stumble upon this–I wasn’t looking for it, but when I saw it I was thrilled. This is part of the wall of Jerusalem that Hezekiah order built to protect the city from Sennacherib and his Assyrian army. Since taking an Isaiah class from Ann Madsen as a freshman at BYU, I’ve loved Isaiah. Standing there, where Hezekiah might have brought the prophet Isaiah to see the preparations for war…so amazing!

And sunlight! There aren’t many places in the Muslim Quarter, for example, where I could see sunlight like this.

I wandered around the bazaars for a while, just enjoying myself. I even got myself turned around, and must have looked a little perplexed, because a fruit vendor motioned me over. “Where are you going?” “Church of the Holy Sepulcher?” “Ah! Right and then left!” I was so close, but the doorway to the courtyard of the church is super small and easy to overlook. Which actually adds to its allure, I think.

Picture of our first visit to the Holy Sepulcher, photo credit Bradley. You can even see LaDonna (barely, sorry Momma). This is the only time I actually went through the aedicule (the building enclosing the tomb). During my second visit, it was closed because of a sermon, and this visit I just didn’t feel like standing in line.

(That reminds me of a funny story Heather Farrell of the branch told us. When they visited the tomb for the first time, her little girls (5 and 3, I think) got into a pinching fight, and the priest in the tomb got mad at them. The next time, the five-year-old got too close to the candle in the anteroom, and HER HAIR caught on fire! They were panicking a little and patting it out, and the priest stuck his head in to see what was happening. It might even have been the same priest! She’s not sure she’ll take them back, hahahaha.)

We toted around the Oxford Archaeological Guide (Father Jerome Murphy-O’Connor) while in the Holy Land, and I’m so glad we did! He gives great archeological information, but doesn’t hold back his opinion. And his opinion about the Church of the Holy Sepulcher is hilarious, and pretty spot on for many other peoples’ opinions.

“One expects the central shrine of Christendom to stand out in majestic isolation, but anonymous buildings cling to it like barnacles. One looks for numinous light, but it is dark and cramped. One hopes for peace, but the ear is assailed by a cacophony of warring chants…”
“The Holy Land”, Oxford Archaeological Guides, Jerome Murphy-O’Connor, 4th edition, 1998

Father Murphy-O’Connor does believe that this is the most likely location for the death and burial of Christ–which, of course, isn’t a unanimous opinion. Several BYU near Eastern scholars (Jeffrey Chadwick in particular) don’t believe the Church of the Holy Sepulcher was outside the city walls, which means it would not have been a burial site.

But millions of people do believe this is the proper place, and have come here for almost 2000 years to worship and pray. And while Father Murphy-O’Connor (“Murph” affectionately) is not wrong about the barnacle-buildings, the darkness, the noise–it’s still a really awesome place to go. The age alone, the many, many modifications, the squabbles and the agreements and the fights–it’s a super compelling place to spend a few hours. So that’s what I did! I wandered around with my reading glasses and my guide and didn’t leave until I was satisfied I’d seen what I wanted. So fun!

I’ve fallen in love with the tiny graffiti crosses, from Crusader times to more recent, carved into the very stone of the church. Yes, it’s technically defacement, but somehow holy vandalism–really old holy vandalism–becomes something beautiful.

My favorite of all the graffiti crosses. On the stairs to St. Helena’s crypt.

Partial fresco, Church of the Holy Sepulcher.

Looking toward the Prison of Christ, a place where tradition says that Christ was held before the crucifixion. The outer wall that is the focus of the picture is from Constantine’s original church, dedicated in 335 AD–fourth century!

Looking into the 4th C room traditionally called “the Prison of Christ”.

This picture is so awesome because it shows the two sets of columns–according to the Murph, the 12th C. architect wanted to preserve the 11th C. colonnade, and so put his weight-bearing columns (the sturdy-looking ones), right next to the slightly older, slimmer and basket-capitaled Byzantine ones. I was pretty excited to recognize this!

Some parts of the Church were were closed off for construction, but there was more to be seen around the construction walls than I realized on my first or second visits–I followed a group around the walls and realized that you couldn’t accidentally walk into the off-limits zone, so I got a little more bold in my explorations.

If you walk behind the construction walls, in the Rotunda west of the Tomb, you find an unlabeled, seemingly neglected room. There is tons of graffiti (modern, not as charming sadly), the walls are covered with soot and grime (from the 1808 fire? Can that be possible?), and it’s a little eerie.

This eerie area used as the Syriac Orthodox Catholic chapel–they apparently perform their liturgy every Sunday. It is the traditional Tomb of Joseph of Arimathea–where he was buried when he died (if he didn’t go to England with the Holy Grail, that is!).

The Syriac chapel has one awesome thing–besides the sooty walls and ruined furnishings–it is the entrance to a series of first century BC to first century AD tombs! So is it possible that this area WAS outside of the city walls?

I have no idea–I’ve have to ask around and see what I can discover! The kokhim caves–Jewish burial chambers–are unlit and unadorned. You can actually go into two of them. It is a huge difference from the Holy Sepulcher, but probably far more realistic to the time.

Meridian of time (1st C BC to 1st C AD) Jewish tombs, in the Tomb of Joseph of Arimathea

Really gorgeous room with liturgical clothing laid out–obviously a working part of the church–west of the chapel of Mary Magdalene. It is the “Franciscan choir” room which leads to a 11th C atrium. It was very soothing, maybe because it had natural light and was very bright and welcoming. (Except you couldn’t go in, it was off-limits.)

Chapel of Mary Magdalene, also super peaceful. It had a sign outside that said, “Silence please! For prayers only!” and I loved just quietly sitting in there and contemplating. Quite a contrast to the Rotunda just outside, which is crowded and echo-y and just a little too tumultuous.

My 100% absolute favorite stairs anywhere, anytime. This staircase (post-fall-of-Jerusalem 1099 AD), just to the right as you walk in the main entrance, leads up to the rock of Calvary. They are my favorite because they represent the absolute devotion of hundreds of thousands of people who have trod this staircase. Their feet have worn down the actual stones of the steps.

Looking into the “Chapel of the Franks” from the Latin Calvary. It was built as a triumphal entry by the Crusaders after they took Jerusalem in 1099.

There are two Calvary chapels–one Latin, one Greek. They are VERY different in character. Murphy-O’Connor says “Divided into two chapels whose variety of decoration is evocative of other differences between Eastern and Western churches.”

Considering I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ, and our chapels are rather notorious for being bland–the Greek style was super overwhelming to me. It felt way too cluttered. (But that’s just a cultural/upbringing type judgment call.)

The Latin Calvary–elaborate mosaics, but much more simple decorations. Look at the mosaic above the little window–it is telling the story of Isaac and Abraham. You can see the ram in the thicket. Now look at the picture in front of the altar, of the crucifixion. See the barren thicket? It’s empty. Because our Savior is the sacrifice.

And the Greek Calvary. Much more elaborate, shiny (a gorgeous gilded altar, lights and silver and brass and bronze everywhere), and unlike most worship places that I have experienced. The pilgrims are kneeling in front of a piece of the Rock upon which the Lord was sacrificed.

All of the mosaics in the Latin Calvary chapel are modern except this one medallion–the Ascension.

Part of the Rock of Calvary. You can’t reach it–too many pilgrims try to chip off a piece as a relict. But you can push prayer notes through the sides of the glass barrier.

View looking up from the balcony in front of the Calvary chapels. The vaulted ceiling, the stonework, the gorgeous icons and gold…it’s quite amazing.

After having a MARVELOUS time poking around the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, I wandered the bazaars a little more, with my last shekels burning a hole in my pocket. I didn’t want to come home with Israeli cash (coins, I did. I love foreign coins!), and I knew that the exchange rate at the airport is abysmal. I was looking for a scarf that looked a little like the ephod that the Mosaic High Priest would wear with the breastplate, and so I wandered in and out of scarf/wrap sellers–of which there are a ton.

At one point, I entered a little shop and didn’t see anything like the ephod, so I turned around. But if you give any indication of interest, these shopkeepers are ALL over you. So I asked how much one of the beautiful scarves was.

“160 shekels,” says he. (Roughly $50, give or take)

“Oh,” says I. “I only have 50 shekels.” And I turned to leave.

(I really thought I only had 50 shekels. I discovered another 50 and a 20 bill in my wallet later, hahahaha.)

“I will let you have it for 70!”

“Seriously, I have only 50. Sorry!” I walked out of the shop.

“Wait!” he beckoned me back in. “You cannot tell anyone, but I will give it to you for 50!”

Okay with me! It’s a beautiful dusty gray pink cashmere scarf. I’ll take it for less than $20.

All smiles–I really enjoyed my solo expedition. It was nice to not be responsible for anyone else, and to go at my own pace. I took the bus back to Mevaseret Zion, and stopped at the mall on the way home to buy dishwasher soap, some sweets, and contact lens fluid that was small enough to take on the plane. And then I walked home–about 10 minutes–from the mall. It was a really fun adventure.

Apparently you can just buy contact lenses here? Without a prescription? Just in the pharmacy/drug store? Whoa. Too bad I didn’t know that last week. 🙂

Once home, I ate the delicious spaghetti Bradley prepared for us, and everyone just…ate whatever was left. You want fries? Eat them! Boiled eggs? Go ahead! Popsicles? We can’t take them with us!

With a 6:45am departure from Ben Gurion airport in Tel-Aviv, we knew we had to leave the house at 2am. So, before “resting” for the night, we needed to get everything ready. So we commenced packing and packing and checking and packing and Tetris-ing the van. There really isn’t a bit of room to spare in that nine-passenger van. It took us a few hours to get everything squared away–all the clothes out of the laundry room, all of the toiletries packed in checked luggage, all the groovy souvenirs swaddled and padded and arranged (mostly in LaDonna’s checked luggage, since it was a hard-sided suitcase), all the floors swept and garbage out and carry-ons packed.

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