Morning in the Old City (Part One)

We started our day at Herod's Gate this morning; just inside the gate we stopped and read Psalm 122.


Then we started our walk through the streets. Our guide stopped and bought a loaf of sesame bread for us to share:


Our first official stop of the day was the site of what was in Jesus' day the Fortress Antonia, where Jesus was brought before Pilate. Nader gave us some good orientation here, and I read from Psalm 31:1-3:


We soon went down into the underground water system that dates to Roman times:


Next we viewed the Lithostrotos, which has been dated to the time of Hadrian. It depicts the likely kind of game the Roman soldiers used in gambling for Jesus' clothing. I read Mark 15:16-20 here:


After that, we entered the Via Dolorosa, under what tradition has called the Ecce Homo arch:


The Via Dolorosa winds through the streets and churches of the Old City (some of which I will feature on my Desperate Pastor blog's "church of the week" feature in the weeks following this trip)....


And ends at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre...which my next entry will describe.

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