Our first stop of the day was the Herodium. Imagine...this is a man-made mountain built under the command of Herod; one of his favourite palaces and fortresses, specifically designed for his funeral processions and burial. Herod's tomb has only recently been discovered at this location.
The town of Bethlehem has next; the birthplace of Jesus and the hometown of King David. Although we cannot be sure of the 'exact' location of each, we toured the traditional sites for the Star of Bethlehem, Manger Square, the Church of the Nativity, and the Shepherd's fields. Pastor Harvey led us in a devotional in a nearby cave that would have been typical of a first century stable.
After lunch in Bethlehem, we returned to Jerusalem for a tour of Yad Vashem; the national museum and memorial to the holocaust. The displays and tutorials were very well done in giving credence to this traumatic historical reality.
Our final stop of the day was the Shrine of the Book museum, which contains many of the fragments of the Dead Sea Scrolls, followed by the fabulous reconstruction of the old city of Jerusalem at the time of the second temple period. If you watched any CNN coverage the following day, you may have seen some of this display when President Obama toured this sight during his visit to Jerusalem.
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