Day 6

Our last official full day of our tour was spent visiting Ein Karem, Mt. Zion, Bethlehem, and the Garden Tomb. We started out the morning by going to a small town outside of Jerusalem called Ein Karem, which is where the Church of John the Baptist and Mary's Spring are located.

Zachariah's song from Luke 1:68-79

John the Baptist Church

the tiled walls inside the church

architecture

Mary's Spring

what is left of the spring

Our next stop was to Mt. Zion where we visited the tomb of King David and the possible site for the last supper.

inside the complex where King David's tomb was

men and women's prayer rooms with King David's tomb

King David's tomb

statue for King David

where they think the Last Supper took place

the 10 commandments

After going to Mt. Zion, we went to Bethlehem, which was an experience within itself. Bethlehem is part of Palestine National Authority, so we had to cross the West Bank to be able to go to the city. Our tour guide was Israeli, so he was unable to take us into Bethlehem because Israeli's are not allowed to go into Palestine without approval from the government and vice versa. Because of this, we had a bus driver who had both Palestinian and Israeli papers drive us into the city and then a Palestinian guide in the city. While in Bethlehem we toured the Church of the Nativity, which is divided into three sections: Greek Orthodox, Armenian Orthodox, and Roman Catholic. At this church, you can see the cave where Jesus was born!

the Church of the Nativity

at the doorway

inside the church

frescoes on the wall

the spot where Jesus is supposed to have been born

the Greek Orthodox section of the church

the Roman Catholic section of the church

a nativity mosaic

view of Bethlehem

Palestinian diet coke and falafel

Our last stop after Bethlehem was the the Garden Tomb, which in my opinion is the most logical place where Jesus was buried and three days later was resurrected.

the entrance the the Garden Tomb

verse about the crucifixion

another possible site where the crucifixion occurred

one of many bible verses in the garden tomb

the tomb

After going to the Garden tomb, we ended our last day of touring. The next morning my mom and I parted ways and I headed to my archaeological dig and she flew back to Texas. In a few days when I have internet again, I will post all of my pictures from the dig site, so be on the lookout for them!