| |
|
 |
|
| Here are the twelve most ogled and googled articles
on my site this
month. |
|
| 1.
Gates of the
Old City. A handy orientation to
Jerusalem’s Old City includes the history,
geography, archeology and legends about its nine
gates. A chart of the gate names in English,
Hebrew and Arabic will help you navigate its ancient
alleyways. |
|
|
 |
|
|
|
2.
Veronica.
According to a
14th century Via Dolorosa legend, Veronica
wiped Jesus forehead with her handkerchief and his
image stuck to the handkerchief. |
|
|
 |
|
Photo: Gila
Yudkin |
|
Facade of Station Six where
"Veronica wiped Jesus' face" |
|
|
3
Elizabeth, mother of John the Baptist
lived in the hill country of Judea in a village west
of Jerusalem. The meeting between a pregnant
Elizabeth and her cousin Mary (Luke 1) is
commemorated in the Church of the Visitation in in
Ein Karem. |
|
|
 |
|
Adapted
from Bible Mapper by itsGila |
|
Elizabeth's home village was in
the hill country of Judea |
|
|
4. Ask Gila, "Where's the best place to
propose on my Holy Land pilgrimage?" |
|
|
|
 |
|
Photo: Gila
Yudkin |
|
The
Mount of Beatitudes is under
the left side of the rainbow |
| |
|
5. Let's
tiptoe through the Valley of Gehenna
explains why one particular valley in Jerusalem
became designated as the valley leading to hell. |
|
|
 |
|
Photo: Gila
Yudkin |
|
The Valley of Gehenna in relation
to Mount Moriah and the Mount of Olives |
|
| 6.
Pool
of Siloam. About the 2005 discovery
of the authentic Pool of Siloam where Jesus told a
man born blind to go wash off his eyes. |
|
|
 |
 |
|
mid-19th century
drawing |
Photo: Gila
Yudkin |
|
Pool of Siloam called the Virgin's
Fount |
Wrong location of the Pool of
Siloam |
|
|
7. Gila relates what it was like to guide in
January 2022 after a two-year break due to the covid
pandemic in Gila
on the Mic. |
|
|
|
 |
 |
|
Photo: Julie Wise on tour with Gila
Jan '22 |
Photo: Jim Love on tour with Gila Jan
'22 |
|
Gila outside the Caesarea theater
guiding her first group after a two-year break |
Gila reading the Bible by the
House of Simon the Tanner as the sun is setting |
|
|
| 8.
Herodion Updated: 2021. During the
pandemic in March 2021, when there were no tourists in the
land, I returned to Herodion just after the
loggia, the "royal box" was opened to
the public. The theater had been
restored and the steps mentioned by Josephus
Flavius which once led up to the Upper
Palace have been reconstructed. |
|
|
|
 |
|
Photo: Gila
Yudkin |
|
Podium of Herod's Mausoleum with a
model of the tomb based upon Absalom's tomb |
|
| 9.
Handy Hebrew phrases. Ten Hebrew
phrases which will help you connect with Israelis
you will be meeting during your pilgrimage. As
a bonus, some colorful local colloquialisms. |
|
 |
|
"Next year in Jerusalem!" | Ha
Shana Ha Baa b'Yerushalayim |
|
| 10.
Cave of Adullam.
After over three decades of guiding, Gila finally
found David's hiding place in the Cave of Adullam |
|
|
 |
|
Photo:
Gila Yudkin |
|
The opening to the Cave of
Adullam, hidden in shadow |
|
| 11.
Absalom was David's unrepentant rebellious son who
according to folk tradition was buried in
Jerusalem's Kidron Valley. "Let's
throw stones at Absalom's Tomb" separates
myth from fact. |
|
|
|
|
|
12. Let's shout AMEN at
Joshua's Altar on Mount Ebal.
Astonishing headlines about the retrieval of
a “curse tablet” from a pile of earth turned
over by excavators at Mount Ebal, the “mount
of curses,” sent Gila scurrying back 22
years down memory lane to a day spent with
the chief archeologist of the site, Adam
Zertal. |
|
|
|
 |
|
Photo
courtesy of Wikipedia Commons |
|
The walls of Joshua's
altar were intact up to six feet (2 meters)
in height |
|
|
|
Most popular 2021/22 posts |
|
|
|
Sir Flinders Petrie,
the first biblical archeologist
in Palestine was buried without his head in
the Protestant Cemetery on Mount Zion.
Read about why he is so important and what
happened to his head! |
|
|
|
 |
|
Photo: Gila
Yudkin |
|
Mount Zion where the headless body
of archeologist Sir Flinders Petrie
was buried in the Protestant Cemetery in 1942 |
|
|
|
What's the story with the
ladder
on the facade of the Holy Sepulcher Church? |
|
|
|
 |
|
Photo:
Gila Yudkin |
|
A ladder has been seen
perched on the facade for nearly three
centuries! |
|
|
|
Born in Windsor Palace and buried on the
Mount of Olives, the
eccentric Princess Alice,
mother-in-law of Queen Elizabeth II who
became a Greek Orthodox nun, led an
astonishing and improbable life. |
|
|
|
 |
|
Photo: Gila Yudkin |
|
Princess Alice's final
request was to be buried on the Mount of
Olives |
|
|
|
"Spooked
in Samaria" is a chapter from
Gila's book in progress, Holy Land Haunts: Four Decades of
Spirited Guiding.
It describes the first dangerous dilemma
Gila faced as a guide. |
|
|
