After crossing back into Israeli territory, we almost immediately crossed BACK into Palestine a little further north. To see Herodian. And then Shepherd's Field and perhaps Solomon's Pools - if there was time in the waning afternoon. The second crossing was a piece of cake- it was a different border, and we were simply waved through. They DID, however, use the racial profiling method of determining who could get the wave-through, and who had to be stopped and searched.
Herodian is a mountain in the middle of the desert- the tallest mountain around for miles and miles. A palace in the sky built by King Herod. This amazing man-made landscape was controlled by Jews during the revolts (AD 66-132) and in modern times as well. Great! Only, because it was Shabbat, it closed an hour earlier than we were expecting, so we weren't able to ascend to the top to see what must have been amazing views and to explore the ruins. Sad. We're going to try to make it back next time we have a car....hopefully earlier than 20 minutes before close.
(Parking lot view at Herodian; The mountain not ascended.)
Southward! On to other sites!
Lee was using the GPS on his phone (which worked spotty, at best, in Palestine) to get us to Shepherd's Field- a Christian plot of land and gardens which house an archeological dig from the 4th, 5th and 6th centuries. Because of the spotty GPS, we got to see a slice of town life, and some side streets, and a building that was well enforced, with a bunch of Greek writing on the outside. At that point, we decide to give up on Shepherd's Field, and head south again, past Bethlehem, and on to Solomon's Pools. Suddenly, a sign! A sign that says "Shepherd's Field --->". Hooray! We parked the car (on a sketchy street), and walked into beautifully maintained gardens, with MANY tiny congregation areas all over the place - even underground! It was a wanderer's paradise, and we spent quite a bit of time checking everything out and taking plenty of photos. There were active excavations going, unearthing a monestary from the Byzantine era, which seemed to be open to the public. We wandered ALL over the place, into underground caverns (some with little congregation sites....those little things were everywhere.) It was very serene, and it was well worth getting lost in Palestine to finally find it.
(Chapels in Shepherd's field; Soot covered ceiling in tiny congregation area; Walkway to excavations)
Miraculously the car was still where we'd left it, so we jumped in and headed down to Solomon's Pools. Passing right by Bethlehem AGAIN on the way down. We also drove through a refugee camp, which was terrifying and depressing. While it wasn't a tent city, it was a run down crowded township, which had speedbumps on the road every 50 meters or so. As was deserving of the oddity that we obviously made, we were stared at by every person on the road. I made a request not to go that route on the way back.
Solomon's Pools were reservoirs built back in Roman times, and through a series of pipes (some of which I saw when I was at the Israel Museum art garden), supplied Jerusalem with water. Yes, it was plumbing on a massive scale. The pools are enclosed in chain link fence, and not accessible on foot. And they're MASSIVE. Each are easily the size of a football field, and 30 meters deep. That's a lotta water! We had to park on the side of the road, just outside of the refugee camp to get close enough for photos, so we didn't linger very long. Besides, we couldn't get closer than the fences.
(Photo through chain link of one of the pools. Huge!)
Figuring that was enough for one day, we got a little lost getting back on the freeway, found the football stadium, made a few U-turns, and crossed back into Israel problem-free.....only to rush Lee to the UK...please send your thoughts to his family.
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