Day 8

THURSDAY 17th DECEMBER



Synopsis of day: Herodium and the Israel Museum.

Biblical Connections: Herod the Great (the 'baby killer' as one of our guides termed him) ruled from here until his death in 4BC. The Israel Museum showcased some of the Dead Sea Scrolls.

Highlight of the day: Not running for the bed as soon as the chance presented itself.

Lowlight of the day: Windiness of Herodium was not fabulous.

Favourite quote/word: “Dude, clean your junk” from Kerri as we passed through some of the Arabic sections of Jerusalem (it is a stark contrast from the Jewish sections)

Favourite photo: Part of the dust storm at Herodium.

Cultural-shock moment: Ah, the traffic. The entry to the Israel Museum had three disjointed lanes of cars going in five directions and people mixed in between. New food consumed: Armenian pizza which is nothing to write home about but then we went back for more of the fabulous carrot salad.

Favourite purchase: Some calico bags with an image of the Dead Sea scrolls on the side and some terracotta lanterns/pots/jars for ancient history excavations at school.

The thing I lost today: Well not lost precisely but where is all my money going?? (I've been keeping records but it still alarms me!)

Random act of crazy: Not only this day, but the shopkeepers are so demanding and in your face. Sometimes they are helpful but other times downright annoying. Especially the ones who call you beautiful lady and want to show you their/their family/brother's/father's/cousin's shop. It is at this point they start trying to guess your nationality – English and American are the most common conclusions, although because I've been wearing my Aotearoa windjacket once I had someone call out “Come back pretty New Zealand girl!”

Something I want to remember: Ehud Metzer searched for Herod's Tomb for decades before finally discovering it in 2007 three metres from an earlier search site. Archaeology can be a frustrating and yet sometimes ultimately rewarding experience.


 This was the first dismal weather we have encountered, with some sputtering rain and nasty wind atop Herodium. It was an additional visit to our itinerary and after Masada didn't seem so spectacular, but in its time the artificial construction of the hill and a fifteen storey tower and separate palace complexes must have been something to behold. The elements of nature being definitely against us, we struggled our way up and around the hill. On a clear day Bethlehem is apparently visible but very little could be seen from our vantage point that morning.

Front centre is the remains of a swimming pool from the Lower Palace and some of the grounds around Herodium. These could have belonged at one point to Boaz.

It was cold. It was windy. We were (mostly) undeterred.

Following that we headed to the Israel Museum and viewed a scaled model of Jerusalem in the time 66AD which was several years in the making. Again it was easy to trace the Roman influence in the architecture.

This is the view from the Mount of Olives looking towards the old city of David (left) and Temple (right).

We also saw the Shrine of the Book a rather UFO reminiscent and poorly lighted exhibition on the Essene community, the Dead Sea Scrolls and on the Aleppo Codex. From the outside it was easier to see that the museum was designed in the shape of the pottery the scrolls were found in.

We were able to enjoy the luxury of the most free time in daylight hours that we have experienced to date. We wanted to go back to Rossini's but it was shut so we ended up trying Armenian pizza (not that exciting really) before making our way back to the awesome Jewish quarter cafe we had visited before. On the way back we purchased a few trinkets and walked down the new plaza precinct and bought gloves. Feet were as tired as ever on our eventual return but excitingly there was no evening meeting so I managed some journalling for a change.