Transition to Istanbul, Turkey

Istanbul, Ancient but Still Growing

Istanbul straddles the border between Europe and Asia.

No other city in the world does so, and that unique geographic position has made it a major hub for trade between those distinctly different continents.

So, it's only natural that our excursion kicked off with a bus ride across a bridge to the Asian side, accompanied by introductory narration by our knowledgeable guide, who fortunately was not trying to divide his attention by also driving our bus through the snarling bumper-to-bumper traffic.

Bosporus Strait Dividing Europe From Asia

Our bus driver did an excellent job throughout the day, always keeping his cool despite the fact that traffic stretched our 9 hour tour into 10 1/2 hours by the time we returned to Azamara Journey after dark.

It's nice to say we've been to the Asian side of Istanbul, but a round trip ferry ride across the Bosporus Strait with a short time to walk around would have been ideal.

Two Mosques Beyond the Grassy Park.

We had an overnight stay in Istanbul, so anyone with sufficient motivation could have
returned to Asia the next morning.

Colonists from Megara, Greece, arrived in 667 BC, founding their colony which became known as Byzantium in honor of their leader, King Byzas.

As you may surmise, that name is where German historian Hieronymus Wolf came up with the name Byzantine Empire, which is also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire.

Praying Area for Men Only in Blue Mosque

At the time history unfolded, however, the citizens throughout the sprawling empire considered themselves simply Romans, with Byzantium shorthand to refer to the eastern region, like calling the northeastern region of the U.S. by the shorthand New England.

During the first few centuries of Roman rule, the city of Byzantium kept its original name, but for a brief time in the third century it became Angusta Antonina, named after an otherwise historically insignificant Roman royal.

Madonna and Jesus flanked by Emperors Justinian I and
and Constantine I at Hagia Sofia

The far more significant Roman Emperor Constantine, who made Christianity legal and then the dominant religion of the Roman Empire, declared the city to be the eastern capital of the Roman Empire on May 11, 330.
People began calling it Alma Roma (Eastern Rome), or the more complex New, Second Rome. Eventually, it became known as Constantinople, in honor of the Emperor who rebuilt the key city on a monumental scale similar to Rome itself.

Istanbul's Grand Bazaar

Beginning in the tenth century, Armenians and Muslims began to refer to Constantinople as Istanbul, which essentially means "in the city," much in the way Knickerbockers might refer to New York as "the City," but it didn't become Istanbul officially until the new Republic of Turkey made it so in 1928.

After the Ottomans conquered Constantinople in 1453, they referred to it as Istanbul in some records but the official name was Kostantiniyye, the Arabic translation for "place of Constantine,"

The rise of the Ottoman Empire from inception in 1299 to their conquest of Constantinople coincided with the decline of the Byzantine Empire. The Christian Crusades had met with some degree of success in retrieving the Holy Lands in the 1100s and 1200s, but the Muslims struck back, capturing Jerusalem in 1287.

Wes Outside Topkapi Palace Entrance

In thinking about the Crusades, it may be easy to think the Holy Lands were the sole focus of a united Europe, but then as now, there were all kinds of side intrigues and all out wars dividing the interests of world leaders.

In addition to Crusading, English King Edward I became known as the Hammer of the Scots for his fierce control of Scotland, and he also battled France. Edward I was a staunch supporter of the Knights Templar, with whom he fought side by side in the Holy Lands.

Flowers and Artifact by Wall Outside Hagia Sofia

King Philip IV of France had to fund his war with England using loans.

Jewish bankers helped finance Philip the Fair (a rather ironic nickname in retrospect), not knowing he would rid himself of that debt by arresting all the Jews in 1306, confiscating all of their property, and expelling them from his country, unpaid. Of course, this type of treatment of Jews has been a recurring theme throughout history.

Philip had also borrowed heavily from the Knights Templar, who, rich from their Crusading activities, had re-settled as power brokers in Europe in the 13th Century.

Blue Mosque Ceiling Section

However, King Philip could not take action against the Knights Templar as long as their powerful royal friend King Edward I lived.

That didn't stop Philip from plotting a scheme with his Counselor William de Nogaret to replace the Pope with one more amenable to the will of Philip, planning to have that Pope find the Knights Templar guilty of trumped-up crimes against the Church, so that Philip could cancel his debts and seize their wealth.

To those ends, Philip and De Nogaret first tried to get Pope Boniface VIII removed from power, which resulted in threatened ex-communication. Changing plans, De Nogaret kidnapped the Pope and imprisoned him. Soon, Boniface died from the harsh treatment.

He was replaced by Benedict XI, who also apparently wouldn't play ball with Philip and was poisoned by De Nogaret. Pope Clement V proved to be a keeper.

The final piece of the puzzle for King Phillip IV was the death of King Edward I in 1307.

Meanwhile, in response to the Ottoman Empire amalgamating Muslim kingdoms under their rule, Templar Grand Master Jacques de Molay planned a Return of the Jedi (great link here) scenario.

De Molay headed to see Pope Clement V to receive Church sanction for another Crusade, not realizing Clem was in the pocket of Philip the Fair. The Grand Master obviously lacked Yoda-like powers of perception, because en route he accepted a royal invitation to meet with King Philip in Paris, hoping to get the French monarch on board with his plan and make it a slam dunk for Papal approval.

On Friday, October 13, 1307, King Philip had the Knights Templar arrested and subsequently tortured into confessions. The demise of the Knights Templar made the Ottoman Empire's rise easier.

Once the Ottomans took control of Constantinople in 1453, they owned the most valuable trade routes between East and West, and their wealth and influence grew, making the Ottoman Empire into the most powerful nation in the world.

Julie at Topkapi Palace Entrance

We would see the incredible wealth of their royal treasury for ourselves at Topkapi Palace, which occupies an area about a third the size of the wealthy country of Monaco.

Had Philip the Fair not hatched his plan against the Knights Templar, and they had successfully united Europe for another Crusade to the Holy Lands, then perhaps the Roman Empire would not have lost Constantinople.

Then, that young Italian Christopher Columbus might not have shown up before Queen Isabella I of Spain, hat in hand, asking for funding to find an alternative trade route to Asia sailing west.

And the conquest of America might have been delayed a few centuries.

Were all of the Knights Templar killed by Philip the Fair?

Knights Templar Charge at the Battle of Bannockburn

No.  Many later recanted their confessions made under torture.  Other than in France and some Italian city-states, most European governments didn't accept the unjust rulings, and Knights Templar were gladly absorbed into their armies.

In Scotland, it is said that Knights Templar with white capes and red crosses emblazoned across their chests came to the aid of Robert the Bruce in 1314 just as defeat seemed imminent at the Battle of Bannockburn, charging over the hill to reverse the tide and win Scotland's independence.

Pinta, Santa Maria and Niña Crossing the Atlantic Ocean

In fact, if you went to school in the same era as I did when Columbus was still considered a great explorer and hero, you may remember paintings of the Niña, Pinta and Santa Maria with red crosses on their sails.  Those Crusader crosses are not royal symbols of Spain.

In 1492, Queen Isabella and her hubby King Ferdinand not only launched exploratory ships to the west but also completed the Reconquista, reclaiming Spain from the Muslim Moors, who had invaded almost 800 years earlier and whose architectural influence is still seen in great Spanish cities and throughout the New World.

Arches at Topkapi Palace

Perhaps you've also noted a white cross on red background on Swiss Army Knives or the Swiss flag.  The Swiss Confederation was established August 1, 1291, or about the time Knights Templar returned to Europe.  Switzerland, of course, remains one of the great banking centers of the world.  Coincidence?

European powers changed focus for their adventurism from the birthplace of civilization to the New World and future glories.

They found great wealth there, sufficient to fund power which eventually reclaimed the Holy Lands from the Ottomans after the Muslims sided with Germany in World War I.  As I think about it, their former colonies, the United States of America, rode over the ridge just in time to turn the tide in favor of Great Britain's allies, like heroic knights.

From the ashes of the Ottoman Empire rose the Republic of Turkey, and Istanbul remains a vibrant hub where East meets West.

The Holy Lands

Basilica of the Annunciation in Nazareth, Israel, site where
the archangel Gabriel appeared to inform Mary that she would
be blessed to give birth to the Son of God, Jesus.

You'd be hard-pressed to find a country more steeped in religion than Israel, where three of the world's great religions began.

As we learned in Sunday School, Moses led his people on an Exodus out of slavery in Egypt, parting the Red Sea en route to the Promised Land.  Moses never saw the Land of Israel, because he could not follow directions.

No, he wasn't ignoring his wife and refusing to stop at a gas station to ask for help.

Old Testament Stories Depicted on
Door at Basilica of the Annunciation

Moses failed to follow God's commands exactly and took credit himself for God's miracle of bringing forth drinking water from a rock.

Interesting that water, the rights for which was the basis for the creation of cities and subsequent civilizations, can often be found at the heart of religions.

Anyway, Moses wandered in the desert for forty years, and in fact, everyone in his generation died before seeing their destination that is now called Israel. 

God gave the Jews many amazing military victories in their prime, and those stories for me as a child were as vivid as The Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter for today's youth, thanks to engaging lessons from my great Sunday School teachers, Mr. Ball and Dave Willett, augmented by Charlton Heston movies.

Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, Palestine (Israel),
site of the manger where Jesus was born to Mary.

Unfortunately, the Israelites didn't stay faithful to God, and subsequently the Promised Land was overtaken by other kingdoms like the Assyrians, Babylonians and Romans, with Jews strewn throughout the world, often initially enslaved, then cyclically they earned freedom, built wealth, suffered persecution for being successful and eventually would be stripped of their wealth and livelihoods, at which point the process would start from scratch again.

Jesus's Childhood Home in Nazareth is thought to be a grotto.

As unlikely as it seems, they continued to practice their religion, which served as a reason to keep their language alive in foreign lands.

Over 2500 years later, Israel was re-established as a Jewish homeland in the aftermath of World War II.

Millions of Jews had been used as laboratory rats and slaughtered in the Holocaust, and some enlightened world leaders determined the best chance for ending the cycle would be to return the Israelites to the land promised to them by God.

Bustling Port of Haifa, Israel

Jews had already begun re-settling in their homeland from the late 1800's with the Zionist movement.  Prior to that, the land in what is now Israel had devolved over the centuries into mostly desolate wasteland under the neglectful care of nomadic wanderers, as you can easily read about in Mark Twain's reflections on the region during the 19th century, The Innocents Abroad.

Japan's Take On Madonna and
Jesus, Part of International Series
of Paintings in Nazareth at the
Church of the Annunciation.

In the interim between Israelites being scattered throughout the earth and the resurrection of Israel, the Jew Jesus of Nazareth rose to become the most famous person to have ever walked the earth.  His followers spread the word far and wide, establishing another great religion, Christianity.

Recently, Pope Francis, the head of the Catholic Church, visited the United States to great fanfare.

The Catholic Church, of course, is headquartered in the Vatican, an independent nation located within Rome.

Catholicism was founded by a disciple of Jesus, the fisherman Simon whom Jesus said he would call Petros (Peter), which means "rock."

Some have speculated the name to be a small bit of black humor based on Jesus foreseeing Peter would deny Him three times before the cock crowed along the way to Jesus's crucifixion, but most believe it was because Jesus knew Peter's heart was always true.

Statue of Simon Peter in his hometown
of Capharnaum by the Sea of Galilee.

Jesus said he would build his church on this Petros, and it is said that Peter's bones are buried beneath St. Peter's Basilica, the incredible Catholic Church at the Vatican.

However, because these lands of Israel are where Jesus grew up, preached, died for our sins and resurrected, it has been considered the Holy Land by Christians for centuries.

Against all odds, Christianity spread to be the dominant religion throughout Europe thanks to Emperor Constantine, a Christian himself who issued the Edict of Milan in 313 AD that de-criminalized Christianity in the Roman Empire.

In 325 AD, Constantine's First Council of Nicaea brought together diverse Christian sects (and actually some pagan rituals) into one orthodoxy.  About that same time, Constantine prohibited construction of new pagan temples, and by the end of his reign he was destroying them.

Mount of Beatitudes overlooking the Sea of Galilee,
where Jesus gave the Sermon on the Mount.

During our trip, we would visit many remarkable sites said to be the exact places where major events in the life of our Savior unfolded, but most were designated as such in 326 to 328 AD, when Constantine's 80 year-old mother Helena came to the Holy Lands to locate and consecrate them.

It is a matter of faith as to whether you believe she nailed them all exactly based on oral traditions passed down from the time shortly after Jesus returned from death (at which point His followers by all reports had been chased out of town or killed) or if she was duped by con artists seeking royal coin, but it is nonetheless moving to be in the right general areas.

Palace of the Grand Masters of the Knights of  St. John
in Rhodes,  Greece

You may recall that about 800 years later, Europeans became outraged by Muslim persecution of Christians in Jerusalem and began the Crusades to re-claim the Holy Lands.

That, of course, brings up the third great religion of the region, Islam, which accepts most tenets of the Old Testament and the New Testament, except the resurrection of Jesus and the belief that He was the fulfillment of the prophecies.  

Gateway to Old Jerusalem

Muslims believe Mohammed followed Jesus as the next great messenger from God, and in something of a repeat of history, Mohammed led his chosen people to nationhood in the Middle East.

In 570 AD, Mohammed was born in Mecca, which is the holiest city for Muslims.  Islam is linked to Israel because the foundations of his religion are in those earlier religions.  Plus, the Muslim version of manifest destiny calls for them to control all of the Holy Lands, including Israel.

In addition, Mohammed had a special connection to the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem, because he was taken there one night by an angelic beast named Buraq en route to ascending to heaven to meet the ancient prophets of the Jews and Christians plus even God Himself.

"I was brought by al-Burg who is an animal white and long, larger than a donkey but smaller than a mule, who would place his hoof at a distance equal to the range of vision. I mounted it and came to the Temple (Bait-ul Maqdis in Jerusalem), then tethered it to the ring used by the prophets."

Jerusalem, Israel

The Dome of the Rock Mosque on the Temple Mount in Old Jerusalem marks the spot of the ascension to heaven.

The mosque's location creates a major problem for Jews, because it blocks them from re-building the Jewish Temple on the site of the first one built by King Solomon in the tenth century BC.

Mural at Elvis Gas Station Near Jerusalem selling Elvis
postcard that read, "I saw the King in Jerusalem."

Because Israel is a free nation that respects property rights and allows people to worship in any way they want, there is nothing the Jews can do about it.

Let me stress here that there are many things about Islam to be admired, including the fact that followers pray five times each day.

River Jordan Baptismal Area Tiles

Muslims are required to make themselves clean before prayer, which encouraged good hygiene before anyone knew what germs were, similar to "religious" rules from the Old Testament, like the admonishment to never eat pork, which was literally an unclean meat that could make diners quite ill back in those ancient times 

A religion that encourages you to think about God throughout your day and to follow hygienic rules can't be bad, right?

Certainly, some great heroes from my youth like Lew Alcindor (who became Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) and Cat Stevens still seem to be nice guys following their conversions to Islam, but unfortunately there are also some leaders who preach hatred.

Garden of Gethsemane at the foot of the Mount of Olives,
where Judas betrayed Jesus.

As peace loving Muslims, Kareem and Cat probably optimistically support the new nuclear agreement with Iran which is being touted to America as a peace agreement by President Obama's administration.

We are a secular country that respects all religions, but founded on Judeo-Christian principles.  Nonetheless, the USA is called "the Great Satan" by many Muslim leaders.

In presenting the same nuclear agreement to his people, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei led the crowds in cheers of "Death to America" and promised Israel would not exist in 25 years.

Church of the Holy Sepulchre on
the site where Jesus was crucified.

Tiny Israel has been threatened with annihilation by its neighbors since its re-birth but somehow has managed to hold its own and even win, much like the story of David and Goliath.

I personally think Naziism rather than Islam is to blame for the hatred of the USA and Israel spread by Khamenei and his ilk, but some followers take it on faith when their Imam or Supreme Leader tells them they will be blessed and rewarded in heaven if they strap a bomb on their chests or fly planes into buildings to kill civilians, "because it is the will of Allah."

Yes, these three great religions often find themselves at war with each other, whether both sides actually seek to destroy the other or not.

Getting back to history, as the decades unfolded following the birth of Islam, the Christian Eastern Roman/Byzantine Empire, which had ruled the Holy Lands for centuries, gradually receded.

St. George statue at
Church of St. Catherine, built
on the site of a Crusader Church
which had been built on the site
of a 4th Century Monastery
in Bethlehem.

In the late 11th Century, Catholic Pope Urban II called for a Crusade to recapture Jerusalem.

Over the last 50 years or so, movies, novels and even textbooks have re-framed the Crusades as a reckless encroachment by Christians on Muslims.

The power of Hollywood in particular to influence popular opinion should never be underestimated, and while I won't deny there being multiple sides to every story, I think perhaps Crusaders have been overly vilified of late.

To put it in perspective, consider the middle three letters in JerUSAlem happen to be USA.

If the USA was overrun by people taking away our Constitutional freedoms, would we not want to re-claim our country?

As you probably know, Muslims conquered most of the region, and eventually the great Ottoman Empire arose as one of the richest and most powerful kingdoms ever.

Hagia Sophia (means "Holy Wisdom") was the
greatest church in the Byzantine Empire
from 537 AD to 1453. In 1453 it was
converted into a mosque.  In 1935, Turkey
re-opened this Istanbul highlight as a museum.

The name of the Byzantine/Eastern Roman Empire's former capital, Constantinople (named after the Christian Roman Emperor Constantine), became Istanbul.

Constantinople's most spectacular church, Hagia Sophia, was converted to serve as a mosque.

As we all know, even within these great religions, there are differences.

Protestants and Catholics fought many wars over whose version of Christian religion was closer to what God would want, but not lately.

Other newer spin-offs of Christianity that feature latter-day prophets of a sort include Mormonism, Christian Science, and Religious Science, but they generally haven't killed each other as a matter of principle.

The Wailing Wall in Jerusalem

While Ultra-orthodox and Orthodox Jews may not fully approve of Liberal Jews like our guides, who work or even ride in buses on the Sabbath, they aren't trying to kill them.

With the new millennium, we have grown accustomed to seeing hatred within Islam between Shia, Sunni and Kurds, as played out in Iraq, continuing as it has for centuries.

Baha'i World Center and Gardens in Haifa, Israel

A spin-off from Sunni Islam is Baha'i, which is now headquartered in Haifa, Israel.

Baha'i expands on the basics of Islam, including its foundations in Judaism and Christianity, while adding the lessons of  Buddha, Krishna and essentially anyone else who has some positive words of enlightenment.

Church of the Holy Sepulchre
in Jerusalem Where Jesus
Was Buried and Resurrected.

In the 1800s, their new prophet, Bahá’u’lláh, proclaimed there is only one God, worshiped by different religions in their own rituals, and that there is a spiritual unity of all of mankind.

So, of course, he was forced into exile.  Early Baha'is were slaughtered, and present day followers continue to be persecuted in Muslim counties, including present-day Iran where the religion started.

I don't present this as an attempt to imply any status of absolute truth to Baha'i or to convert anyone.

Rather, I think it is a good modern day example of the challenges Moses, Jesus, Mohammed and their followers overcame spreading a gospel of love in an age long before the existence of mass communication that encircles the world in an instant.

Wes in Big Comfy Couch on Azamara Journey

Yes, this is a long-winded opening to the Holy Lands we explored on Azamara Journey, but if you think about it, compared to all the chapters of history that have unfolded during that time, this wouldn't even qualify as a Cliffs Notes version.

By the way, you can click on any of the photos to enlarge them to make them easier to see, and the hotlinks take you to pages I selected to share for anyone who wants to know more on that topic.

Jerusalem

Church of Mary Magdalene, a Russian Orthodox Church
near the Garden of Gethsemane in Jerusalem

If you believe the story of Noah and his Ark (not to be confused with Jonah and the Whale) to be history rather than allegory, then Noah's family tree would be ancestors to each and every one of us.

How about that, Cousin?

The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, where Adam is
purportedly buried directly below where Jesus was
crucified,

Before you dismiss God's flooding the world as religious claptrap, perhaps you would find it helpful to substitute the term "Climate Change," and assume that the "sins of the world" were some ancient euphemism for pollution.

Or, in the current day, substitute "God" for "Climate Change," and perhaps you'll at least find tolerance for whatever morality tale you previously scoffed at.

Church of All Nations Mural
of Jesus at Garden of Gethsemane.

You also could find rationalization in thinking of the flood as a more localized event, wiping out every place Noah, who lived in an age before cars and jets, probably knew of existing or at least had ever visited in his lifetime.

An apocalyptic destruction of his world, perhaps along the lines of the civilization-ending event for the Minoans in Crete, would seem like the entire earth must have been covered with water.

In any case, for the sake of this narrative, let's assume that we all must have descended from Noah, who incidentally was the tenth generation down a family line of Adam and Eve.

Noah had three sons: Ham, Shem and Japheth.

Julie at Garden of Gethsemane, where Jesus prayed after
partaking in the Last Supper with his disciples.

Several generations later, in about 4,000 BC, some descendants of Ham established a civilization in the country we call Egypt, which of course became quite an amazing civilization.  About the same time or maybe 1000 years later (what's a few hundred years when you're having fun?), other descendants of Ham established a city called Jebus, the city that would become Jerusalem.

The Church of All Nations beside the Garden of Gethsemane.

The tenth generation of Noah's descendants down the line of Shem included Abraham, who had a few interesting adventures that I won't go into here.  Several generations later came Moses, who became step-royalty to the Pharoah in Egypt before leading his people on an Exodus to the Promised Land, which became Israel.

After conquering their new homeland and settling in, the Israelites decided they wanted a king, despite the fact that God told them He would guide them through His prophets.

Mural of Jesus Praying at
Church of All Nations

They chose Saul, a Schwarzenegger-like man who stood head and shoulders above the rest of the Israelites.

One day, an army of Schwarzeneggers, the Philistines, showed up in the Valley of Elah (a valley we saw on our way into Jerusalem) and made camp on one hillside, taunting King Saul and the Israelites on the opposite side of the valley with threats of their impending violent, merciless attack.

The Philistines challenged Israel to send out their greatest champion, who most Israelites would have thought to be Saul, and let only those two men fight to decide who would rule the Promised Land, saving the obviously inferior fighting force of Israel from being utterly slaughtered by the superior Philistine fighting force.

The Philistines sent out their greatest champion, Goliath, who was an intimidating giant in full battle regalia.  Just the sight of Goliath was so frightening that no Israelite, including Saul, would come forward.

A humble shepherd boy named David, who was in the fourteenth generation of Abraham's heirs, happened to be there.

Embarrassed by this humiliating spectacle of neither the powerful king nor any other Israelite warrior coming forth, David stepped forward with the belief that God, to whom he sang Psalms of praise daily while tending his sheep, would stand with him, just as David protected his flock. He knew that with God's help, anything was possible.

We all know the story.  As he walked toward the giant who wielded the most gruesome weapons of that age, David pulled out the sling shot used to fend off predators who would otherwise ravage his lambs.

Ancient Olive Tree in Garden of Gethsemane

As Goliath laughed at this mere boy sent to combat him, David put a rock in his sling shot and landed a stone right between the titan's eyes, and Goliath fell forward like a felled tree.  David took Goliath's huge sword, almost too heavy for the boy to hoist, and cut off the giant's head.  At least that's the way I learned the story.

Ceiling at the Church of All Nations

The Philistines ran away upon realizing how powerful this God of David and his ancestor Abraham must be, if a mere boy could defeat their hero.

David became a great fighter and then general in Saul's army, greater even than Saul himself.    Despite not being Saul's heir to the throne, David was selected by the Israelites to be king.  What was the first order of business for King David?

Gateway to Jerusalem

"David and all the Israelites marched to Jerusalem (that is, Jebus). The Jebusites who lived there said to David, “You will not get in here.” Nevertheless, David captured the fortress of Zion—which is the City of David....

"David then took up residence in the fortress, and so it was called the City of David.  He built up the city around it, from the terraces to the surrounding wall, while Joab restored the rest of the city.  And David became more and more powerful, because the Lord Almighty was with him."

---1 Chronicles, Chapter 11 Versus 4, 5 and then 7 through 9

Like all Jews, Jesus came to Jerusalem for all high holidays.

In the Temple as a boy, He amazed Hebrew religious leaders

with his wisdom.  As an adult, He overturned tables of
money changers who took advantage of poor worshipers.

King David's palace in Jerusalem (location unknown) became the site of much drama.

One night, restless and unable to sleep, David went up to the roof of the palace for some fresh air.  He happened to see a gorgeous woman bathing nearby on what I imagine was a hot summer's night.

We walked Via Dolorosa, the route Jesus took to Calvary.

King David sent a servant to find out about the babe, Bathsheba, and learned she was already married to Uriah, a soldier who happened to be out of town on a military campaign.

The king, accustomed to having anything his heart desired, becoming less in tune with God, and so he sent for Bathsheba and...yada yada yada...."I'm pregnant!"

Church of the Holy Sepulchre marks the spot where Jesus was
crucified and also the place where He was entombed and then
finally resurrected, which we celebrate on Easter.

David sent for Uriah in order to get the soldier home from war and into bed with his wife, so that Uriah wouldn't think something's fishy when his wife has a baby almost nine months later.

But Uriah turned out to be a dedicated soldier, so devoted that he refuses to go to see his wife.

David took it a step further with a deadly cover-up.  As commander-in-chief, he ordered his general to send Uriah to the fiercest fighting against the Ammonites, hoping Uriah would be killed.

Julie enters the Church of the Holy Sepulchre

Mission accomplished.

David made Bathsheba his wife, and she gave birth to their son.

However, God knows all and sees all, so He sends the prophet Nathan to speak to David on His behalf.

Worshipers pray at a hole that is purportedly
the exact spot where the cross of Jesus stood.

"I gave your master’s house to you, and your master’s wives into your arms. I gave you all Israel and Judah. And if all this had been too little, I would have given you even more. Why did you despise the Word of the Lord by doing what is evil in His eyes?"

David confessed his sin and begged forgiveness, and Nathan, still speaking for God, told David that God would take away his sin and that his life would be spared.  However, Nathan went on to say that the son of David and Bathsheba would die.

David donned sack cloth and prayed that his son's life might be spared, sincerely contrite for his sins, but seven days later, his son died.

Eastern Orthodox Representation
of Jesus on the Cross

David had hoped God might change his mind as He had with Ninevah after they repented following warnings from Jonah (not to be confused with Noah), but no such luck.

David went to comfort the grieving Bathsheba, and....yada yada yada...about  nine months later a new son, Solomon, was born.

David then undertook finishing the war against the Ammonites in which Bathsheba's first husband Uriah had fought, and you may be surprised to learn that they won, bringing back plunder to Jerusalem and forcing all the Ammonites to slave away making bricks, apparently in preparation for a building boom.

David and Bathsheba's second son grew to become Wise King Solomon, whom the Lord loved greatly.

The Wailing Wall, or Western Wall, is the only remainder of

the 2nd Temple of Jerusalem, built on the site of the 1st

Temple constructed by King Solomon in about 1000 BC.
A 3rd Temple on the same spot is blocked from construction
by presence of the Dome of the Rock mosque,
which bans non-Muslims visitors.

King Solomon built the first Temple in Jerusalem in about 1000 BC.

What do you make of that story?

I'd say the Lord works in mysterious ways.

Jews controlled Jerusalem for 300+ years before being overrun by the Assyrians.

Slab where the body of Jesus
was anointed in olive oil.

About a hundred years into Assyrian rule, Babylonians won control of Jerusalem and carried the Israelites into exile.  This was fourteen generations after King David.

Other kingdoms came and went over the millennia.

Roman Empire rule, which lasted in one form or another for over 700 years, began when Pompey the Great besieged Jerusalem in 63 BC.  Roman Emperor Augustus Caesar, Julius Caesar's great-nephew, ruled at the time of the birth of Jesus, followed in 14 AD by Augustus's stepson Tiberius Caesar, who ruled at the time of the crucifixion.  The life of Jesus in Jerusalem, by the way, is covered in the separate narrative accompanying our photos herein. The Roman Empire continued into the early 300s AD and morphed into the Christian Byzantine Empire under Emperor Constantine.  The Byzantine designation is one made by historians; the Byzantines thought of themselves as Romans.

The Byzantines ruled until 637 AD, when following Mohammed's ascent, Arab Muslims took over Jerusalem, until Crusaders recaptured it a few hundred years later.

Old City of Jerusalem behind Suleimann-built wall.

In 1517, Suleimann the Magnificent (not to be confused with Wise King Solomon) took control of Jerusalem for his Ottoman Turks.  The Ottomans held Jerusalem for 400 years, until the end of World War I when the Brits took over.  We would definitely be crossing historical paths with the Ottomans throughout this trip, culminating in Istanbul where we were amazed by their treasures.  For his part, Suleimann, the greatest Ottoman sultan of them all, built Jerusalem's still-impressive city walls, among many other civic improvements which helped preserve the city for posterity.

Modern West Jerusalem on left, and East Jerusalem on right.

Today, 3,000 years after King David and the Israelites captured Jerusalem from the Jebusites, the descendants of Ham and Shem (and most likely Japheth too) continue to contend over control of Jerusalem and its holy sites.

Shortly after Israel declared its independence in 1948, Jordan annexed East Jerusalem and the West Bank, and Israel took control of West Jerusalem. Barbed wire divided the city in two.

The Jordanian side included the old walled city, with most of its holy sites, and an armistice agreement promised to allow Jews free access to those sites, but it was not honored.

Under the Rotunda, the tomb of Jesus

and a piece of the stone that covered
it are housed in the Edicule, built by

 the Greek Orthodox Church in 1810.

In practice, Muslim sites received maintenance while sites cherished by Jews did not, and that became the norm for 19 years.

In 1967, against the warnings of Israel, Jordan joined with Egypt (United Arab Republic was actually Egypt's name at the time) and Syria in an alliance against Israel.  

With the much larger nations amassing overwhelming forces on their borders, tiny Israel's vaunted secret service, Mossad, learned the exact time for the scheduled all-out assault by the Arab alliance, and thirty minutes before that time, the Israeli Air Force took to the skies.

Like David shocking Goliath with a rock to the forehead, Israeli jets mercilessly bombed Egyptian air fields, destroying almost their entire air force.  With that gambit, Israel had gained air superiority for the entire war.

Tomb of Joseph of Arimathea,
who donated a tomb for Jesus.

The United Arab Republic's military forces were built for offense, not defense.  How could they imagine a tiny country would dare to attack them?

Israel further surprised the alliance by invading the Egyptian-controlled Gaza Strip and also the Sinai with ground forces, inflicting heavy damage on all they encountered, capturing territory like my son Jay with hot dice in a game of Risk.

Israel did not want to open a war front against Jordan, but Syria and Jordan followed Egypt's lead and attacked.  Israeli forces surrounded East Jerusalem, but they did not attack for a number of reasons, including probable negative international reaction.  Despite Israel's warnings, Jordan continued firing artillery barrages from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, so two days into the war, on June 7, General Moshe Dayan gave the order to attack, and following heavy fighting, Israeli troops captured East Jerusalem.

The Woman's side of the Wailing Wall.

During the Six-Day War, Israel won control of East Jerusalem and the West Bank from Jordan, the Golan Heights from Syria, and the Gaza Strip and the Sinai Peninsula from Egypt.

Unlike many of the post-World War II policing actions by the United States and its allies in places like Iraq and Afghanistan, where we've tried to rebuild countries and give them back to their citizens, a truism of war throughout history has been: "To the victors go the spoils."

Shrine in Edicule.

In keeping with this tradition, Israel kept the territories it won, although according to our guide Miki, they'd like to give Gaza back to Egypt but the Egyptians are too smart to accept that constant headache.

The conquered territories to the east, on the other hand, provide an essential buffer to allow Israeli's defenses a chance to respond if attacked.

Did you realize that even after Israel added all of this territory captured in the Six Day War, the combined Islamic countries surrounding Israel are 640 times the size of the Jewish homeland?

Israel is the sliver of red, and Islamic colors are in green.

Can there not be one small sliver of land in the Middle East for a constitutional democracy in which everyone, whether Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Baha'i, Buddhist, Hindu, Sikh, Taoist, Algore-ian Druid or WOMAN, has the same fundamental freedoms of religion, speech, the press and elections as the United States?

Our tour bus had a toilet stop in the outskirts of Jerusalem at this Elvis Gas Station,

 a shrine to the King of Rock and Roll   Despite a constant drum beat of serious

threats, Israelis retain their sense of humor.

The Wailing Wall

The Dome of the Rock Mosque

Location of the Crucifixion

Newer Mosaic of Jesus being lowered from the Cross
at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre

Greek Orthodox Edicule housing the empty tomb of Jesus.