City of David - Hezekiah's Water Tunnel - Nehemiah's Wall

The group we've been tagging along with most of the tour has concluded their stay so we'll spend the next couple days seeing some sites on our own. We first stopped at a location where you can help sift through archaeological debris recovered from the Temple Mount. You sift through the rubble and look for pieces of pottery, tile, seals, glass, metal, etc. looking for significant artifacts that validate the past.





When you find something, you place it in a marked container with similar objects.



Someone found an ancient Roman coin while we were there. This is definitely going to be one of the stops on our "Track 2" tour for those who have already been to Israel and want to see some different things.



We visited the City of David, this photo is remains of David's Citadel (his fortress, palace).



These stones are actually of the original Jebusite wall that surrounded the City of Jerusalem before David conquered it. They date back about 3,500 years. They're the same walls that surrounded the city while David lived there!



We went down into King Hezekiah's water tunnel, another cool place we're seeing on "Track 2" next year. This tunnel brings water into the city from the natural spring outside the walls.



Bring shorts and water shoes because the water's about 2 feet deep!



The beginning of the tunnel, see the water flowing.



This is actually part of Nehemiah's wall, built after the Jews returned to the land after the Babylonian exile.



We're still planning the different sites we'll see on Track 2, we've been doing a lot of research on great places to include. We should have details in the next couple weeks and we'll begin registration for the trip (both tracks)!

Shabbat Shalom! It's Friday evening now here in Jerusalem and everything's shutting down for Shabbat.