What the Cardo (road) looked like back in the day
[Mom – September 24, 2019 – Shane, Janice and I had another fun day exploring Jerusalem. Bill stayed in the apartment to rest because the things we are doing the next two days are things he really does not want to miss out on seeing. We visited the Upper Room where the last supper took place, the Tomb of David, the City of David, walked the tunnels that are below the city of David, visited Schindler’s grave and walked the Cardo in the old city.
The remains of the Cardo they have found recently
Some interesting things about Jerusalem. Everything is uphill. It is hard on those with bad knees, bad hearts or a combination of the both. All of the places we think of as holy and a part of our Christmas and Easter cantatas have been covered up over the years with churches]
Oskar Schindler’s Grave
Of the things my mom said we did today, the City of David is my favorite. This is where the city was formed well before David conquered it 3000 years ago. It sits on a hilltop next to the larger Temple Mount hill. You may be wondering why the original city was not built on the highest hill for defensive purposes and the answer is because this is where the natural spring water came out.
Ruins at the City of David that are suspected of being King David’s palace
The old city is an archaeological site at this point with the modern city on top of it. With that said I still find it fascinating to look at ruins from the Bronze Age, but that is not the best part. The best part is the two tunnels built to divert the water from the spring, which had the city walls come down to a tower to protect it. The first tunnel is called the dry tunnel and is the older of the two. Essentially it is like walking through a rock walled very narrow hallway. I did this route last time and sent my mom and her friend this way this time (let me tell you of all the things I had planned the idea of walking the other tunnel is the one they resisted the most, haha).
Road from the 1st century AD that has the modern city built over it
The second tunnel is the wet tunnel due to there being ankle to knee deep water through the whole tunnel. This tunnel was built around 800BC by King Hezekiah in order to divert all the water from the protected spring inside the walls so the besieging Assyrian army did not access to fresh water (found in 2 Chronicles 32:30). Most of the tunnel is about 6 feet tall, shoulder width wide, and over a third of a mile long. I loved walking through the solid rock and seeing clear pike axe marks from 3000 years ago. The entire time I just imagined being one of the workers down there in the dark and trying to chisel a tunnel through solid bedrock. It was quite an experience and one I whole heartily recommend everyone to do if they are in Jerusalem.
