Words on Walls

Today’s article and discussion on pilgrimage and tourism colored much of the day for me and I wouldn’t be surprised if it colored much of the trip retrospectively.  We discussed an article by Tony Cartledge on Christian pilgrims in the Holy Land.  After reading the article, it seemed fairly clear to me that its focus was on eschatology and the Zionist eschatological beliefs of a particular group of Christian evangelicals.  However, we spent the entirety of our seminar time on the set up for the eschatological portion of the paper, discussing the variety of ways in which Christian pilgrims respond to the Holy Lands.  In summary, the article notes a tendency among Orthodox Christians to venerate all of the relics in the Holy Lands and to focus mainly on the churches that are present in Jerusalem and the surrounding area.  Cartledge paints Catholics as more contemplative in their visits to the Holy Land, still venerating certain buildings, but largely using their pilgrimage experience for entrance again into the “real world”, unlike the Orthodox Christians who see the pilgrimage primarily as a way to prepare themselves for death.  The article devoted much of its space to a discussion of Protestants, and in particular Evangelicals. Cartledge notes that Protestants feel a much stronger connection to the geography of the Holy Lands rather than the holy buildings and relics and come largely to “walk where Jesus walked”.  Cartledge goes on to discuss the interactions between the State of Israel and various evangelical Christian groups, making a strong case that Israel pours funds into encouraging evangelical Christians to visit Israel in hopes that it will foster or confirm Zionist ideology among these Christians and increase support for the state of Israel.

At this point during the trip we are seeing more evangelical Christians than ever before.  During our time in Israel, we ran into some groups that looked that they might be Protestants, particularly at the site of the Garden Tomb which is known for being very popular among Protestants.  At the Kibbutz Ginosar, where we are now staying, it seems that there are several church groups visiting, including one that looks like it may be an evangelical group from Texas.  I think that there’s a lot of truth in Cartledge’s statements about  the Protestant desire to “walk where Jesus walked”.  As a Protestant, I find myself much more drawn to sites like the Sea of Galilee and the Mt. of the Beatitudes than the Church of the Holy Seplecher, which seemed large and dark and hectic.  In spite of the truth in Cartledge’s article, I found many of the statements made during class discussion today frustrating, like “tourism and pilgrimage seem nearly identical in the contemporary world”.  From a Christian perspective, it seems clear to me that pilgrimage and tourism are two very different entities.  In fact, I thought that Cartledge defined the two terms quite helpfully in his article, decribing pilgrimage as moving towards the center of one’s world and tourism as moving away from the center of one’s world.

Interestingly, this trip seems to me to be neither tourism nor a pilgrimage.  Certainly I enjoy the Biblical sites that we visit, but the point of visiting them in not veneration but rather to consider their archaeology and connection to contemporary politics and national identities.  Perhaps pilgrimage, tourism and academic ventures all have some aspects in common, like a sense of excitement, interest, or satisfaction upon reaching and exploring particular areas.  However, the “take away” of each of these three kinds of journeys seems distinct to me.  To equate pilgrims to tourists seems to me disrespectful to their sense of veneration for the land.  Similarly, to avoid to an archaeology course as simply toursits would disregard their substantial interest in connecting to the land historically with intellectual rigor.

Gamla

The Sea of Galilee in the evening

Caparnaum; A Byzantine Temple

I love the sky in Galilee

Our group gravitates toward large bodies of water. First the Dead Sea and now the Sea of Galilee!

I felt some sense of finality today as we zipped up our suitcases and rolled them away from the Rosary Sisters Convent.  I really enjoyed the chance to stay in a non-hotel environment and to have some daily interactions with the nuns who lived in the convent.  Driving out of Jerusalem also felt bittersweet; as excited as I was to continue on to Galilee and to see some of the sites associated with the ministry of Jesus, Jerusalem was so rich in history and culture and so thought-provoking that I found myself sad to leave.

Today we visited one last site in the Palestinian Authority.  Jericho was smaller than I had imagined.  The site claims to be the “oldest city in the world” but, as Dr. Meyers pointed out, it’s not exactly a city.  In fact, it’s a rather small settlement compared to some of the other sites that we’ve visited.  Jericho was particularly interesting to me as a Christian, because it’s one of the more popular Old Testament stories to tell children.  I can’t count the number of times I’ve seen the story of Jericho reenacted on a felt board or sung the classic “Joshua Fought the Battle of Jericho”.  As I’ve mentioned before on this blog, seeing these places in person that have been imagined vividly in my mind’s eye for years  has proved interesting.  One of the qualities of archaeology that I’m coming to love is that it still leaves much to be imagined.  As we move from site to site, I have to remind myself that these “old” things that we are looking at weren’t always old.  At our second site, Scythopolis, which was a city in Soloman’s empire, then a Roman city and the a Byzantine city, it was easy to become so fascinated by the beauty of the fallen pillars and cracked mosaics that I be completely taking aback by the various artists’ renderings of the city as it used to stand.  I think that it’s important to develop an awareness of these sites as formerly inhabited and I would love to be able to project how the city used to look, especially over the course of its evolution.  Of course, such a skill requires intensive training and years of study, but this growing desire to more fully grasp past of the sites we visit certainly gives me a greater appreciation for the explanations provided by the Drs. Meyers and our TA Ben Gordon.

Over the past few days, we’ve weaved in and out of Palestinian territory.  The distinction between the states of Israel and Palestine can be difficult to make, particularly because we have never had to show our passports at the border checks and instead drive straight through.  Also, Palestinians live in Israel (and are even Israeli citizens) and Israelis live in Palestinian territory.  We spent much of today driving between archaeological sites in Palestinian territory, first visiting the church believed to be the site of Jacob’s well/the well where Jesus spoke with Samaritan woman.  Then we moved on to the archaeological site of Shechem , which recently received 400, 000 euros from the European Union but seemed to have done very little with the monetary resources.  This failure to enhance the site was heartbreaking; as the Dr. Meyers’ pointed out, the finds at Shechem have the potential to draw in tourists from both the Palestinian territory and abroad.  In addition, the site could become a powerful teaching tool for young Palestinian students to learn about their heritage (and even their Canaanite origins, likely shared with the Jewish people, although this fact is still contested).   Our final visit today to Sebastia, the site of another of King Herod’s strongholds confirmed once again the discrepancy between the treatment of archaeological sites in Israel and Palestine.  This final site, home to some of the most spectacular ruins in all of the region, was a final confirmation of the difference in treatment of archaeological sites in Israel and Palestine.  There were almost no tourists to be seen and no signs labeling any of the structures.  The overarching explanation for this discrepancy seems to be that the Palestinian Authority simply does not have the resources to devote to the sites and that there is little interest in Israeli ruins among population of the Palestinian territory.

I don’t have much in the way of concluding thoughts on this topic.  While the lack of attention to these magnificent sites certainly inspires sadness, I certainly do not feel in a position to offer up solutions or even predictions about what will happen to these sites in the coming years.  As our instructors have emphasized throughout the trip, whether we like it or not, archaeology and politics are intricately intertwined.  I do not feel like I can project a hopeful future of increased tourism and public value for the sites at Shechem and Sebastia that we saw today; much would have to chance about the political climate, the sense of national identity, and even the valuing of archaeological sites in order for these places to become thriving tourist destinations.  Increasing awareness and interest may well be  a challenge for the emerging generation of Biblical or Islamic archaeologists in coming years and I look forward to seeing how some of the archaeological conflict in the area becomes resolved.

Church with the Relic of Jacob's Well

One of the many beautiful mosaics outside the church

A chandelier in the church

Again outside of the church

At Shechem

At Sebastia

From the top of Sebastia

Another view from Sebastia

A delicious meal at a rather deserted restaurant at the base of the archaeological site

Last night I wrote just after arriving back at the Rosary Sisters after spending the evening in Bethlehem celebrating New Years.  I wrote about the events of the day, but didn’t give any details on the New Year’s Celebration itself.  I have to devote some space to it on this blog, even though it wasn’t necessarily part of the curriculum, because it seems to me to be one of the most immersive cultural experiences that we’ve had thus far. Of course, the goal of this trip—and this course— isn’t necessarily to have a cultural immersive experience.  At least, the goal is not to understand Israeli or Palestinian culture as it exists today.  Instead, we devote most of our waking hours to exploring the ruins of ancients cities and dwellings, piecing together cultural as it existed many hundred and even many thousand years ago.  In fact, our interactions with the present-day residents of Israel/Palestine are rather minimal.  We’re getting to know the nuns who work at the Rosary Sisters Hostel where we stay and we occasionally see Gabi, our travel agent here in Israel.  We also have had several local scholars come and speak to us in the evenings, but again our focus even during these conversations are on the people and civilizations of the past.  I write this not as a complaint, but rather as an observation.  I think that this trip has been very well planned and in many ways I do feel culturally immersed; only, I feel culturally immersed in civilizations spanning the centuries and millennia before the present day.

New Years Festivities!

However, our time celebrating the New Year in the restaurant last night made me reconsider the value of interacting with locals today.  Up until that point, I had given my interactions with Israelis and Palestinians very little thought, with the exception of showing appreciation for their care in hosting us or in coming to speak to us.   However, last night, surrounded by hundreds of Palestinians celebrating a holiday, I was struck with the same sense of culture shock that I had experienced while living in Belgium, intentionally trying to absorb and adapt to the local culture.  Suddenly, I became aware of just how different social practices were, from dancing to eating to interacting with one another.  My classmates made some comments about how we seemed so tacky compared to them and how much we had to learn about their culture.  It seems to me now more important to strive to better understand present-day Israeli and Palestinian culture over the course of this trip.  Granted, the cultures present in this region today differ drastically from those cultures that we study as we visit various archaeology sites.  Still, parallels and connections abound and I don’t want to miss them.

Outside the Rockefeller Museum. Lots of beautiful artifacts!

The view from the top of Herodium.

We hopped on the bus first thing in the morning today.  We had spent the past two days exploring various locations in Jerusalem and it was time to venture outside of the city.  The principal site for the the day was the fortress of Masada, located next to the Dead Sea.  Our professors, Eric and Carol Myers, had worked on the Masada excavations during the 1960s under the guidance of Israeli archaeologist and former military commander Yigael Yadin.  Masada is a popular tourist destination today and our cable car to the top of the plateau was full to bursting.  After a slightly alarming glide to the top, we emerged onto an expansive flat landscape with several magnificent structures, partially in ruins and partially reconstructed.  Before we began our tour of the site, we stopped for a conversation on the possible political agendas of the Masada excavation.  In brief, the “Masada myth”, claiming the the Jewish rebels living in the fortress around 70 AD committed a mass suicide to avoid capture by the Roman army who besieged them.  Several statements made by Yadin during the period of excavation—also a time of war for the young state of Israel—indicate a support for the myth that goes beyond the facts present in the artefacts uncovered.  Our class began to explore the ethics of using historical narrative, particularly in the context of supporting a Zionist agenda in Israel.  After about an hour, we decided that it was probably good to go actually take a look at the artifacts and structures that we had come to see and spent the next hour and a half or so exploring the remains of Masada.  I loved King Herod’s place especially, with its beautiful mosaics and columns.  Nevertheless, it’s difficult to imagine wanting to live in a palace in a place as deserted as Masada.  The landscape is fairly bleak, although the view of the Dead Sea is breathtaking.

We spent the afternoon floating in the Dead Sea, which was a pretty visceral experience.  The rocks were sharp and many were quite salt-encrusted.  Californian that I am, I jumped right into the water and marvelled at its warmth in contrast to the frigid Pacific Ocean to which I’m so accustomed.  It was such a fun experience, although a little chilly climbing back up the hill to the bus.  On the way back to The Rosary Sisters Hostel, we were able to stop to see Qumran, the site of the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls.  The cave in which the scrolls were stumbled upon in the 1950s is small and unassuming, making me wonder what other archaeological treasures are waiting to be uncovered in the Israeli landscape.

View from the Bus

Overlooking Jerusalem

Camel!!

Looking up at Masada

Looking Up At Masada from the Lower Part of Herod's Palace

Frescos and Columns at Herod's Palace

In the Dead Sea!!

Floating!

The Cave Where the Dead Sea Scroll Was Discovered