Following in the footsteps of Jesus felt both comforting and confusing. I booked the trip hoping to shed light on the events of 2,000 years ago; however, upon finishing the Israeli leg of the tour, I found myself asking more questions than had been answered. Sorry, this will also be a long one…
In my lifelong search for truth, I often get hung up on the facts, or rather, the lack-thereof. Most people simply make guesses. Some educated, some not so much. The truth is nobody really knows anything and oftentimes, they make it up. This was, unfortunately the case when visiting many of the places Jesus lived, preached, and died. I’ll go in chronological order according to his life.
Church of the Nativity Steeple – Bethlehem
In the beginning… there was Bethlehem. The small city is located in the West Bank – on the Palestinian side of the border and therefore, we had to cross through a heavily secured military checkpoint and pass through a great fence. Once inside, our journey was brief. There’s not much to see in Bethlehem anymore. Our singular stop was the Churchof the Nativity – the supposed location of the birthplace and the manger. While inside, it is possible for visitors to descend to the cave and touch the spot where the infant baby emerged into the world.
The original basilica was commissioned by Roman Emperor Constantine, about the same time he commissioned the HagiaSophia in Istanbul, on top of the cave that tradition states used to be a domicile for people as well as a stable for livestock in the cold, winter months. So if you happen to subscribe to the literal translations of the Bible stories and actually believe Jesus was born in Bethlehem and in a stable due to lack of room at the inn, then you’re in luck because all the pieces seem to wrap up with a tidy, little bow.
Currently, Bethlehem (approx. 7km south of Jerusalem) is predominantly Muslim and is also home to a shrinking Christian population. Our guide was a very enthusiastic Christian Arab who at one point in the tour, asked our group for an ‘Amen’ and was met with a few elongated seconds of one of the most awkward silences I’ve ever experienced (note: Jen stood front and center of the unimpressed group of tourists). He must be used to working for large groups of Christian pilgrims.
Notice the Christmas Lights
The next stop was Nazareth, known as the Arab capital of Israel. Walking around, the city felt similar to cities in Turkiye (and Egypt, though I hadn’t experienced those at that time). Biblical tradition states that Jesus was raised here for most of his life though there is a lot of controversy about this fact since there is no documented proof the town existed in the 1st century. Nazareth may not have been founded until hundreds of years after the birth of Christ (note: Jesus the Nazarene may in fact, be a reference to his political persuasion and not the region of his hometown).
Here, we doubled the number of churches we saw in Bethlehem. St. Joseph’s Church and the Basilica of the Annunciation are next-door neighbors to one another. The former is a Franciscan cathedral, traditionally said to be located over a cave that was the home of Joseph – Jesus’ dad. Looking down into the cave, its hard to imagine Jesus having been raised in such tight and rocky quarters.
Cave Home to Joseph, Mary, and Jesus
The latter, was established as the location where Mary received the news from the ArchangelGabriel that she would become pregnant with the Son of God. Similar to the previous two churches, this one is also built atop a grotto said to have been the childhood home to Mary. How Mary and Joseph lived so close, without knowing each other is a bit of a head scratcher; however, as I mentioned previously, all of these are simply educated guesses. Nobody really knows anything.
After leaving the somewhat disappointing Nazareth, we traveled east toward the SeaofGalilee and three additional sites: The Mount of the Beatitudes, the small fishing village of Capernaum, and the River Jordan. Located along the northern shore of a very large, yet peaceful body of water, the area surrounding the mountain and the town is said to have been the place where Jesus conducted most of his three-year ministry.
The River Jordan @ the Place of Jesus’ Baptism
It was in the River Jordan where John the Baptist dunked Jesus in the waters to purify his soul and prepare him for his quest.
On the mountain, overlooking the serene water, Jesus delivered the most famous of his speeches: The Beatitudes. It was also for this massive crowd – people who walked days simply to hear him speak – that he performed the miracle of the fish and loaves, feeding them all until they had their fill.
The Sea of Galilee from the Mount of Beatitudes
And Capernaum was home to most of his disciples. He found some of the 12 fishing in boats and along the banks of the sea when he exclaimed, “Come with me and I will make you fishers of Men!” It was also on the Sea of Galilee where he supposedly walked on water. We toured the remnants of the town, although there’s not much remaining, and took a boat cruise around the sea (on which the operators insisted on playing contemporary Christian praise band music at high decibels – good music, but very out of place on a wooden boat modeled after the kind 1st century fishermen would’ve used).
The centerpiece of Capernaum is the traditional home of St. Peter – over which an octagonal, Catholic church was constructed – nothing much remains than a crumbling pile of rocks. Additionally, the ruins of one of the oldest (and largest) synagogues in the world lie at the northern-most edge of the town. It was in this synagogue that Jesus, at the ripe age of 12, quoted the scripture to the Jewish elders while both impressing and scaring them; however, much of the structure has been dated to be only as old as the 5th century.
From Galilee, Jesus and his followers marched into Jerusalem during Passover. Most Catholics remember the stories about Palm Sunday when people threw down palm branches for the King of the Jews to triumphantly ride (on a donkey) through the city gates. The Holy Week events – aka the Passion – take us from that very Palm Sunday entrance to his burial and resurrection.
The Jewish Quarter – Old City Jerusalem
The outer walls of OldCityJerusalem were built by the Ottoman Empirein the 15th and 16th centuries, so it’s unclear just how much of the current old city existed in Jesus’ time. That fact in and of itself is part of the reason so much speculation exists regarding what happened where. King Solomon’s Temple was destroyed many times over and the only remaining, original, temple wall is on the western side, smack dab in the center of the Jewish Quarter.
The Wailing Wall, as it is unofficially known, is the most sacred site recognized by the members of the Jewish faith and has been a site for pilgrimage and prayer for hundreds of years. Most of the still buried wall, is divided into a section for women and another for men. Men are allowed entrance through Wilson’s Arch – inside which is a library of scholarly Jewish tomes and dozens of men studying and praying.
The Wailing Wall and Wilson’s Arch
The wall borders the Temple Mount (now home to the Dome of the Rock), the courtyard where Jesus and his followers incited a riot, overturning money-changers’ and vendors’ tables in an attempt to cast them from the holy site. It was this act of defiance against the Roman Occupation of Judea that led directly to Jesus’ arrest in our next location.
The Garden of Gethsemane is perhaps the only 100% proven location for Jesus’ time in Jerusalem. According to the Gospels, Jesus and the 12 retired to this grove of olive trees following their ‘Last Supper’ and it was here that he prayed, asking God to take away his burden, and was arrested by a legion of Roman centurions. The word Gethsemane literally translates to ‘oil press’ and many of the olive trees are thousands of years old and may be the exact trees Jesus walked between and sat beneath.
“Take this Cup Away from Me, for I don’t Want to Taste its Poison.”
Adjacent to the garden, and resting at the foot of the Mount of Olives, lies the CathedralofAgony, built by Italian designer and architect Antonio Barluzzi, which is said to house the section of bedrock where Jesus cried and prayed prior to his arrest. I became very emotional while wandering around the garden (mostly because I kept hearing ‘I Only Want to Say’ from Jesus Christ Superstar on repeat in my mind), but was disappointed by our guide’s tendency to brush quickly through the most important spots (including the garden) without much knowledge or care about what happened here. I longed for a moment of reflection; a moment to simply sit with my thoughts and absorb as much of it as possible.
This point in the tale is where the wheels fall off the rails. There is a lot of debate between the various sects of Christianity regarding the precise location of Jesus’ trial by Pontius Pilate where he was presented to the crowd who condemned him to death by crucifixion. This event is the pivot by which the rest of the quest balances, and I was disappointed to find my concept of the tourist area rapidly unraveling.
The Via Dolorosa in Old City Jerusalem
Traditionally, the Church (and when I say church, I mean the Holy Roman Catholic Church – that controlled most of Christianity for the first 1,500 years) placed the spot of the trial just across the street from the Temple Mount. It is the first stop along the contemporary Via Dolorosa. The Way of Suffering begins here and heads west, turning and bending slightly, until reaching the Church of the Holy Sepulchre – located just inside the current outer walls. If you follow their tradition, following in the footsteps of Jesus is easy and without question.
However, I found it very hard to believe – from what I’ve studied – the this very straight and short, cobblestone road, which is within the city walls entirely, could be the path Jesus carried the cross. Without any understanding about where Pilate’s trial took place, there’s no way to accurately map the true Via Dolorosa! Perhaps it runs east to west, but it could just as easily run south to north. Instead of ending near the Jaffa Gate, it could end near the Damascus Gate. Nobody really knows – a recurring fact I found very frustrating.
The Rock of Golgotha
As for the Holy Sepulchre, the Gothic church was constructed in an overdone and gaudy way. The location as a whole is said to contain three important sites:
Golgotha (place of the skull) – the hill on which Jesus was crucified
The Stoneof Anointing – where Joseph of Arimathea cleaned and dressed the body of Christ
Jesus‘ BurialTomb
Joseph’s Stone of Anointing
The problem, as far as I’m concerned, is the geographically close proximity all these sites have with each other. I’ve read dozens of books (as well as the Gospels themselves, hundreds of times) on the subject, and from what I can tell, Golgotha would’ve overlooked a major intersection outside the city walls (again, not knowing the 1st century dimensions of Jerusalem hinders historical fact-finding missions).
Likewise, the burial tomb was a cave in a garden not far from the crucifixion site, yet far enough away to be private land owned by Joseph of Arimathea. Standing inside an overtly Gothic cathedral in the center of Jerusalem hardly filled me with the solemn reverence it should have. Joseph wouldn’t have owned such a large and public section of the city. My gut told me something was off.
The Holy Sepulchre
And I’m not the only one. Over the past few hundred years, many scholars have rejected the Holy Sepulchre as the final resting place of the Son of God. In the 1880s, a protestant general in the British Army located a spot outside the city walls he believed to be a much better fit for the place of the skull. Today, the Garden Tomb is home to both a rocky hill that resembles a skull and a subterranean, rock-cut tomb unearthed in 1867. This place definitely felt more Biblical, though nobody can agree which is the true location – to repeat myself, because nobody really knows anything.
The Place of the Skull (right side)
In spite of all my reservations, I really enjoyed the trip as do millions of pilgrims who flock to the Holy city every year. While we didn’t see any re-enactments and processions taking place, they occur weekly (particularly near Christmas and Easter) depicting Jesus’ fateful walk with the instrument of his own demise. Needless to say, celebrations follow.
The Church of the Holy Sepulchre
While I was disappointed with the lack of concrete evidence along the tour itinerary, I got very emotional more than once. Even though it’s not known for sure what happened where, as you stroll along the streets of the old city, you’re easily overwhelmed with wonder and awe that Jesus and his followers also walked these streets (today, littered with cars). I recommend everyone travel there once in their lives, for even if you’re not a Christian by faith, it’s impossible to downplay the importance and impact Jesus has had on our civilization over the past two millennium.
Egypt was, without a doubt, the most interesting country I’ve ever visited. Between the filth, the danger factor, and the sight of the pyramids, three days in the northeastern most African nation were a whirlwind from the moment we stepped foot across the border. What follows is my best attempt to capture every emotion experienced from start to finish. I hope you enjoy!
As soon as we entered, we were greeted by a middle-aged man named Magdy who escorted us through the entry process which included exchanging our money into Egyptian Pounds, getting our passports stamped, and paying border taxes (approx. $30 USD per person). When we arrived at the tour van, we met two additional travelers with us: the driver and our own personal security guard. The first day involved a 10 hour drive around the Sinai desert peninsula.
Our Desert-Crossing Route
Magdy explained to us that since the road that cuts through the center of the desert (near the spot Moses received the 10 Commandments from the burning bush) wasn’t secured by the army, we’d be taking the long way around using the secured road. Apparently, the authorities were notified in advance that a pair of American tourists would be traveling the Sinai peninsula so the tour company brought ample copies of the paperwork – complete with an affixed seal from their Ministry of Tourism.
One of the Many Checkpoints between Taba and Cairo
It was a good thing they came prepared because every 20-30 kilometers, we were stopped at a security checkpoint. Each one featured a machine gun turret behind a wall of sandbags, armed guards checking our passports as well as the driver’s credentials, and blockades along the road so that we had to slowly swerve between the obstacles. On one occasion, we stopped and waited over 45 minutes for a police escort only to have the bright blue pickup truck (with more machine guns) that eventually arrived, drive behind us for a few hundred meters and then pull off again. We were left alone for most of the trip.
For the duration of our journey, the Red Sea could be seen outside the left window. We drove south from the Taba border until we reached a resort city right near the tip called Sharm El Sheikh and then back up the western coast until we reached the Suez, at which point we passed – through massively heavy traffic – into the African mainland for an additional 2 hour drive to the capital city of Cairo (see map above).
Our Security Detail (Yes, he’s Packing)
I can tell you, in all honesty, that day was the scariest of my life. My imagination ran away with me since anything could happen at any moment. Recently, a tour bus full of South Korean Christians was attacked by a jihadist group. Since then, the Egyptian government has closed the Taba border and the roads on the Sinai. I’m so glad we got in before any of that happened (and even more glad we weren’t attacked – as I’m sure my readers are)! Thankfully, once we were safely inside the hotel in Cairo, everything felt different and we were able to relax and enjoy the next two days.
Day one was mostly uneventful, although we spent a few hours in the National Egyptian Museum where we saw many of the treasures from King Tut’s tomb. The rest of the day was a wash, but what I’d like to draw your attention to has little to do with the sites and more to do with the city itself. Without a doubt, it was the most disgusting place I’ve ever been (and I’ve been to Cambodia and lived in Turkiye).
The sides of all the buildings were caked in a brownish dust that had accumulated over decades. The air was thick with a sandy haze that the population inhaled daily. The roads were so congested they made North Jersey roads look like empty parking lots. The streets and intersections didn’t have any lanes or traffic lights and as a result, drivers did whatever they wanted to do whenever they wanted to do it. In fact our own van was involved in minor fender-benders on two separate occasions!
In addition to the dirty and awful traffic conditions, the people (other than those employed by the tourism industry) were extremely aggressive. I’m not sure if the rest of North Africa is the same, but because of the way people approached us and spoke to one another, I worried about being accosted. The vendors were in a league of their own. If you even so much as acknowledge anyone trying to sell you something, they don’t leave you alone. They’ll follow you around like a lost puppy dog hoping for some table scraps. Interestingly enough, those who sell rides on horses, donkeys, and camels offer them for FREE only to turn around and charge you simply to get OFF their animal!
The River Runs Through the City Center
In between stops, we passed by the Nile a few times and were educated in a bit of river history. Until the government built a dam in 1971, the Nile would flood from the city center to the Pyramids! Because 93% of Egypt’s land is desert, people needed places to develop housing and the dam created extra land for people to live on. This is the major reason internet reviews read so disappointingly. Nobody wants to the nasty Cairo skyline to tarnish their pyramid photos.
Personally, I didn’t feel the city encroached on the UNESCO site much. Sure, some building could be seen from the distance, but they were far enough away to avoid stealing any of Giza‘s majesty. At any rate, if you happen to catch a glimpse of a Great Pyramid photo that makes them look like they’re in the middle of the desert, it was taken prior to 1971.
Day two was the highlight of Egypt and one of the highlights of my entire life. We visited a series of pyramids starting with the very oldest and ending with the GreatPyramids and the Sphinx. We even descended inside one! Upon entering a pyramid, we learned that the valuables had been stolen as early as 900 BC. By the time the tombs were discovered in the 1800s, they’d been empty almost 2,000 years! The treasure hunters didn’t have a prayer of getting rich.
Authentic, Inner-Tomb Hieroglyphics
The pharaohs wanted to bring all their worldly possessions to the afterlife, but they couldn’t build their tombs without help. The ancient kings of Egypt employed thousands of workers to accomplish this gargantuan goal (and I use the term ’employed’ in its loosest interpretation). The men who designed the tombs – who weren’t wealthy by any stretch of the imagination – made maps of the floor plans, keeping them hidden from the Pharaoh.
Eventually, when they grew older and were about to die, they passed this very unique document to their son, who intern, did the same. For generations, the ancestors of the pyramid builders passed the treasure map from father to son until finally, the builder’s great-great grandson took an expedition and robbed the riches from the tombs… severance pay for 20 years of labor. If the pharaohs ever arrived in the afterlife, they would’ve been angry as hell for eternity without their jewelry, spices, clothes, and furniture!
Since all the tombs were discovered already having been emptied, how did Tutankhamen, with all his wealth, outlast the raiders? The answer is that King Tut was a very young and sickly ruler. He died in his teens and the pharaohs who followed didn’t like him. They felt he didn’t do anything worth remembering. So, in an effort to erase Tut’s memory from existence, they built their tombs on top of his, thereby obscuring it from anyone looking around. When the pyramids were razed, the robbers didn’t even find the entrance to Tut’s burial chamber!
WOW!
The Great Pyramids are amazing. I’m not sure what else to say as words and pictures will never compare to the feeling of standing in Giza, in person and looking out over them, standing on them, and marveling at the wonder in their construction. It’s actually a shame their purpose was nothing more than housing dead corpses.
In the year 2000, I visited ChichenItza in Mexico. Those step-style pyramids are fantastic sites as well (I really enjoyed the story about how they were built in relation to the position of the sun on the equinox); however, the largest of the Great Pyramids is over 150 meters high! Standing in their shadow made me realize how small we are. Each individual block weighs at least 2 tons! Can you imagine having to help stack them on top of one another? Good thing the Nile used to flood that far for a few months every year.
Say Cheese!
The Sphinx, contrary to common knowledge, is nothing more than a statue. It was carved from a solid block of limestone on orders from the Pharaoh Khafra. All sphinxes, including the Great Sphinx of Giza, illustrate the face of a man on the body of lion. This combination is said to symbolize the combination of wisdom and strength that all leaders in Egypt possessed. Before arriving, I thought there was more to the sphinx than that; still, it is a very impressive location to visit.
Obligatory Pyramid Pose
Our visit ended with a painful bout with Pharaoh’s Revenge – aka Egyptian Tummy Bug, aka Delhi Belly, aka Traveler’s Diarrhea. For lunch on our final day in Egypt, we ate some falafel from a street vendor. Apparently, the pita bread used was baked with water tainted with the third world bacteria that my system isn’t used to at all. I spent the first three days at home hobbling between the bed and the toilet. Thankfully, it only took a few days to get over and I’m back to normal. Jen ate the same falafel, but don’t ask me how she was able to avoid the tummy bug.
Everyone should visit Egypt once in their lives – and probably only once because I doubt I’ll ever go back of my own volition. With any luck, the political situation there will improve so foreigners will again feel comfortable taking a trip to this Wonder of the Ancient World!
Lost in Translation 