Cape Sounio

The location of the temple to Poseidon.

Whirling Dervishes

Basilica of St. John

Turkey: Volumes 2 and 3

Turkey, continued...

Day 2: Izmir and Ephesus

Our day in Ephesus was definitely one of my favorite days thus far on our trip, even though it required a 5:15 am wakeup call to catch our flight. The plane was delayed a little over an hour (which felt silly, since the flight itself was only 45 minutes), so my neighbor Mary and I struck up a conversation with a young Turkish businessman who was seated next to us. He talked to us all about the culture, some about the politics, and his own story, which involved going to college in the States and eventually become the product manager for G.E. over all Eastern Europe and Central Asia. It was refreshing to get a perspective on Turkey through the lens of a modern local, albeit a somewhat westernized one.

We landed in the city of Izmir, also known as Smyrna. We began by looking at the archaeological museum, which featured sculptures of Artemis from her temple in Ephesus. Then, we traveled to the Basilica of St. John, where John the Apostle was supposedly buried. Its original structure was restored by Justinian and Theodora. After lunch, we drove to the New Testament site of Ephesus. Of all of the ancient sites I have seen (and I have seen in excess of thirty by now), it is my favorite so far. Incredibly well-preserved and restored, the city rolls out before you in bleached white marble, complete with streets, pillars, the shells of buildings. Among the more notable things that we saw included: the ‘audio’ (which functioned as the meeting place for the city council AND a theater – perfect blend of my two passions); the Ephesian theater from Acts 19, where Paul and his companions faced a religiously ecstatic mob; the ancient Library of Celsus, which was the second largest library in Antiquity; and the church where Nestorius was condemned in the Third Ecumenical Council of Ephesus in 431 AD. So many incredible sites and buildings all in such a comparatively small area! Finding 'actual sites' is a rare thing, so whenever we visit irrefutable Biblical sites, it is always exciting.

Part 3: Istanbul

Have you ever heard someone compared to a “whirling dervish”? I had heard the expression a few times, but had never really had a full grasp of what exactly it meant to be a dervish. I knew it was religious and involved spinning. But I didn’t know that they were based in Turkey, and I had no idea that I would witness one of their ceremonies.

We began our day on quite a different note from the dervishes. I may have mentioned to some of you before that we were scheduled to meet with the Ecumenical Patriarch in Turkey. Bartholomew I is the close to the equivalent of the pope in the Eastern Orthodox church, and last year’s group had told us exciting stories about their meeting with him last year. Unfortunately, it was not to be – he left on an unexpected meeting to Finland. I was very disappointed, but we were still given a tour of the Patriarchate, which was beautiful. The room (we really only spent time in the main area of the church), seemed that it had sprung straight from Timothy Ware’s pages. Covered in gold and icons, incense still hung about the air. I must admit, my Protestant sensibilities still revolted a little bit against the extreme decoration, thought not quite as badly as if I had had no education about the tradition before. The thought crossed my mind, though – what did Jesus think of all of these solemn depictions of him? Even more so, what did and does God think of our art, our own small creations?

After the Patriarchate, we toured the Chora Museum, a former monastery. It boasted many impressive, story-telling mosaics. However, it was also oppressively hot, so the minutes began to stretch. After the Chora, we headed to the Grand Bazaar for a few hours of shopping, one of my favorite things to do when I'm abroad.

We finished the day by attending what I can only call a piece of theater. The whirling dervishes are Sufi Muslims and religious followers of the poet/philosopher Rumi. The program described the dervishes as mystical dancers who stand between the material and cosmic worlds. The dance is part of a sacred ceremony in which the dervish rotates in a precise rhythm, one hand open to God and one hand cupped downward towards earth. The purpose of the ritual whirling is for the dervish to empty himself of all distracting thoughts, placing him in trance to reach a form of nirvana; released from his body he conquers dizziness. The dervishes have long shared their dance in public settings. Now, it is a popular tourist attraction. After twenty minutes of Sufi music, the dervishes enter and begin their dance. It is slow, somber, mesmerizing, a religious practice and experience as performance. Sometimes I felt terribly intrusive, other times curious, other times just sleepy.

After the dervishes, we headed back to our hotel to pack for our bus ride to Greece!

Photos are coming soon... bandwidth isn't handling them very well here.

Turkey: Volume 1

Part 1: Istanbul

Hey guys! Again, I warned you, my internet has been somewhat spotty in Greece. We only have it in certain places in our hotels, so I'm behind on updating, but I wanted to give you guys the details of what went on when we were in Turkey! Here is what happened on our first day, which was a tour around Istanbul.

After our final exam at Jerusalem University College was over, the team scattered to shop, pack, clean, and read Timothy Ware’s The Orthodox Church. We had a 1200 word paper due the morning we were to arrive in Istanbul. The next day, we left on the bus at 3:30 pm to head to Ben-Gurion Airport, to catch our 2-hour flight to Turkey.

When we arrived, we met our Turkish tour guide, Oz. He informed us that our schedule tomorrow would be stuffed full: The Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque, the ancient city cistern, and the world-famous Istanbul archaeological museum. Our hotel was lacking in the air conditioning department, so it was a sweltering first night. We got to sleep in some (8 am!), and then trekked off to see The Jewel of Christendom.

Istanbul is a true city between. Most of it is in Asia, but another section is across a bridge in Europe. Although most of the city is located in Asia, it was much more European than I was expecting. Even so, call to prayer echoed from the city’s thousand minarets in the early blue of the morning. For those of you unfamiliar with Turkey’s most recent history, Turkey is a secular republic with a 99% Muslim population. Their politics, culture, and worldview are caught between the Middle East, Europe (the government badly wants to be a part of the European Union, but the EU is very reluctant), and Central Asia. The juxtaposition of an Islamic stronghold with European interests produces interesting results. But even more interesting is that Istanbul was originally Constantinople – the capital of the Roman Empire. Constantine was the first emperor to convert to Christianity and establish it as the state religion of Rome. As the focus of the empire moved east, Constantine moved east with it, and established his new capital at Byzantium, which came to be called Constantinople after his death. Constantinople was the center of Christianity for hundreds of years. Justinian, a later emperor, built the Hagia Sophia.

The Hagia Sophia is beautiful, but one cannot help noticing the wear and age of its magnificence. After Constantinople was conquered and overrun by the Ottomans in 1453, Islam swept over the area, and the Hagia was turned into a mosque. Walking into the church, one of the first things you notice is the magnificent mosaic of Mary and the Christ Child, but massive discs proclaiming the name of Allah and his prophet in curls of gold Arabic. Arabic writing covers much of the walls. It was only after recent restoration that archaeologists peeled away the layers of plaster to reveal the magnificent frescoes and mosaics of Biblical scenes and characters beneath. Four huge Seraphim are guard the high corners of the Hagia’s main dome. Images of Jesus, John the Baptist, Mary, and various saints follow Magnificent purple, gray, and white marble pillars line the rooms. Even now, though debilitated and ancient, it retains majesty.

Our next stop was the Blue Mosque, which named for its fantastic blue tiling on the inside. It has six minarets, a rarity in the world. After it was built, a seventh minaret was added to the mosque at Mecca, in order to equalize the order of importance. After the Mosque, we headed over to a massive and ancient Basilica Cistern, originally a sunken palace which was turned into a cistern by Justinian to provide water to the palace. Eerie, lit by red lights, fantastic columns and "Medusa Head" bases. Finally, we went to the archaeological museum. It was large and well-stocked. The sculptures were amazing - it made me re-think my choice to take painting instead of sculpture in the fall.

elveda!

Galilee of the Gentiles

Okay, I know I am quite a few days behind on my blogging - it's mostly because we have fairly limited access in Turkey. I just wanted to give a quick run-down on our days in Galilee before I continued into stories about Istanbul, Izmir and Ephesus. And already, tomorrow, we leave for hour eight-hour bus ride to Greece!

In Isaiah and Matthew, the writers reference Galilee as "Galilee of the Gentiles." The phrase comes from a couple different sources. First, the location of the incredibly fertile and central Jezreel Valley brought the trade routes of various empires through Galilee, increasing the influence of the Gentiles and incurring a blend of cultures, worldviews, and religion. We focused a lot of our study on the Jezreel, its routes and mountains, and the stories which crisscrossed haphazardly over its soil. Among the most beautiful overlooks of the Jezreel Valley included the town of Nazareth.

The place that we stayed was called Ein Gev - and, literally, it was on the shore of the Sea of Galilee (or, "the Kennerit," as the locals call it). It's about the size of your average lake, nothing remarkable. In the evenings after every field study, we would rush down to the waves, laughing and diving and trying to stand on each others' shoulders as the sun soaked the sky with color. The light, the air, the water - it swelled one's heart to a wonderfully painful size. Galilee was one of the few places where we could truly say, He was here. This is where it began.

One of my favorite moments was when my friend Arielle came to our resort and spent time with me and our mutual friend Sally. We sat talking, sipping drinks by the shore, while she discussed the modern situation of the country as the military buzzed overhead.

We visited so many places in Galilee: Capernaum, Bethsaida (where four of the disciples were from), Gergesa (where the drowning of the pigs is remembered), Caesarea (where Peter met Cornelius and Paul left for Rome), the Church of the Multiplication of the Loaves and Fish, rode on a boat on the sea (tourist trap...), the Golan Heights overlooking Syria, and so much more. One of my favorite places was Arbel - this is a huge cliff overlooking the stretch of Galilee, which we climbed down. We played in the caves below, where Jewish rebels had hid from Herod. I have it all down in my journals!

My father has been encouraging me to be thinking and working through the things I am learning. Sometimes, I feel I am so full of learning that I don't have room for understanding. I hope that during our eight hour bus drive tomorrow, I can work through the poetry, pictures, and impressions that I have been collecting, sort them by color and sound, and find the meaning.

On Our Way Out

Hello everyone - sorry for the lack of posts lately! We just spent the past four days in Galilee, and we didn't have internet. Then, we had our final exam, and I'm working on a paper about the Eastern Orthodox Church. We leave for the airport at 3:30 pm today. Hopefully, I'll be able to finish soon and update you guys on everything that happened in Galilee. It was incredibly beautiful! Please pray for safe, simple travel.

- B

The South Pt. 3: Masada, The Dead Sea, En Gedi, Qumran

Our final day in the south is an infamous one on the Holy Lands calendar. We had been warned since January. We were warned how it would be 115 degrees Fahrenheit, and how we would hike over 700 stairs at just one stop. And, how we would do it all before ten in the morning. We were instructed to buy electrolyte tablets and to drink water every five minutes. Thankfully, it wasn't as awful as I had prepared for it to be, but our day at Masada certainly proved to be a memorable one.

Masada (Hebrew for fortress), is situated atop an isolated rock plateau at the western end of the Judean Desert, overlooking the Dead Sea. In ancient Israel, Herod the Great chose the massive stretch of rock for another of his desert fortresses. Hated by his subjects, he furnished this fortress as (another) refuge for himself. It included a casemate wall around the plateau, storehouses, barracks, palaces and an armory. Most importantly, he constructed an absolutely massive cistern to catch the sparse rainfall to support the fortress (I think Dr. Wright said it was about an inch a year, but I may have that statistic wrong). Some 75 years after Herod's death, at the beginning of the Revolt of the Jews against the Romans in 66 CE, a group of Jewish rebels overcame the Roman garrison of Masada. After the fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD, they were joined by zealots and their families who had fled from Jerusalem. With Masada as their base, they raided and harassed the Romans for two years. Then, in 73 CE, the Roman general Silva marched against Masada with the Tenth Legion. The Romans established camps at the base of Masada, laid siege to it and built massive ramps to scale the heights. They then constructed a rampart of thousands of tons of stones and beaten earth, moved a battering ram up the ramp and breached the wall of the fortress. After they had finally rooted out the last of the Jews, Silva spat in response to the victory, "We have won a rock in the middle of the desert on the edge of a poison sea."

So, that's a lot of background, but I hope it helps communicate the scale of Masada's importance in the minds and hearts of modern Israelis. Today, modern Israelis view Masada as a symbol of Israeli endurance, fortitude, and ultimate independence. "Masada will never fall again," became a slogan of the Israeli War of Independence. When planes fly over, they dip their wings in salute. Commissioning ceremonies for elite military and bar mitzvahs of wealthy families are held within the ancient walls. It is a massive site in every sense of the word. When we got to Masada, we climbed steadily to the top. A few boys decided to race up, despite being warned that they would surely vomit if they managed to beat the record of 2:50. No one beat the record, or vomited, though JJ got close with a time of 3 minutes. Then, we spent about two hours exploring, steadily warmed by the desert sun. At the end, our team exited via their choice of either a cable car ride or the winding Snake Path down the other side. Not to be coddled, I chose the Snake Path, and all of its 700 plus stairs down the edge of the cliff. By the end, my fingers were swelling from dehydration, and my legs would tremble when I stopped, causing my camera lens to shake when I paused for a picture. Even so, it was strangely invigorating. Desert heat and emptiness evokes prayer, and dependence, and surrender. God feels especially near. After Masada, we drove to the Dead Sea for a 'swim.' By this point, it was about 105. I learned that it's true what they say about humidity/dry heat - despite the high temperatures, it was made bearable by the lack of moisture in the air. Even so, bare feet on the rocky shore of the Dead Sea is scorching. We bobbed in the slimy liquid, some of us yelping from the sting of salt on our scattered scrapes and cuts, laughing at our near inability to force our feet downwards. It was a good time, but the salt becomes uncomfortable after awhile, so we got out within a half hour and headed. We kept our bathing suits on, though, because up next was a hike to En Gedi. The spring used to flow into the Dead Sea, but has since receded. We climbed up the cliffs up to the waterfalls, where we submerged our exhausted bodies in the giggly mountain-cold water. A story maintains that this is one of the sites where David fled during his escape from Saul. Finally, we went to Qumran, where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered. By this point, I was often too busy marveling at every forward motion of my feet to absorb much of the lecture going on about the place. At long last, we drove back to Jerusalem, to the now well-loved campus of Jerusalem University College. And now I sit, sorting through all of my notes and scrawled impressions, trying to string them into an understandable flow. We have a test tomorrow on everything we've learned over the past week and the south. Then after that, it's off to Galilee!

The South Pt. 2: The Negev

That picture was taken on the edge of the Maktesh Ramon, the largest erosion crater in the world. It was our last stop on our second day in the South.

Our second day focused on the Negev Desert. Dr. Wright selected five sites to cover. Although the specific sites were unconnected in any sense of narrative, the separate stories each supplemented the character of the Negev.

Beersheba
At first, I got really excited when I thought we might be traveling to the actual site of Abraham's well in Beersheba, but I should have known better. In Hebrew, Beersheba means well of seven or well of the oath. The site where the well is remembered has only Iron Age remains. Nothing from Abraham's time remains, and Dr. Wright speculates that Abraham's Beersheba is probably elsewhere. We walked around a city with casemate walls, storage rooms, four-room peasant houses, a four-roomed governor’s house, and walked through the town's water system. This would hardly be the first time where water come up in our discussion of the Negev. In a desert that the Bible calls "the wasteland," water is the most precious substance possible.

Arad
Our next stop was the ancient city of Arad, which has two sites. One is Early Bronze, and most likely Egyptian-based. The second is a settlement of the Israelites which dates to the time of Solomon. The most interesting aspect of Arad is the Israelite temple, modelled after the one in Jerusalem, and outfitted with some extra accoutrements. There a lot of problems with its existence: first, the Israelites were forbidden to build more than one temple. The only true temple was to be the temple in Jerusalem. However, it is likely that Solomon knew about the existence of this temple. Furthermore, the holy of holies was found to have two standing stones. Text found nearby speaks about "Yahweh, together with his Asherah." Asherah is the Canaanite fertility goddess. Most likely, the Israelites in Arad added Asherah to their worship of Yahweh. Far from from the temple in Jerusalem, they most likely felt they had to bring God to them. Being in the middle of the desert, fertility was a big deal. Fearing the absence of water and abundance, they most likely fel it necessary to add a goddess of fertility to their list of deities to worship.

Avdat
Next was the Nabotean city of Avdat, a world heritage site located on the Incense Trade Route from Arabia. The Naboteans spent months along this route, driving their hundreds of camels laden with expensive spices through the cracked, dry land. The cresting pallid mountains look the same, one after another, yet a few inches off in one direction eventually becomes 300 feet off the wrong path. The prophets used this metaphor to compare the Israelites' decision to follow their own way with leaving the path in the desert. Rainfall is less than one inch a year. In order to protect the routes and towns from outsiders, the Naboteans had only to hide their water sources from others. After Avdat, we travelled to the geographical Sinai, where we hiked another wadi. Comparing God to living water becomes fiercely and desperately beautiful when you have thirsted in the desert long days (even despite handy metal water bottles hanging from carbines just a hand's reach away...)

We finished our day by traveling to the largest Erosion Crater in the world, 25 miles by 8 miles. Jurassic soil was at the bottom! We read, next to it, Psalm 90: Before the mountains were born … from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.

It was a beautiful, thirsty day.

The South Pt. 1: The Shephelah, Ashqelon, The Mediterranean Sea

After our first test had finally been finished, we had class to introduce us to the upcoming areas of study: Judah, the Shephelah (the foothills), and Philistia (the coastal plain). Then, we scattered to pack and prepare for our three day trip to the south.

We boarded the bus early in the morning, and began our stops right away. Our first stop was for a wadi hike. Wadis are the names of the water systems which cut through the land, causing deep grooves and valleys, and defining each region with their influence. We unloaded in a park, to venture downwards to the remains of Judean country life in the terraced hills. The limestone type in the hill country is called cenomanian, and is known as a life-giving rock. We explored the settlement of Saraf, which is maintained by the park service, complete with rows of rich green seedlings and vineyards.

However, the most beautiful thing about Saraf were the springs. In Egypt, where the Israelites came from, all of the crops are easily watered by irrigation from the Nile River. But when Moses took his people into the land of Canaan, he warned them in Deuteronomy 11 that the new land was a land which would require God's provision. Instead of a river, water bubbled up from the ground in springs. The Hebrews called this kind of water, "living water."

After finishing our exploration of life in the hills, we continued our journey south and into the Shephelah. The Shephelah are a different and softer limestone, eocene, which form relaxed hills and valleys. Our first stop in the Shephelah was at Beth - Shemesh, a useful vantage point from which the sites of Zorah and Timnah can be viewed. Here, Dr. Wright told the story of Samson, and we stood and swept our eyes across the hills, imagining Samson storming across the hills from his hometown in Zorah to claim his first Philistine bride in Timnah. The towns along the edge between the Shephelah and the cenomanian high hill country of Judah were hot spots for activity between Philistia and Israel. Israel needed the land for farming which could not be done in the hill country, and for access to the abundant coastal plain. Meanwhile, the Philistines fought to keep their land from the Israelites and to push into their land as well; not for economic benefit, but for the benefit of having what someone else wants.

Next, we went to Azekah, a site overlooking the Elah Valley, where David and Goliath battled. We discussed the story under a few sparse trees, comparing the virtues of David and Saul and wondering about the difference between four cubits and six cubits in height. Afterwards, we trekked to Ashqelon, a city right on the edge of the Mediterranean. Wheaton College has a dig there, so we met up with Dr. Masters and listened to the curious layers of stories. We saw the world’s oldest arched gate and looked around at ruins where 24 different cities from the Cannanite to Roman periods were settled. Interestingly, there were two theaters in the city - one large, and one smaller, about the size of Arena Theater. They've even found archaelogical evidence of the actual theater tickets which they had in the ancient days.

I have to admit, this was strangely one of the hardest days for me so far. It was blisteringly hot, and we spent almost our time hiking and standing in the sun, from seven in the morning until we arrived at our hostel in Beersheva at seven at night.

We got to sleep in some the next morning, but then it was off to the desert!