More photos from Israel

Here are some more photos I downloaded yesterday from my digital camera.


The Negev Desert in the dusk. The sheer size of it overwhelms you.



The Dead Sea, also in the dusk. And the mountains in the distance.



Roman Ruins outside the Old City in Jerusalem.



Remnants of Roman columns in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City.



Excavated temple ruins, purportedly built by King David.



The Western Wall in the Old City, the holiest site for Jews. Jews come from all over the world to pray to it.



Prayers and soldiers at the Western Wall.



The Via Dolorosa. Retracing the foodsteps of Christ.



A peak of the Holy Sepulchre, where Christ was buried, in the Christian Quarter of the Old City.



The courtyard of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. The church seems a little run-down and perpetually under construction apparently because the four denominations that control it could never agree on anything. They quarrel endlessly and get nothing resolved. One Israeli described how they are in the Supreme Court every other day over some minute details about the Church. The latest episodes: where should the second entrance to the Church be located (there's currently only one small entrance to the church. A second door needs to be constructed for safety reasons. Thus far they have not come to an agreement); to which denomination does the shadow of a tree belong to and who has the right to sit there; A ladder has been sitting against the wall for 17 years because they could not agree on to whom the ladder belongs.

When you think about it, it's kind of ironic that when the Christians quarrel in court, it's the Jews who get to arbitrate.



Interior of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.



Jerusalem from a distance: the white city on the hills.