Sabbath

Well as many of you have a realization the Jewish faith has a Sabbath day when they have many restrictions on what and how you can do things. At JUC we sort of do a Sabbath celebration on Friday nights with a special dinner and reading of some scripture and sometimes Jewish prayers that talk about the importance of the Sabbath rest. We take some time and talk about the customs and practices that have evolved over time for the Sabbath and why the Jews feel that it is so important. I thought I would share a couple pictures of what it looks like for us.

For us it begins with a prayer and a candle lighting. We then sing a couple songs and read scripture. We then break bread together and drink from the cup and enjoy a time of fellowship and a meal. After dinner we have a worship time that is called vespers with music and some scripture reading. Well, as today is the Sabbath here in Jerusalem I will turn from the normal full day of homework to a day a leisure and peace and spend it in God's word. God Bless each of you.

Jerusalem to Jericho to Gezer Mon Sept 24

Today was an amazing trek through the heartland of Israel. We started out in Jerusalem and traveled down to the Wadi Qilt, that drains the east side of the Mt of Olives and climbed down into the Wadi (for those who don't know a wadi is just what they call the drainage valleys of the mountains) and then walked/climbed our way to Jericho in the Jordan River Valley. We took a bus from there up to the Benjamin Plateau and climbed up to Nabi Samwill which is the highest point in the plateau in the midst of old Gideon. We then traveled down to the coastal plains (by way of the Beth-Horan ridge route which was important all throughout the OT) of Gezer and watched the sun set over the Cis-Jordan mountains (the high country of Israel).

As we climbed down into the Wadi there was an amazing monastery at the bottom with small rock houses built into the cliffs almost the entire way down to Jericho.

(aqueduct)

(wadi bottom)
Also Herod built a aqueduct that runs from the Jerusalem area and runs the length of the wadi all the way to his palace at the edge of the Jericho plain. Around the aqueduct is the only green in the wadi except spare areas in the very bottom where enough dew settles to provide water for plant life. It would have been a hard life as monks in the wadi. There is little water, no place to grow anything even if there was water, and only lizards to eat.

You only had small rock caves for shelter, and it gets pretty cold in the winter, enough that it snows in Jerusalem from time to time.

(looking out the wadi at Jericho)
As we exited the wadi into the plains of Jericho it was a welcome site of green and life. Right at the edge of the plain was a Palace complex built by Herod complete with pools,

(banquet hall

(bath complex)
bath houses, gardens, and two large banquet halls. From there you could see almost the entire Jordan Valley, from the Dead Sea in the south, to the Trans-Jordan mountains in the east, and several miles up the Jordan/Rift Valley. Would walked down and stood on the top of the OT Jericho tell that is still being excavated and saw the oldest stone structure on the earth that has been found. It was built around 2500 BC and it is the tower and section of the wall surrounding the city known to exist of Jericho.

We then got on the bus and headed up into the Central Benjamin Plateau where Saul was and the base of his kingdom was formed, and his hometown of Gibeah was. From the high point on the plateau of Nabi Samwill you could see the entire plateau, all the way to Jerusalem, the Dead Sea, and the Mediterranean Sea. It was an impressive view and really brought home the importance of it as a strategic location. It also overlooked the two main road ways of the Israel high country, the Central Ridge Route and the Beth Horan ridge route. Almost 60% of all the stories of the OT take place in this Plateau so you can really begin to understand its importance. Also being the flattest portion of the high country it is the most cultivated area of the hill country and so it provided the majority of the crops for the entire nation of Israel.
(Ruins of Gibeon around Nabi Samwill)

We then descended down into the Coastal plains to Gezer the doorway into the hill country, or looked at from the other way the central hill countries main way down to the sea. Right on the foothills before the coastal plains Gezer held the Beth Horan ridge route either for or against those in the central hill country. It is beside the Aijalon Valley and was the place of many battles and conquest by Israel, Egypt, Philistines, Babylonians, and Assyrians.

(Solomonic 6 chamber gate at Gezer)

Gezer played a major roll in the history if Israel, and later Judah. As we sat and watched the sun set over the mountains we read through Joshua and the battle that took place in the hill country and out onto the plains were Joshua called to God to have the sun and moon stand still over the valley of Aijalon so he could complete his victory.

(Large standing stones in Gezer)

It was a great end to a long day.

(Moon over the Aijalon Valley)

Sept 22 Sat

Hey today is the end of Yom Kippur here in Jerusalem. It is the day of Atonement for the Jews where they spend lots of time studying the Torah and praying trying to get in good with God so they can get their name written into the book of life. The Jewish parts of town and all government and public services have been shut down since Friday afternoon for this. Tonight they all gathered down at the wall to celebrate the ending of Yom Kippur with some dancing and singing. Unfortunately they do not allow cameras down by the wall during special days so I have no pictures to share. But if you can imagine hundreds and hundreds of men dressed in white from head to two (to represent their spiritual cleanness) dancing and chanting and singing facing the wall, some reading sections from the Torah or the Tanauch. Many others, not so religious Jews, come and sit on the hill before the wall talking and watching, some pray but most just sit and watch.

It has been very quite around Jerusalem for the past 24 or so hours. It is sort of illegal to drive a car during Yom Kippur. We were told that if you are caught driving that people will literally stone your car as you drive. Emergency vehicles are allowed, but some of the more fanatically religious Jews still throw stones at them as the race to the emergency. This seems odd to me, but we were told that last year a man having a heart attack died as people discussed with the Rabbi if it was ok to call an ambulance for him on Yom Kippur. Some of the beliefs and practices here are outside of what I can comprehend and seem very odd, but that is just how things are.

One of the things that really continues to bother me is what feels to me like disrespect for their own holy places. For both Jews and Muslims the entire city and especially the Temple Mount is a holy place. Yet throughout the entire city and even down at the wall and on the temple mount it is not unusual to see people dumping trash. I don't mean your normal every day littering that we see in America, I mean bags of trash. There is no real regular garbage pick up around here, like we are used to in the states, so there are piles of trash littering the entire city.

For a little extra flavor to the city, in the area of the meat market in the old city there are innards and other odds and ends from the butchering just thrown out into the streets. To really understand this you have to realize that in the market the street, or should I say sidewalks, are only just wide enough for three people to walk shoulder to shoulder, and most places there are shops on both sides. So byproducts just thrown into the walking area get all over everything, and are only a few feet removed from the products for sale. You can also imagine the smell and attraction for flies and other pests that this would be. Needless to say the Old City is not the cleanest of places, and has some unusual smells that permeate the streets in the heat.

Ok enough about that. On a lighter note I also read an article on a friends site that I thought was interesting and I wanted to share it with you all. Click on the link and read it if you have a few moments. It is about a guy who decided to try and live an entire year following every rule and restriction that is in the Bible. He has, what I would call, a unique perspective. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20910659/site/newsweek/?gt1=10357 I wouldn't pull any theology from it but it was interesting. I pray you are all having a great weekend.

Friday Sept 21

Well, not much out of the ordinary, how that sounds strange being in Jerusalem, but it has been a very similar week to what would be going on back in Omaha if I was there. Spent most of my free time this week doing homework, especially Hebrew, with only a few short excursions into the New City for some school supplies and a text book. The weather continues to amaze me that being this close to a desert it really is only warm, and some times hot, from 11am- 4 pm, and before and after that there is an amazing west breeze that comes off the Med. Sea that is cool and very comfortable.

For all you Chocolate fans I came across a fantastic treat they have called jumping chocolate. Now before you start wondering what it is let me tell you. If you have ever had pop-rocks then you will understand this a little, but only a little. First of all the chocolate is fantastic just as chocolate, but they have added little crystal thingies, and that is all the better I know how to describe them, into the chocolate. As you suck, and do not chew, the chocolate the crystals begin to fizzle and it is like a static electric storm is going off in your mouth surrounded by the flavor of delicious chocolate. Now I know how that sounds and I cringed the first time a friend was explaining it to me to, but let me tell you it is the most fantastic thing. You can not help but be glad an cheerful with a piece of this in your mouth. If you would like to try it let me know, I am planning on shipping some back home to enjoy when I return I would be happy to share some, and I do mean some, of it with you.

I pray that God has been blessing you all and keeping you safe. Next time I should have more to report as Sunday and Monday we are heading back out into 'the field' to the Benjamin Plateau and to Jericho, and Acco. Talk to you then.

Jerusalem approaches Sat - Sept 15

(Just a quick note if you click on any of the pictures I have posted they will enlarge so you can see the details better. Enjoy)

Today we had another extended trip around what are called the approaches of Jerusalem. It is the traditional ways that people entered into Jerusalem and the area around the city. Jerusalem in tradition is the convergence of two main routes across the land of Israel. There is a North - South route which is know as the central ridge route or the way of the Patriarch's. This runs just west of the city in ancient times along what is called the water shed ridge above the city. The second route is the East - West route from Jericho and the Jordan river out to the Jaffa port on the Mediterranean. There is also a split of the Ridge route around the Bethlehem area that either leads down to southern Israel, or crosses over and goes south of the Dead sea to traditional Moab. We started out the day on the top of Mt. Scopious, which is the current place of Hebrew University and substantial Military position for looking out towards Jordan to the East. The is a distinct difference in the terrain to the west of this mt. and the east of it.

(view to the West)
As you can see to the west there is some green and the visible presence of of some form of water to keep things growing and cities.

(view to the East)
As you can see to the east of this mt. it is dry very brown, and even the shapes of the hills are different. To the west it is a little more jagged and cut, while to the east if is more rounded and open. There is a line in the geology of this hill that separates two forms of limestone Cenomanian, and Senonian. The difference is that the Cenomanian to the west if hard and actually catches water in underground pockets between the layers, while the Senonian is softer and erodes into a chalk like powder that resists water and is very infertile to grow in, unlike the Cenomanian. OK, so that was probably more than you wanted to know, but I found in interesting to see the drastic difference just a few meters can make in the ability to sustain life.

After that we walked back to the top of the Mt. of Olives and were told a couple stories about different digs that have been done around the temple mount. We were also informed about the theory behind why the Golden Gate had been blocked in and a Muslim cemetery placed in front of the gate.

(Golden Gate)
It is said that the Jewish Messiah is to return into the City and the temple from the East. The Golden Gate is on the East side of the temple mount and the assumption was made that he would enter through that gate. In addition Jewish tradition has it that no one can enter the temple ground in an unclean state. So they began a cemetery at the gate because Jewish tradition hold that walking through a cemetery makes one ceremonially unclean and they can not enter the temple grounds. So in an attempt to keep the Jewish Messiah from reentering the city and the temple the Muslims have blocked up the gate and put the cemetery out in front of the Golden Gate.

We then headed back down into the Kidron valley just east of Jerusalem where we caught our bus again out to what is known as UN hill. It is the current and recent historic location of the main UN compound in Israel. It is also known traditionally as the Hill of Unwise Counselors (seems ironic sort of).

We then proceeded out to the Herodian, one of Herod the Greats many palaces. There was a huge pool complex and the base of the palace mt. that was fed through and vast network of cisterns and aqueducts. There is also a Roman cold and hot water bath house on the top of the mt. fed by the same network. It was amazing to see the engineering that would have gone into using gravity fed water to run up to the top of a mountain just for the king to have running water and a luxurious bath.


On the way back from the Herodian we came through Bethlehem and stopped off at the Church of the Nativity. This is, as tradition holds, is the place where Mary gave birth to Jesus. Under the main worship area is a place that is marked with a star around a hole in the floor which is the exact, as they say, place where Mary gave birth,

and a couple meters away is a stone manger that is where Mary laid Jesus.

The church is magnificent with all the paintings of Saint on every pillar, and all around the nativity cave there hangs, what looks like, a leather painted mural of all different scenes from the live of Jesus. They have also excavated portions of the floor of the church to reveal the original tile mosaics that was placed there by Constantine's mother as she went through the Holy Land building churches on the most holy sites.

This church is the oldest standing Christian church in the entire country. It was a beautiful place to see and the services that were going on, all though I did not understand what was being said as it was in Greek, were visually and vocally impressive.

Our final stop on this 11 hour tour around Jerusalem was at what is being called the Palace of Hezekiah, his summer palace. It is about two-three miles south west of Jerusalem, but close enough that you can clearly see the entire city of Jerusalem. All that is left is ruins, but remains lay out what would have been an impressive palace.


Well, I know this was a long entry, but it was a long day. I hope each of you is doing well and I look forward to hearing from you. God Bless each one of you.

Classes and Festivals

Well, this week has had an interesting begining. We have officially had a week of classes and I decided to swith out of one and moved into Biblical Hebrew. Since they have already had a week of class I am playing catch up in learning a new langauge. Not the best way to start out, but I am looking forward to it.

This week is Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year celebration. Unlike much of the rest of the world the jewish new years is set to the seasons. They have a rainy season and a dry season in Israel and the dry season is coming to an end. It normally lasts till the third or fourth week in September. So they celebrate the new years as the coming of the rains and with them life in the desert. We were learning about the cycle of the year and how the Jewish festivals are placed at the different seasons and harvest of the year. As I said the New Years festival Rosh Hashanah is this week, it started this evening and goes through Friday when they have the regular Sabbath celebration through Saturday. Next comes Succoth, the feast of booths/tabernacle, which is a celebration of God providing for the Nation of Israel during the 40 years of wandering in the wilderness. It coincides with the general time of the harvesting of fruits in the land. In Deuteronomy 8:7-9 it tells that God is bringing the nation into a good land (the same good used to describe the creation in Genesis) full of wheat, braley, vines (grapes), figs, pomegranates, olives and honey. They have three harvest here normally, Right after the new year is the fruit harvest, then in late april they harvest barley (mainly as feed for livestock), then the wheat harvest in late may/june. They celebrate Rosh Hashanah now and in ten days they celebrate Yom Kippur (the day of atonement), Shavuot is the feast of the first fruits (harvest of barley), then and succoth the feast of booths are the big feast/festivals of the year.

It has been interesting to watch the people of the city prepare for this first festival, putting up lights and decorating shops and preparing to celebrate. Everything is basically closed down in the Jewish sections of town for the holiday and they have been shooting of fireworks since the sun went down. It will be an exciting time to watch as they celebrate.

Well, I guess it is time to head back to my books and flash cards for Hebrew. If any of you have any questions or desire to see pictures of anything drop me a line and let me know. I am always up for a short trip out to explore.

Out and About

Today started out as a little bit of a rerun. We had an 11 hour field study and as a group we went to the City of David (which I had already gone to on Tuesday of last week, and then the Old City (looking at New Testament Sites). But I did learn a couple of new things as we had a knowledgeable taking us this time. We saw a couple places where they have excavated portions of the wall that was in place when King David took the city from the Jebusites (2 Samuel 5:6-10) to include portions of the spring house that was built to protect the Gihon spring. We also got to see areas that they have uncovered during the repair and expansions of the wall that were done during the reign of Hezekiah.

In the afternoon we strolled through areas of the Old City that are relevant to the New Testament. We went to the Pool of Siloam (again for me), up to the base of the Temple Mount where they have been excavating portions of the old main street that was present during the times of Jesus (Second Temple Era). They have exposed the old Roman pavement stones where they have been crushed when the Temple was razed in 70 ad by the falling stairway stones.

There are also a lot of remains from Byzantine times of houses and shops along the Carda (roman term for main thoroughfare of a town). We then walked underneath the outer wall through a residential complex and out onto the Temple Mount Stairs.

This used to be the main entrance to the temple for the majority of people. All of the doors have been filled in, but the main mitzvah complex (public ritual washing baths)

outside the temple has been uncovered and you can still see where the gates to enter the temple compound where. There is a lot of fallen stones and structures that have been uncovered that are assumed to be when the Temple was destroyed by the Romans.

We then headed of to the pool of Bethesda,

This as many of you know is where Jesus healed the man disable for over thirty years that complained that he had no one to take him down into the water. The pool is very deep and there is really no stairs or area around the pool for lounging that has been uncovered, but they have a lot of area left to excavate. I am sure many of you are tired of reading me say how amazing the days have been, but I just don’t know how else to explain them. I mean most of our excursions are out to areas that I have read biblical stories about. These are place where Jesus walked and spent time; places where the presence of God came down and touched the earth. Sitting on the edge of the Bethesda pool and staring down into its depths and knowing that Jesus stood on these same stones and performed a miracle right there.

They even have a church that is supposedly placed over the house where Mary, Jesus’ mother, was born; it is the Church of St. Anne (which is the mother of Mary).

This was an incredible structure that was built by the crusaders, and had fantastic acoustics. We were led through a couple hymns and just listened to the echoes fill the whole church for several seconds after we had stopped. The construction was beautiful and interesting as the entire structure is perfectly symmetrical, but not (as Dr. Wright explained it) the building itself is symmetrical, but the interior structure the top detail of the columns around the base structure and many of the details are changed from side to side; the windows are even made different sizes throughout the structure.

It was explained that the crusaders built their churches in this manner intentionally to show that everything is different and has flaws and that no one should be afraid to come before God with all of their faults and imperfections. I thought that was an outstanding way to help people see their way into the truth. Come to god no matter how fallen or how far from God you feel, because no one is perfect and He will welcome you.

Olives and more Saturday Sept 7

(Basilica of Agony aka Church of All Nations)

(Garden of Gethsemane)

(Church of the Ascension on the top of the Mount of Olives)

(Tomb of Mary- mother of Jesus)



(Tomb of Jehoshaphat)

(Tomb of St. John)

(Tomb of Absalom)
This morning was a great walk through the spiritual tradition around Jerusalem. We, my friend Micah and I, from the school, at 8:30am, on Mt. Zion the south west side of Jerusalem and walked down past the Zion Gate, the southern most gate of the Old City and around the south west corner of the Temple mount. We climbed down into the Kidron Valley to the Tomb’s of Absalom, Zachariah, St. James, and Jehoshaphat. From there we walked up to the Garden of Gethsemane and walked around the garden where Jesus prayed and was taken captive to be led of to the crucifixion. There is a large Basilica called the Basilica of Agony which is one of the many places claimed is actually the spot where Christ cried out to God to have the cup taken from Him if it was God’s will, one of three spots we saw today.

As we came out of the Garden we turned and climbed the Mount of Olives to the Church of the Ascension which is claimed to be the spot where Jesus came after His resurrection and ascended into Heaven. They have a spot marked off on the floor that they claim is an actual foot print of Jesus. I must say I am a little skeptical and not just because the foot print is in solid rock. As we came out of the Chapel we walked up to a small area that is claimed as where Jesus gave the Olivet Discourse. As we looked out across the Kidron Valley and back into the Old City it was an amazing view. We stopped in to a few other churches and places on the way down.

As we came back down we came to a grotto where the wine press in the Garden of Gethsemane is claimed to have been, it is right next to one of the many places claimed as the Tomb of Mary, Jesus’ mother. As we walked down into the tomb you could almost feel an oppressive weight of Catholic Dogma as people offered up prayers to the Virgin and paid homage and sacrifices and offerings in her name. There was an amazing shrine out in front of a small building that is said to house the place where Mary’s body lay. The door was made so that you must bow down to the Virgin to enter it. On the other side of the little shrine are many pictures of the Holy Mother and there are hundreds of lanterns hanging from the ceiling of the cave.

We climbed back up the Kidron Valley to the Damascus gate, on the North side of the City and out to another place that claims to house the tomb of Jesus. It is called the Garden Tomb and is run by the Garden Tomb Association in the UK, http://www.gardentomb.com/ . It was a nice little garden that houses an old wine press and a small rise that they believe to be the hill of skulls, Golgotha, where Jesus was crucified. Then we walked down the little path to a tomb carved out of the side of a hill that is to be the tomb of Christ.

We exited the Garden Tomb and headed into the Damascus gat into the Muslim Quarter of the city. It was a heavy market day and it was packed. It was neat to see all the people shopping through the market where there seemed to be just about everything. It was a fast paced 25-30 minute trek through the hurried crowds out to Jaffa Gate on the west side of the City and about another 10 minutes back down to the school on Mt. Zion. We checked back in a little after 12:30 very tired and a little sad seeing how many people are consumed in the worship of shrines, objects, and holy places and seem to have missed the truth of Christ and the way He bled for them.

Welcome BBQ

Tonight we had a welcome BBQ for all the students of JUC this semester. It was a fun time to get everyone together outside of class and field studies to just enjoy some time of fellowship. Also today I finally got to see what all of my classes are and I am really looking forward to this semester. Today was Archeology of Jerusalem and The History of the Holy Land from the Rise of Islam till 1948, when Israel became an independent country. My other three classes are The History of Ancient Israel, the History of Ancient Egypt, and Physical Settings of the Bible. I expect to learn a lot and be stretched in many areas. Most of our teachers are Jewish, either religious or secular and they have a different view on faith but do not force their opinions on anyone else. But it has been interesting to see the differences in how they view some of the events of the past and how they relate to religion.

I can not really believe that I have been here for a week already. Sometimes it feels like it has been more than a week with all I have seen and experienced, and at other times it is strange to think that I am here at all. This is truly a dream come true to be walking streets that have been in place for over two thousand years; to walk through tunnels that were dug in the time before the Babylonian captivity; and to stand on the ground where our Lord and Savior was crucified and buried. I often find myself just standing in one spot being caught up in thinking about the history and the presence of where I am. I pray that you all can come and experience this City and be part of the history that it holds someday.

Thursday night - The New City (or so it is called)

I took my first steps out into the new city as it is called here which is almost everything that is not inside the city walls of old Jerusalem. It was interesting to see the differences between the old and the new. Everything is still being built out of local limestone just as the old city, but there is definitely a modern style to many of the buildings. It is much like any other modern city around the world with public squares, taller buildings, cars everywhere, many streets lined with restraints, bars, and even Blockbuster and KFC. It reminded me a lot of NYC with many smaller storefronts, probably family owned, with only a few major name brand stores. Just as in the old city the diversity of the population is extreme and I could not distinguish between all the different languages that were being spoken walking down the streets.

There seems to be some kind of celebration being prepared for as they are putting up lights and banners that read '40'. Trying to figure out what it is for has been difficult, but we think it is for the 40th anniversary of the 6-day war for reunification of Jerusalem, but we have not been able to find out for sure yet. There is a lot of new construction going on in the city and you can see no signs of past violence or destruction. The only signs I have seen at all are on the Zion gate, the southwest gate out of the Old City, which is where the Israeli Army broke through to retake the City from Jordan in 1967 during the 6-day war. There are many bullet holes and pockmarks all over the gate as Israel sieged the city before breaking down the gate and finally retaking it.

The weather has begun to get cooler as they slip out of the summer heat and move towards the rainy season. It is staying in the 80's during the hotter parts of the day and falling into the upper 60's in the evenings and at night. There has begun to be a strong western wind coming out of the Med in the evenings which actually brings with it some moisture in the air, which I was told are the first signs of the coming rains.

Thursday Sept 6

(Dormitian Abbey)
I took some time this morning to head out of campus and try my luck with breakfast in the city. I was surprised to find that not much happens in the Old City before 8:30 am. There were four of us wandering around the Old City looking for coffee and breakfast and finally found a little shop just opening up called Bonkers Bagels, and watched as their bagels just finished up in the oven and were placed hot into bins for our choosing. They smelled wonderful and I got one with tuna and cheese toasted to go. We wandered back to the Dormitian Abbey, supposedly the place where Mary, mother of Jesus, died, for coffee and sat out in the cool morning breeze enjoying the success of breakfast. It was wonderful to just sit out in front of this spectacular building drinking coffee and having a little breakfast watching the daily life of Old City Jerusalem go on around us. We saw a couple tour groups wandering through the abbey and deliveries of fresh baked bread and other assorted vegetables going here and there; kids on their way to school playing and talking all the way. If it was not for the Limestone buildings and the foreign words often heard it would have been hard to believe I wasn't just sitting at a corner cafe' somewhere in America. But the view was spectacular.

Tuesday Sept 4 The City of David

Today was another amazing day. A friend and I trekked out to the City of david and walked up the steep slopes leading to the Royal Acropolis, which is in the process of being uncovered now.

As we walked up we passed by the Pool of Siloam where Jesus healed the crippled man, and sat and had some Turkish coffee, it is brewed three times and they add diferent things to it each time the brew it so it is very strong and very thick, with two of the men, Ishmael and Adam, responsible for digging up the pool and parts of the exit from Hezekiah's tunnel. We heard the stories of how the pool was found by accident as the city was digging up a sewage line that had ruptured and they came across the pavment stones around the pool.

We continued up the steep slopes to the City of David Visitors Center and bought our tickets to walk through Hezekiah's Tunnel from the Gihon spring all the way back to the pool.

As we climbed down the spiral staircases to the bottom were the rushing waters of the spring flow out into the tunnel I was amazed at how much work this would have been to dig out with the hand chisels and hammers that they had at the time it was dug. Also that they dug the entire 300 meter tunnel with the same chisels and small oil lamps about the size of a hockey puck.

Walking down into the tunnel it was very cool. the tunnel is about a foot to a foot and a half wide on average with an average hieght of about 5 1/2 feet, but ranged from under 5 feet to maybe 15 feet in places. The water was generally just above the ankles but got up to mid thigh level in several places. As we walked through the tunnel it was amazing to think of how many hours it would have taken to finish this passage. Even with them digging in from either side, which is amazing that they actually met doing it that way, it would have taken an incredible amount of time.

We went on for a while trying to find our way in the dark until I hit my head for the third time. It was really an awesome experience to see the lengths that they went to to protect their water supply during times of war.