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This view of the Old City of
Jerusalem is taken from the Mount of Olives.
To the far left is the Al Aqsa Mosque.
In the middle is the Dome of the Rock.
In the foreground is the old city wall with
olive trees growing in the valley below.
In the distance is west Jerusalem. |
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The Dome of the Rock is built on
the site where Mohammad is believed to have ascended to Heaven during the
night.
This building is used for individual
prayer, but not for corporate worship, which takes place in the Al Aqsa
Mosque across the Temple area. |
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The Al Aqsa Mosque sits on the
edge of the Temple Mount. Underneath it are underground tunnels and
what is known as Solomon's stables, although the structures there probably
date to the Crusader period. . |
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View of the area outside of the
Dome of the Rock on the Temple Mount |
| These two views of the western
wall of the Temple Mount or the "wailing wall" illustrate the
division of the area between men and women with the fence in the
foreground of the left picture dividing the two groups. For some
Jewish people the wall is the most holy place in Jerusalem. For
others, it represents an inappropriate focus on the Temple, which is no
longer at the heart of Judaism. |
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Since the state of Israel took
over east Jerusalem, the government has had a policy of encouraging Jewish
settlement in areas previously under Arab control. Increasing Jewish
population in these areas is used to justify denying eventual sovereignty
under Palestinian government. Most of the Israeli settlements in
Jerusalem are outside of the Old City and have been annexed to the
city. This one, however, is in the heart of the Old City and was
confiscated from Palestinian Christians and given to Jewish settlers. |
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This is a typical scene in the
Old City. Small mosques, like the one in the center, are scattered
throughout the city. |
| The Church of the Holy
Sepulchre, left, is the holiest of sites in Jerusalem for
Christians. The Via Dolorosa, with its stations of the cross, is
also a traditional part of Christian pilgrimages to Jerusalem. |
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One of the busiest gates to the
Old City is the Damascus Gate. Outside people sell produce, and
immediately inside are places to buy bread and other goods. |
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Outside the Old City walls
archaeologists work to excavate ancient ruins. Many remnants of
antiquity are buried beneath a living city and so are not readily
available to excavation.
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The Shrine of the Book was
designed to look like the lid of one of the jars in which the Dead Sea
Scrolls were found. Inside are some of the scrolls, most notably the
Isaiah scroll which is displayed so that one can read - assuming knowledge
of Hebrew - this 2000 year old text. Light, temperature, and
humidity are carefully controlled to preserve the fragile pieces of the
scrolls. |
| This entrance leads to the
children's memorial at the holocaust museum Yad Vashem. |
This sculpture at Yad Vashem is
a memorial to the victims of the Nazi concentration camps. |
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In a traditional Jewish cemetery
like this one, people place rocks on top of the grave to honor the dead, a
practice made famous by the movie "Shindler's List." |
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