Monday was a 'write off' day, as I succumbed to the evils of tummy bugs. I was very responsible and spent most of the day resting, which meant that I missed the journey to Ein Karem, which was a disappointment. The 'Up'side to that was that Ein Karem apparently is lots and lots of hills, so it was fortuitous that I stayed home in bed, feeling miserable, rather than sharing it with my companions. My caring fellow travellers made sure I was ok before they left: i was brought black tea, green tea, dry biscuits (and vegemite to add if I felt like it!) chewing gum and water....so I felt very cared for. Thankfully my starvation diet meant that I recovered fairly quickly in time for a day of stones and ruins on Tuesday.
Tuesday we went for a walk to the Church of St Anne (ie the mother of Mary) which is conveniently at the bottom of the Via Dolorosa. St Anne's church itself is very like the Sacred heart cathedral, except smaller and not as white! It is also a much older church, and has the pools of Bethesda in the grounds, upon which several churches were built ranging from the 3rd century to the 13 or 14th centuries.
The pools of Bethesda themselves were enormous, and were used for the provision of water to the temple site; as well as for providing a place for animals to be ritually cleansed (I think...! Will need to clarify this.) the pools were not intended for use for human cleansing, although that is what they became connected to in the time of Jesus.
At night time (they work us hard here!) we gathered after dinner in the Lithostrotos to hear about the history of the Lithostrotos, as it is connected to the life of Jesus. The basement of the convent is enormous, on several different levels, including a water cistern built by King Herod, but which no longer has any water since the connecting tunnels and cisterns were cleaned out a couple of years ago. The paving stones in the Lithostrotos are likily to have come from the Antonia Fortress, which was across the road from the convent site, and then reused in the making of the basement at Ecce Homo. Some of the stones have markings on them that show they were used for the soldiers' games eg variations of dice games. It is an amazing feeling to be sitting in a place that is effectively '1st century', even though it has had work done to make it tidier and safer since that time.
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