On Friday 11th, as well as attending lectures, we had a bit of free time in the afternoon so walked up to the Dormition Abbey, just outside the walls of Jerusalem, through Zion Gate. This area was known as Zion by the early christian community, and is the place where the Last Supper is believed to have occured, as well as lots of other gatherings of early Christians.
The Dormition Abbey is a magnificent building, which also houses a great coffee shop and gift shop!, dedicated to the 'Dormition' of Mary, mother of Jesus. There is some confusion (in my mind if nowhere else) about whether Mary in fact 'went to sleep' here or whether she went with Peter (or John?) to Turkey and went to sleep there. I think the reason it is called 'sleep' is because of the belief that Mary was raised body and soul to heaven. None of this of course is recorded in the christian scriptures, hence the discrepancy. No matter whether it is 'the' place or not, the fact of the presence of the early christians at this site is undoubted, and it is a place of quiet and calm in the midst of the bustle of jerusalem, so I LIKED IT! I lit a candle for you all and wrote my intention in the book of intentions which the Franciscans offer each day for mass. I hope it will make a difference to your week, your year or your life.
I also had a great coffee there...
We went to the Upper Room, which is called the Cenacle, the room of the Last Supper, which is up a couple of flights of stairs and is likely to have not been the room at all, given the dates and style of the architecture, but is in the place where it is believed to have happened. When we were there we were treated to a rendition of a particularly lively latin american hymn, with guitars and strident voices, from a touring christian group. You've gotta watch those christians! It was quite noisy and about 150 people were crammed into the space, all jostling for best photo position, but we managed to get in, experience the place, and get out. It was hardly calming and reflective, but it was interesting!
On the way out of the upper room, we passed the tomb of David (ie King David) which was closed due to a reason which was unknown and unannounced...and also a Holocaust room, which was also closed. The funny thing about life in Jerusalem is that the day that most things are open is Sunday, which for us is a twist. Many official places are closed on Saturday, due to Shabbat, and some things are closed for the muslim holy day on Friday. When we go shopping in the souk, some places are closed on Friday, some are closed on Saturday, but many of them are open Sunday, except for those in the Christian quarter, and many of them are open anyway, obviously due to the new Sunday trading laws for Christians world wide! It is remarkable that you need to almost know the religion of a trader in order to know whether he is open (and it is usually 'he', not 'she'....
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