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Historical Places in Israel -Jerusalem Railway Station
A must visit is the beautiful historic Jerusalem Railway Station. Construction was completed in 1892, and was built along the donkeys’ trail, an ancient route ascending to Jerusalem. Among those present at the inauguration ceremony was Eliezer Ben Yahuda, the reviver of the Hebrew language. He named the train ‘Horse of the steel’ in Hebrew, as the word Rakevet had not yet been created.
The station operated until 1948, when traffic stopped due to the 1948 Arab-Israeli war. Over time, the number of passengers decreased after the opening of Highway One and due to poor maintenance it was decided to close the section. On 14 August 1998, the last train service left the station and the station was officially closed the next day. It lay neglected for many years, although the railway yard was used for annual events such as Hebrew Book Week. After undergoing an extensive restoration, it reopened as a cultural and entertainment centre in May 2013.
Today, also being called The First Station, it is a vibrant place which combines culture, leisure and lifestyle, connected by its heart to the lively and renewed urban life in a modern Jerusalem. Its values stem from an approach of rich culture, with space for dining, entertainment, sports and leisure. The management’s vision is an open, living, breathing space, vibrant with places of entertainment and live music, which turns the public space into a centre of street culture, exhibitions, fairs and colourful markets. It is a means to enrich the quality of life of city residents and its many visitors, like an engine pulling wagons, of entrepreneurship and creation in the city, and is a source of pride for the capital of Israel, and an attraction for visitors and tourists from all over the world.
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Israel’s Historical Landmarks –Qumran National Park
Qumran is an archaeological site dating back to the Iron Age. It is one of the many group of caves along the western shore of the Dead Sea, in which were found the Dead Sea Scrolls—an archaeological discovery of immense importance to scholars, historians, theologians and believers around the world. Historians determined that Qumran was a fortified structure, established in the eighth century BCE and probably accommodated about 200 people. It spans a history from the Babylonian invasion of Judea and the destruction of the First Temple in 586 BC, and resettled a couple of hundred years before the time of Messiah Yeshua.
During the time of Messiah, Qumran was inhabited by the Essences, a break-away Gnostic religious group who were largely responsible for writing and storing the Dead Sea Scrolls. After the Romans destroyed the Second Temple in 70 AD, the Priesthood and the religious system was disbanded and fragmented, making it almost impossible to carry on any structured religious activity. Hence, it is unclear as to how long the Essenes continued to stay in Qumran and other caves. But the Scrolls remained hidden for 2000 years until a Bedouin shepherd Muhammed Edh-Dhib followed a goat into a cave near Qumran and emerged with 7 ancient scrolls in 1947. The reason for the poor condition and fragmentation of some of the original scrolls found is because the locals ripped off small pieces to sell to tourists and collectors. To date, 929 texts have been found.
The site of ancient Qumran is operated by the Qumran National Park, under the direction of Israel’s National Parks Authority and further history and other useful information can be found on their website.
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Historical Landmarks in Israel –Hezekiah’s Tunnel
Hezekiah’s Tunnel was also mentioned in last week’s historical information about the Pool of Siloam [‘Shelach’ in Hebrew], because it carried Jerusalem’s only fresh water from the Gihon Spring to the Pool of Siloam, a distance of 533 metres and could supply a population of 2,500. Historically, there are a number of differing opinions as to when the tunnel was first dug and what condition it was in when King Hezekiah made alterations. Whatever the case, the tunnel was dug through solid rock from two sides and had to eventually link up. This is the most famous Jerusalem tunnel and was discovered by a youth in 1880.
There are a number of Biblical references to Hezekiah’s Tunnel: In 1 Kings, Chapter 1, David’s son, Solomon, was anointed king at the Gihon Spring. 2 Chronicles 32:2-4 and 2 Kings 20:20 mentions the time King Hezekiah redirected this water into the City of David so the people could survive the Assyrian siege of Jerusalem in 701 BCE. “Hezekiah also plugged the upper watercourse of the Gihon waters and brought it straight down to the west side of the City of David. And Hezekiah prospered in all his works.” (2 Chronicles 32:30)
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Historical Landmarks –Pool of Siloam (Jerusalem)
The pool of Siloam is a pool cut from rock on the southern slope of the City of David, located just outside the walls of Jerusalem. During his reign around 700 BC, King Hezekiah constructed this 500 meter-long tunnel to bring fresh spring-water into Jerusalem. The Pool of Siloam was the only continuous source of water in Jerusalem and consequently, were heavily guarded by a strong gate and soldiers.
In the First Century BC, Temple Priests brought water up from the Pool of Siloam for the Water Libation Ceremony, a most popular and joyous celebration during the Feast of Tabernacles. Levites played lyres, trumpets, harps, cymbals, other instruments, and also sang praises to God for His provision during this third harvest feast. The Pool of Siloam was discovered again in 2004 and three years later, archaeologists found the actual ‘ascent’ stairs which the priests used to carry the water up to the Temple for the Water Libation Ceremony, showing us the precise location of the Second Temple on the Temple mount. The Pool of Siloam is mentioned a few times in the Bible. For example:
Nehemiah 3:15 (CJB) “Shalun the son of Kol-Hozeh, leader of the district of Mitzpah, repaired the Fountain Gate; he rebuilt it, covered it and set up its doors, along with its bolts and bars; he also rebuilt the wall of the Pool of Shelach [Siloam], by the royal garden, as far as the stairs that go down from the City of David.”
Isaiah 8:6 (CJB) “Since this people has rejected the gently flowing waters from Shilo’ach [Siloam]…”
John 9:6-7 (CJB) says, “Having said this, he [Yeshua] spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, put the mud on the man’s eyes, and said to him, ‘Go, wash off in the Pool of Shiloach [Siloam]! So he went and washed and came away seeing.’” (‘Shiloach’ in Hebrew means ‘sent’, and the same Hebrew consonants also mean Messiah, that is ‘sent one’.)
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Historical Landmarks in Israel – Massada
Masada (or Metzada in Hebrew, which can mean fortress), is the name given to the once highly-fortified structure which was built on top of a high hill 434 metres above the adjacent Dead Sea between Ein Gedi and Sodom in the Judean Desert south of Jerusalem. Some historians hold that the site was settled at the time of the First Temple (c. 900 BCE), but what is certain is that Masada was made famous by Herod the Great, King of Judaea under the Romans, and reigned between 37 and 4 BCE.
It was his royal citadel, complete with two ornate palaces, with the biggest dropping three levels to a luxurious swimming pool jutting out from the rocks. Masada was protected by heavy walls, defensive towers, and aqueducts that brought water to cisterns holding over 750,000 litres.
Masada became a symbol of Jewish courage and sacrifice, stemming from the ancient kingdom of Israel right up to todays modern State of Israel. In the first century A.D., during the Jewish revolt, Jewish fighters captured and held Masada against the Roman forces, but eventually were defeated by the might of Rome’s Legion, which brutal destroyed this last stronghold of Jewish resistance, but not before the Jewish residents, who, not wanting the ignominy of Roman slavery, took their own lives as a statement to the world, that they would rather die than live in slavery.
Two Mikvah ceremonial pools and one Synagogue are part of the many historical sites that remain in Masada till today.
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Historical Landmarks Jerusalem Alrov Mamilla Avenue
For a century, the area surrounding the Jaffa Gate in Jerusalem has undergone political diversity and a combination of social and demographic factors. What is common to this small and ancient historical landmark, is the intense and passionate religious attraction. History records a remarkable story of destruction, division, unification, renewal and now shopping.
Alrov Mamilla Avenue is a 610-metre pedestrian promenade lined by 140 stores, restaurants, and cafes. There are various commercial offices on the upper floors, and underneath the mall is a multi-story parking garage for 1,600 cars and a bus terminal. This Mall has positioned itself as Israel’s version of Fifth Avenue in New York and the Champs-Elysees in Paris and has quickly become an exceedingly popular destination among both locals and tourists.
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