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Signs of the Times Australia / NZ edition — lifestyle, health, relationships, culture, spirituality, people — published since 1886 |
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Signs of the Times Australia / NZ edition — lifestyle, health, relationships, culture, spirituality, people — published since 1886 |
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Within 48 hours of writing this, I expect to be seated in an El-Al Airlines coach seat on my way from the eastern coast of the US to the Mediterranean coast of Israel. The flight is about 10 hours. Then I’ll be ready for a week of touring the Holy Land, my first visit in more than three decades.
There’s nothing like going to Israel and seeing its sights close up, although that can apply to anywhere on earth. I’ve read about Pitcairn Island and seen movies and photos—even postage stamps—depicting island life, but a visit—just getting there takes weeks—would be totally different.
While I don’t expect to be on Pitcairn anytime soon, one thing that can help anyone traverse the globe without experiencing jet lag and other negative consequences (the expense, for one), is the Internet. The armchair “web surfer” can be as close to key sights around the globe as any on-the-scene tourist. What’s more, the Internet offers interesting commentaries and discoveries that even tourists might not see.
For example, while I will be in Jerusalem, I don’t think I’ll be traversing Hezekiah’s Tunnel, the 2700-year-old water tunnel constructed by King Hezekiah (see 2 Chronicles 32:2-4 and verse 30). It has about 1.1 meters of water in it and as little as half a metre of headroom in places.
Fortunately, we don’t have to slosh in waist-deep water and suffer claustrophobia to see it: James E Lancaster, an aerospace industry veteran and frequent Holy Land tourist, has posted a “virtual tour” of the tunnel as part of a web site containing all sorts of Holy Land virtual tours.
The pictures and commentary are interesting, and you really get an understanding of this fascinating site, which leads to the famed Pool of Siloam.
Dr Lancaster, who holds a PhD in engineering, has put his expertise to work in his overall site, “Archaeology: Exploring the Holy Land.” It’s worth a look. A dedicated researcher and tourist, his views of the old and new worlds of the Bible lands will be exceptionally interesting to many.
When some five years ago the world was racing toward the year 2000 (you might remember it as Y2K), the Jerusalem Post, the oldest English-language newspaper in Israel (pre-1948, it was known as the Palestine Post), created a web site “Digital Holyland” tours, devoted to Israel in the approach the new millennium.
They were created by Eretz (tr “Land”) magazine, a bimonthly subtitled The Geographic Magazine from Israel. The articles are full of historical detail, although the pictures are scant and rather small. But you gain a lot of insight into these ancient cities and their lifestyles, and I believe the details can help bring some Bible incidents to life for readers.
At the same Jerusalem Post web site are a series of panoramic photos of the exterior and interior of several key sites, including the Church of the Nativity, the Old City of Jerusalem’s walls and the Mount of Olives. The images could be larger, for my taste, but they offer great views and you can zoom in to capture more detail.
If still pictures of various Jerusalem sites are what you want, check out a Virtual Jerusalem Tour assembled by Nahmi Avineri and Yoram Friedman from the Hebrew University’s Faculty of Medicine. The pictures cover a lot of the main vistas in the city and have educational captions.
For Jewish people around the world, as well as for pilgrims of other faiths, the Western or Wailing Wall is perhaps the most sacred and significant site. From 5.08 am local time, hundreds of men gather below the wall to pray. How do I know? I checked out the “wall cam” online, which is operated by Aish Ha Torah, a Jewish educational group, transmitting live.
These are some good places to start your visit to the Holy Land, the land
of the Bible. And if you are planning to make the actual trip, the Australia–Israel
Chamber of Commerce has a page of more tourist-related information. Israel’s
own Ministry
of Tourism also has a helpful site.
* Mark Kellner is a freelance writer in Rockville, Maryland, in the United States, a computer columnist for The Washington Times, and a follower of Jesus. His web site is http://www.kellner.us.
Extract from Signs of the Times, September 2004.
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