To Hell and Back in time for Passover

So, did the title of this entry catch your eye? I went to Hell today. It was very interesting, but I'll get to that later. (Left - The Russian Church of Mary Magdalene). This morning I had my ancient near eastern studies final. I stayed up most of the night studying with Megan. We camped in a side room of the computer lab on bean bags. We studied, slept, studied some more, slept some more, and so on. I was surprisingly awake all day for having only gotten the equivalent of 3 hours or so of sleep. Honestly, it would have been a lot easier to study by myself, and a lot quicker, but at the same time, it was a lot of fun and I kind of liked sleeping upstairs.
So, I felt really prepared for the final this morning. After the final, I wasn't sure what I was going to do. I had talked with a couple of other girls about going to Hell, but sometimes these girls aren't very reliable. (Right - on the old steps where Jesus walked. I don't know how much of that is tradition and how much is truth, but it was cool to see). I learned that they were going with a group headed to the Russian church of Mary Magdalene. I hadn't been there yet and today was my last opportunity to go, so I joined. It turned out to be really lucky that I did. There is an old stone stairway that was used by the Savior on his triumphal entry into Jerusalem. Twice my Russian came in handy (they don't speak English there). First, I asked where we could find that place. Second, when we were walking to that place, a woman tried to stop up but when I explained what we were looking for, she let us pass. (Left - in Hell). It felt good to be able to use my Russian for good.
From there, we decided to do some exploring. We headed down the Kidron Valley toward Hell. Now before you think that I am swearing, I will explain what Hell is. Have you ever wondered where the name for the spiritual term came from? Well, it is a real place. In Greek it is called Gehenna. Hell is the place where, in ancient times, Israel sacrificed children to the god of Molech by passing them through the fires of Molech. It was also a place where they burned their trash. Thus the name of that location came to mean fiery torment. (Right - Schindler's grave). Hell is the lowest point of the area, where the Hinnom and the Kidron Valley met south of the City of David.
As we walked along the Kidron Valley, we stopped to see some tombs that traditionally belong to Absalom, son of King David, and Zechariah. Then we continued on. It is too bad that there is no sign pointing to Hell, but we did arrive. We then headed up to a Greek Monastery dedicated to this crazy Egyptian hermit who lived in the caves south of the City of David. There he wore no clothing, but because of an extremely long beard, he was slightly covered. It was closed, so we couldn't go in.
We continued on our journey and passed an active archaeological dig. We took pictures until one of the workers beckoned us over. We went over, not sure what to expect. A different worker came and explained what they had found and what they were doing. They found some original walls from the first century AD, Jesus' time! They also found older rock quarries and a defensive tower. (Left - me, Christ, Catherine, and Matt at the Seder meal). It was really interesting.
Next we were walking and saw a sign that said, "to Schindler's grave." We figured that we might as well check it out. We went up to the gate only to see that a man was closing it. We were too late! But no, Mindy asked if it would be alright if we went to the grave. He let us in. We got really lucky. It was cool.
Next we went into the Old City. There Mindy and Shealee went into the Armenian Museum while Rich, Christine, and I waited outside (we'd already seen the Museum). After they finished, we went over to the Dormition Abbey. That was really cool. Next we went to the Armenian Church in the Armenian Quarter of the Old City. I'd already been there, but I didn't mind going again. Finally we walked through the city and back to the center, just in time to get ready for dinner. (Right - the place setting at the Seder feast).
Dinner tonight was our Seder feast, in celebration of the Passover. Passover starts this coming Saturday and it would have been cool to have our feast at the same time, but then our Jewish professor would not have been able to come and explain everything to us. It was really cool. Everyone participated in one way or another, whether by serving/clearing dishes, reading narrations, or singing songs. It was really cool and a lot of fun. Now I've celebrated both Ramadan AND Passover!