This morning we got up on the Temple Mount and toured the most valuable piece of real estate in the world. Valuable in that it is sacred ground for both Jews and Muslims and a continual flash point between the two parties in Israel today. It was a beautiful sun lit morning and the gold dome stood out against the blue sky. I tried to locate the trench that Muslims have dug on the mount in recent months. This work has upset Israeli archaeologists who know that valuable information is being lost anytime construction work is done here.

What I did find was something I had been reading about before coming over. Just to the northwest of the present Dome of the Rock is the bottom step of a flight of stairs leading down from the mount. Leen Ritmeyer one of the leading experts on the subject, has indentified this as the top of the wall that surrounded the first temple. If only the wall could be exposed what it might reveal.

We then toured the City of David. This is the original site of Jerusalem after David conquered the Jebusite fortress as mentioned in 2 Samuel 5. We are also told that he built a palace. The wording of the scripture tells us that David went down to the stronghold when the Philistines attacked him. Using this information led Dr. Eilat Mazar to conclude that the palace must be in the location where she started to dig. Within the first season she discovered the walls of a massive building that she has identified as the palace of David.

While at the site today I saw Dr. Mazar walk into her office. Feeling this to be a fortuitous moment I walked into her office and introduced myself. I knew I had at least one connection since I had worked on her grandfather's Temple Mount excavations back in 1971. I had also read her book on that subject and saw that she had included a picture of Herbert Armstrong and students from Ambassador College who had supported the Temple Mount excavations. I complimented her on including this in her book and then asked if her mother was Esther Mazar. She is and she is still alive. Esther Mazar taught Hebrew to the students who worked on the dig. She was very gracious to us and I have fond memories of her. I had a pleasant ten minute chat with her and gave my name and email address. Perhaps a connection has been made that may grow in the future.

We toured the Gihon Spring and the Pool of Siloam to conclude our tour of the City of David.