A message from the Mosque of Omar

.

In Jerusalem's Old City last week I peeked through the locked gate of the Mosque of Omar and was surprised to see this sign in the courtyard. 
It is apparently sura 3:51 of the Quran which quotes none other than Jesus! 
The banner says
[in Arabic:] There is no god but Allah. 

"Jesus Said:

'I am indeed a slave of Allah,

Allah is my Lord and your Lord,

so worship Him Alone.' "

The mosque, with its tall minaret, is right across the lane from the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.  
I wonder how many Christian pilgrims on their way to the church  pause a second to look at the mosque and at the unexpected message on its wall. 

The Mosque of Omar, built in the 1460s, has a fascinating story in itself.
You are welcome to read about it in two of my earlier posts. 
.
Tomorrow is Friday, the Muslim holy day, and al Aksa mosque will be packed.  After the prayers big protests are expected against Trump's declaration on Jerusalem.  Palestinian officials have called for "days of rage."  Let's hope and/or pray that no one loses his life. 
.
(Linking to inSPIREd Sunday.)

Mosques and minarets (two!)

.

M is for mosques!  This one has TWO minarets.

On Saturday our Arabic teacher took us to the nearby Negev Bedouin town of Lakiya.
We drove by two of the town's many mosques.
Sorry about my out-of-the-car-window shots, but there was no time to stop.
We had many welcomes and lectures and visits waiting for our class.
I learned so much in half a day!
It is so inspiring what some of the women have done, together, to advance their status within the traditional, male-dominated society.
More about that in coming posts.
.
(Meanwhile, happy ABC Wednesday.)
(Linking also to inSPIREd Sunday meme for houses of worship.)
.

Beer Sheva's old mosque, a museum for now

.
Mazal tov to James on the 4th anniversary of his Weekend Reflections meme!

Here is the minaret and dome of Beer Sheva's historic mosque.
It was built in 1907, in the Ottoman era.
 When the town was conquered in 1948 by Jewish forces, in Israel's War for Independence,  the mosque was left standing.
Today the building serves as a museum of the city's  history.

 The mosque is reflected in the glass entrance of the Negev Museum of Art which is just across the courtyard.
.

Mosque of Omar

.
In the Muristan area of the Christian Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem, just opposite the Church of the Holy Sepulchre,  you will find the Mosque of Omar.

Its distinctive square minaret, 15 meters tall, was built in the 1460s.
The minaret was  renovated by Ottoman sultan Abdulmecid I in the mid 19th century.

(All photos can be much enlarged, to see, for instance, the big loudspeakers atop the minaret for the call to prayer.)

The mosque was built in 1193.
As you can read on the beautiful gate, it is "For Prayers Only," meaning non-Muslims may not enter.

It is a very tight corner in the narrow lanes of the Old City and I could not back up enough to capture the gate in one shot.

Sacred Destinations explains why the Mosque of Omar was built:

After a brief and bloodless seige, Muslims seized control of Jerusalem from the Byzantines in February 638. Caliph Omar Ibn al-Khattab accepted the city's surrender from Patriarch Sophronius in person.

Omar was shown the great Church of the Holy Sepulchre and offered a place to pray in it, but he refused. He knew that if he prayed in the church, it would set a precedent that would lead to the building's transformation into a mosque. He instead prayed on the steps outside, allowing the church to remain a Christian holy place.

The Omar Mosque was built near the site of these events in 1193 by Saladin's son Aphdal Ali.

This means that we have Caliph Omar to thank, because his actions after his takeover of Jerusalem ensured that the Holy Sepulchre would remain open to Christian worship.
.

UPDATE:   In 1172 the Crusaders added a beautiful bell tower, 29 meters high (!), to the Holy Sepulchre.
After Saladin’s arrival in 1187, the 18 bells that had chimed the hours and announced the services were melted down and not replaced until the 19th century, when the current ones were installed.
An earthquake in 1545 caused a collapse of the upper parts of the bell tower, but the Ottoman governor of Jerusalem refused to authorize its reconstruction.
The truncated bell tower has been dwarfed ever since by the 15-meter minaret of the adjacent Mosque of Omar.
.
P.S. Jerusalem had a rare snowfall!  If you haven't seen my posts of Thursday, Friday, and Saturday you are welcome to enjoy snow pictures there.
.
(Linking to Whimsical Windows, Delirious Doors and to OurWorld Tuesday.)
.

The umbrellas of Ramadan

.
My two visitors and I went up to the top of the Mount of Olives for the panoramic view!
There were even a few clouds on the western horizon for SkyWatch Friday.
.
It was the third and last day of Id il Fitr, the Muslim holiday which closes the month of Ramadan.

This was my first time to see the many rows of folded sun umbrellas and big black sun shades near Al Aksa mosque on Haram ash-Sharif [the Temple Mount].
I assume they had been added to shelter the hundreds of thousands of Muslims who came there to pray from the burning sun.
.
Al Arabiya News says that this year over two million came to the Old City for Ramadan, from 48 countries. That can't be right, two million, but it seemed like it in the streets.
.
(If you click on the photo, and then click once again, it will be big enough for you to find the umbrellas.)
.

Ramadan mubarak

.
The domes and minarets and the long flat building are the Al-Aqsa mosque up on (what we call) the Temple Mount.
More than 100,000 Muslims prayed there yesterday, the first Friday (and first day) of Ramadan.
.
I wish my Muslim readers Ramadan kareem. (I think kareem means generous, yes?)
.
The Atlantic has a new article about religion in space which contains a delightful video of a Muslim trying to pray in the microgravity of the Space Station.

They write

Muslim astronaut Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor had to figure out how, exactly, one faces Mecca during prayers when you are moving at about 17,000 miles per hour and its location relative to you is changing minute to minute, sometimes as much as 180 degrees in the course of one prayer. It was decided that Shukor, who was on the International Space Station during Ramadan, could do no more than the best of his abilities, in trying to face Mecca, kneel, and perform ritual washing.

.

From church to mosque, by a Jewish architect

.
Continuing our visit to the Circassian village of Kfar Kama in the Galilee (starting with yesterday's post) . . .

Here is a modern map showing the Caucasus.
But back in the 19th century when the Circassian tribes were slaughtered and driven out by the Russians, most of the area bordering the Caucasus was the Russian Empire.
Ibek, our guide in Kfar Kama, told our group that just last year Georgia became the first country to recognize the genocide of 1.5 million Circassians.

Most of the one million Circassians who survived the expulsion and the massacres ended up in the Ottoman lands, as the Turkish Sultan saw them as experienced fighters and thus encouraged them to settle in sparsely populated areas of the Ottoman Empire, including the Galilee.

The new mosque in Kfar Kama is so unusual, don't you think?!
Maybe because its architect is Jewish!

I read this in the Jerusalem Post :
"The original mosque had closely resembled a Circassian church, said Tehowha [head of the museum]. He told us that Circassians had been Christians until they converted to Islam in the 17th century. Then, instead of building mosques for their prayers to Allah, they continued worshiping in churches. Not surprisingly, when they came to this country, they erected mosques that resembled the Circassian churches. In 1970, however, the [more than one hundred year old] mosque here was torn down and this structure put up in its place. "

Our own guide, Ibek, said the shape of the doors of the new mosque recalls the shape of their former houses of prayer.

He said the white stones in the minaret make it visible in the night.
And the 5-daily calls to prayer are done by a real human, not by a recording.

Please click once or twice and enlarge the photos to appreciate the details.

The mosque is Mamluk style.
The majority of the leaders of the Mamluk kingdom were of Adyghe origin.
(Adyghe, meaning "noble," is what the Cherkessim, as they are known in Hebrew, call themselves. )


We spent several hours in the village and in the museum but this is the only woman I saw the whole time, and I'm glad I did.
The Circassian World News Blog, in an interesting post on Kfar Kama, says
"The village's older ladies are dressed traditionally, while the younger generation is modern to the point of being Yuppified."
.
(Linking to inSPIREd Sunday.)
.

"Price tag" attacks

.
I got lost in an ultra-Orthodox neighborhood a few years ago when many parts of Jerusalem were still new to me.
What surprised me that day was that religious kids were playing on swings and stuff in a playground surrounded by three old Arab buildings.
The minaret marked one building as a long-abandoned mosque.

The sign warned not the enter the dangerous building which according to the drawing was liable to collapse.

Even then the doors had anti-Arab sentiments scrawled on them.

A second old building was also locked up.

The third building really raised my curiosity!
Plants growing on the dome.
It was clearly very old and once-grand.

I stuck the camera through the window bars and the flash revealed a neglected interior.

Back home, I could find no information about the place and it remained a mystery for me.
Until today, that is.

Today I read in Haaretz that

The Nebi Akasha mosque, apparently built under the Ayyubid dynasty in the 12th century with additions made under the Mamluk dynasty in the 13th century. It is believed that the mosque was founded on the burial site of combatants in Saladin’s army, though an ancient tradition designates the site as the place where Akasha, a friend of the Prophet Muhammad, was buried.

They also say it was abandoned in the 1948 War of Independence and was recently renovated and turned into a municipal storage facility.

Learning this history was the only good thing to come out of the worrying events of the last few days.
Last night vandals tried to set fire to the mosque (I think it was the newer mosque, the one in my first photo) and sprayed anti-Islam graffiti on it and the second building.

The media did not explain it well, especially the foreign papers; and if you had never been to this small compound/playground, it would be hard to understand.

More about the young right-wing extremists' violence, including an attack on an Israeli (!) army base, can be found here .
The so-called "price tag" attacks.
.
UPDATE: See here how 15 teenaged students later came to help remove the hate graffiti .
UPDATE Feb. 2013:  Fascinating history of the place from a Jewish viewpoint in the blog "Let us tour Eretz Yisroel." 
.
.

Sky-watching at Chapel of the Ascension

.
Sky-watching did not start with our meme SkyWatch Friday.
The apostles were doing it on this day almost two thousand years ago.
The New Testament book of Acts says

He was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight. They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. "Men of Galilee," they said, "why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven."

- Acts 1:9-11

.
Ascension Day fell on the same date this year for both Catholics and Orthodox Christians.
I imagine this place, the Chapel of the Ascension, was full of worshiping pilgrims today.
.
This is a drive-by shot and I have not yet walked there but apparently, on the other side of the mosque is a chapel, first built around 390.
It was destroyed and rebuilt by various conquerors many times.
A mosque and minaret were added next to the chapel in 1620 and the entire site remains in Muslim possession.
.
The main octagonal edicule surrounds the Ascension rock, said to bear the footprint of Jesus as he ascended, forty days after the resurrection.
.
It is on the Mount of Olives, in the Arab neighborhood A-Tur.
.
More information and interior photos of the Chapel of the Ascension (Kapelat HaAliya) here:
http://www.sacred-destinations.com/israel/jerusalem-chapel-of-ascension
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ascension_of_Jesus
.

The southern wall

.
It was 8 o'clock in the morning but already a line of tourist buses was parked along the southern wall of the Old City.
The driver stands and waits for the guide to bring their group out from the nearby Dung Gate.
.
Across the street from the same bench is a barbed-wired wall with an old sign of UNRWA.
.
But sitting on the bench you would have this view--the old Turkish city wall and on top of what we call the Temple Mount, al Aksa mosque.
.
The city is currently building ways to walk inside the Ophel antiquities at the base of the wall.
The sign said "Maslul HaMikvaot--HaOphel," meaning The Mikva Route.
Should be interesting!
.
P.S. For those who enjoyed yesterday's post about doner kebab etc. --I added a comedy skit.
Thanks to daughter Naomi for this funny Armstrong & Miller video about the Neanderthal origins of shwarma!
.

Jerusalem of gold

.

Morning's first rays as seen from the roof of Ecce Homo Convent -- what could be better?
.
I love every part of Jerusalem, but the 0.9 square kilometer Old City circled by the 500 year old ramparts has to be my favorite.
Made up of the Muslim Quarter, Christian Quarter, Jewish Quarter, and Armenian Quarter, the Old City has a little bit of everything (and of everybody).
.
City Daily Photo group is having first day of the month Theme Day about our favorite part of town.
Click here to view thumbnails for all participants .
.

Bridge to the Mughrabi Gate

.
For the sake of Louis la Vache's Sunday Bridges, I am going to call this weird contraption a bridge.

As a result of the combined effect of an earthquake and heavy snow in 2004, the original earthen ramp collapsed. A new wood and metal "temporary" bridge was put up in 2007.

Enlarge the above photo and you will see both the old and the new, side by side.

.

The ramp leads from the Western Wall Plaza up to the Mughrabi Gate.

.

This gate is the only opening through which tourists and non-Muslims are allowed by the Muslim Wakf to enter the Temple Mount.

Muslims enter through ten other gates.
.

Their gold Dome of the Rock is on the left of the above photo.

.

On the right of the Temple Mount is the Al Aksa mosque.

.

Just to the left of the ramp is the section of the Western Wall where women are allowed to pray.

.

There was an induction ceremony for soldiers the night of this photo, hence all the flags and people.

.

This photo from Wikipedia shows the Mughrabi (aka Morocco) Gate from the inside.

.

I learn from the BiblePlaces.com blog that Jerusalem District Archaeologist Yochanan Zeligman recently addressed a letter to Israel Antiquities Authority Director-General Shuka Dorfman,

in which he told of several incidents of stones fallling from the Mughrabi Gate and warned that “a danger exists to the crowd in the women’s section of the Western Wall Plaza, as well to those who walk on the temporary bridge, should stones fall from above.”

.

That is not good news.

.

More:

Good before and after photos of the ramp's collapse

.

"The Real Story" of the problems of Mughrabi Gate access by Yuval Baruch, Jerusalem Region Archaeologist, Israel Antiquities Authority
.

And also this, the story as written by a rabbi, but his comprehensive photos let us better understand the situation around the problem of the old ramp, the present one, and a possible future bridge.

.

Troubles

.
The last two weeks have been hard on Jerusalem.

For eights days straight we have had an unseasonable heat wave and several days of bad dust storms (the sand blew over from North Africa).

Then there was the undiplomatic "mishap" when Vice President Biden was here.
And before that, the young Muslim shabab throwing rocks from the Temple Mount down onto Jews praying at the Western Wall.

Trouble is expected tomorrow. If you hear about it on your media, these two photos will help you in your orientation.
The night photo shows the Western Wall on the left.
Behind the wall is the Temple Mount on which is Al Aksa mosque. Its grey dome looks golden at night.
The ramp leads up to the Mughrabi Gate, one of the entrances into the Temple Mount.

Here is a better view of the ramp and Mughrabi Gate.
The golden dome is the Muslim shrine called the Dome of the Rock (on the Temple Mount).

If you enter the Old City wall through the Dung Gate, you pass through the security check at the lower right corner of the photo and enter the Western Wall Plaza.
On the horizon is the Mount of Olives.
.
I am worried what tomorrow will bring.
Please friends, pray for the peace of Jerusalem.
.

This is winter??

.
A mid-afternoon late December sky in Jerusalem.
Shirt-sleeves weather. Unnormal.
For Sky Watch Friday, where many bloggers' skies are now full of snow.
This week we bask in temps of 24 degrees C. Mid-70s F.

Minaret of the Mosque of Omar.
The building on the right is the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.


The Crusader bell tower of the Holy Sepulchre.
.
I just sat in the courtyard watching the clouds and the pilgrims go by.
.

Joyful at the Western Wall

.
Shalom, welcome to the Western Wall in Jerusalem's Old City!
.

(Photos enlarge with a click.)

And just because the Wall is the only remnant of the Temple complex does not mean it is holy only to Jews. Look at all these Evangelical Christians singing and shouting for joy!

Hands high in praise!

Hallelujah -- הללויה

.

Just behind the Western Wall is the Temple Mount or in Arabic, al-Haram al-Sharif الحرم الشريف (the Noble Sanctuary), home to Al-Aksa Mosque and the golden Dome of the Rock. The whole mount there on top is administered by the Muslim Wakf.

.

So there you have it! In one small space the three great monotheistic religions.

.

.

That's My World Tuesday is a nice meme where bloggers offer you a guided tour of their nice places. Free! Click and go, enjoy!

Al-Aksa by night

.
Night in the Old City.
Al-Aksa has a dome of black lead, but illuminated at night it shines like gold.
.
To learn more about the world's second oldest mosque and to see photos of its interior, please go to Sacred Destinations. To read about al-Aksa as told by Moslems, please click here.
.
NIGHT is the August 1 theme at City Daily Photo which has grown to over a thousand bloggers.
.
P.S. To answer Leif Hagen and other readers who asked why Jerusalem Hills Daily Photo does not appear on the portal of City Daily Photo . . . Well, when I began blogging I intended to join the group but soon discovered that it was impossible to limit myself to the one-photo-per-day rule; so I assumed JHDP would not qualify for membership.
.
Would you believe?? There is a Monastery Daily Photo! Pay the blogger-monk a virtual visit and get the inside story of monastic life.
.
Yalla, shalom and blessings to all.
.