Jerusalem, Israel. Posted by Adam.

Throughout our stay in Jerusalem, there were three places that I liked the most. These places were full of archeology and while I was there I started to love archeology.

City of David: The tour started with buying our tickets. We walked of with our guide to a tiny theater where we watched a 3D movie about how King David captured Jerusalem and united the twelve tribes of Israel around it. Then, we walked to a view point and saw the hill that David’s City was on. The city was really hard to capture because there were steep valleys on each side of the hill. Next, we walked down to the remains of what archeologists think was King David’s palace. After some more hiking our guide showed us ancient tombs, under people’s houses! There was the tomb of an Egyptian princess (not as grand as in Egypt) which I thought was really cool. Then came what I had been waiting for, the cistern and tunnel that were used to transport water to the city. They were both fed from a spring, but people had to walk to the cistern while the tunnel that replaced it brought water inside the city walls where it was easier and safer to get. I could hardly tell that the remains of the cistern were a cistern, but the tunnel was carved out of solid

stone and perfectly intact. My favorite part of the whole tour was walking through the tunnel. At the beginning, the water was up to my waist but after a few feet it went down to my ankles. It took about forty-five minutes of walking in only the light from our flashlights to reach the end of the tunnel and get to the pool. I love thinking how King David helped Jerusalem thrive.

Western Wall Tunnels: At the beginning of the tour or guide showed us how the holy temple was built, destroyed and rebuilt on a platform surrounded by walls. One of these walls was the western wall. When houses were built above the valley around the temple they were supported by arches underneath them. There were also tunnels and cisterns. When we entered the tunnels we saw a stone as big as a bus! Nobody knows how or why they put it there and I thought that it was astounding. We walked down a long tunnel and

even though it felt like we felt like we were underground we were fifty feet above the ground! That means that when I was walking in the streets of Jerusalem I was one hundred feet off the ground. Next, we came to a cistern that used to be used by the people living near and above it. I was amazed at what I was walking on in Jerusalem without knowing it!

The Citadel: When we arrived we saw a tour was just starting and we got into the group. I learned that Crusaders turned what used to be a tower and wall into a fortress by building walls all the way around it. Then we went into a museum and learned how many civilizations occupied Jerusalem and how they all lived. Some of them included Canaanites, Jews, Babylonians, Greeks, Romans, Crusaders, Moslems, and then modern civilizations. That was just a few of the empires that conquered Jerusalem. It was conquered thirty two times in all! Next, we toured the actual citadel. I actually saw arrows and catapult balls from the battle in the Chanukah story which I loved. After some more touring we left, but we would be coming back the next night.

We arrived at nine p.m. into a large crowd standing in front of the stone entry gate and waited to be let in. Finally, the crowd started to slowly move into the citadel. Everybody walked around past small scenes projected on small walls or inside arches until we got to our seats. The show started with flute player projected on the wall right in front of the seats. Next, the same wall was transformed into a desert with three people walking across it. Then the sand melted away to reveal a library projected all over the citadel. From there, I was launched into scenes from the history of Jerusalem with all of the civilizations that conquered it. The show was completely amazing and also the best light show I have ever seen.