#jerusalem ring bike path

[eretzyisrael]

Biking in Jerusalem was recommended by TIME magazine as one of 50 extraordinary travel ideas for 2023 on its third annual list of the World’s Greatest Places.

“While Jesus may have traveled to Jerusalem by donkey, Solomon by mule, and the Prophet Muhammad by a winged Buraq, thousands of years later the holy city has plenty of other methods of transportation to get around, from bus to light rail to train. And today, there’s a way to see this ancient city from a new, unexpected perspective,” TIME correspondent Jessica Shaw writes.

“Anyone comfortable on two wheels can now rent a bike and cycle along the newly opened Kerem Tunnel, part of the Jerusalem Ring bike path, a 42-km route that allows visitors to circle the holy city at their own pace, starting, for example, at the Biblical Zoo in the western part of the city and finishing at the Jaffa Gate in the east.”

The tunnel, she notes, “connects two parts of the Jerusalem Ring: on one end lies Ein Lavan, a spring dating back to the Iron Age, and on the other, Ein Karem, the birthplace of John the Baptist, which has become a foodie and art-gallery hot spot. Those in the mood for a more rigorous afternoon of touristing can work their way to the windy streets of the Old City for 360-degree views found at the recently renovated Tower of David Jerusalem Museum.”

[aflyabroad]

2/3/2023:

Layers upon layers...

We visited the Temple Mount early Thursday morning. The path to the Dung Gate is fusion of excavation, repair, and construction. On the right, we pause briefly as Rabbi points out the Giv'ati Excavations before we dodge the crews and equipment repairing the streets. Many cranes are visible throughout the skyline, placeholders for the Jerusalem to come.

We pass through security - who declares Boaz "ok" and allows us forward without a minder and - through a covered pathway overlooking the western walls. It is prayer day - the plaza divided about 4/5 - 1/5 - the smaller section the woman's section. A chest high barrier divides the section. Most woman sit in chairs or stand praying. A woman in a bright pink tichel stands at the edge of the barrier looking over to a table in the men's section watching closely a small child of around 4 fidgeting at the table with a group of men. A large Christian tour group passes us as Boaz describes the archaeology the western wall, how what we see is the smallest fraction of what is buried underneath.

We stop in front of the al-Asqa mosque. Originally built in ~700 CE, it was destroyed multiple times by earthquakes - the current form being built in the middle ages. The door is propped open - we can see through to light shining through the windows. A three year old child squeals running inside and out of sight as his father appears to be doing custodian tasks. A cat and large black crow soon join him in dashing in and disappearing from site. We learn, under the sparse shade of olive trees about how a new underground mosque was built in the 1990s - under a permit to build fire exits to the existing mosque. We visit the Temple Mount - stopping near-to the Dome of the Rock before exiting the plaza.

The group splits at this point - I joined the smaller group for a trip going mountain biking in the Judean Hills while many other went to visit the Israel Museum. We start on city bicycle trails initially - stopping briefly for a "bagel" in a muslim neighborhood of Jerusalem. I use quotations because these are closer to the size of a small swimming ring. We pass an elderly man fallen asleep sitting up, his mouth agape in the sun, a cat asleep on the pavement nearby. The parks and hillsides are dotted with flowers. We head off road stopping to view some hillside baths - where many young boys are loitering and splashing and in a separate bath further on, three woman sit on the edge of a small square pool. We then continued through hard rocky trails into the hills - overlooking the green, terraced hillsides of the countryside, arriving at a campsite to meet the bus. A few of us continued a few more minutes to Yad Kennedy and panoramic views of the city before returning to the bus to meet the others and head to Abu Ghosh for an wonderful lunch.

Our evening concluded with an amazing visit with the Yozma congregation in Modim, where we shared conversation on history of their community and in reform Judaism in Israel. We sang together in sephardic tunes - hands clapping and feet stomping. They were optimistic about the potentials for liberal democratic judaism to survive and flourish.

[my-world-travel]

Ring of Brodgar (1-5), Ness of Brodgar (6-8), and Standing Stones of Stennes (9), Mainland, Orkney, Scotland

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One of the most bonkers things about Orkney is how many sites it crams into, really, a very small area. I left Skara Brae and biked to the Ring of Brodgar, which is the third largest Neolithic ring in the British Isles after Avebury and Stonehenge.

The Ring of Brodgar is noteworthy for a number of reasons: In addition to being very, very large (it’s almost impossible to get a good picture of the whole thing from the ground) it’s the northernmost ring in Britain. Most rings, including Stonehenge and the Callanish Stones in the Hebrides, have something buried at the center, which is usually a later burial to mark the importance of the site. Brodgar does not. There’s nothing within the circle, and I talked to a guide who said that’s very weird. In Orkney, you have to have a permit and an archaeologist present before digging more than 2 feet below the surface. Because of all of the ancient artifacts.

But there are none inside the Ring, and relatively few in the immediate area. Especially odd when you learn that just half a mile down the road is a major ritual site, turn the other way and you have more--and in between them on this stretch of land between a saltwater lake and a freshwater lake, is this ring of absolute nothing.

According to wikipedia, it’s also resisted all efforts to put a date on it, so the current belief that its the most recent of the Neolithic monuments in Orkney is presumably entirely due to the lack of artifacts. Very reassuring and not indicative of an old god at all.

At any rate the site is free to access, although at the time Historic Scotland was having visitors stay off the inner path to allow the land to recover. It’s also, as you can see in photos 4 and 5, absolutely surrounded by ‘terraforming’, whether that’s earthen mounds or rings, or chambered cairns (more on these later).

And having learned there was an excavation site just down the road in the direction I was going, I hopped back on my bike for the Ness of Brodgar.

The story I got goes like this: The farmer who owns the land south of the Ring of Brodgar (literally adjacent to it) was plowing his field, and either plowed deeper or in a new area, and turned up a stone wall. Not unreasonably he stopped and called in the archaeologists; this was in 2005 and 15 years later they’re still very excited about it and trying to figure out what on earth he found.

The consensus at the moment is that the Ness is a) a village, b) for ritual purposes*, and c) super important. A Neolithic Jerusalem, as it were. Among other things, they came across a massive feast of hundreds of cows, plus some very exciting (and rare!) painted stones. All of this is so exciting because until 2005, the thought went that the heart of Orkney--this space around the Ring of Brodgar and Maeshowe (later! promise!)--was ritual sites only, and no one lived there full time. But the Ness is definitely a village, there were definitely homes, so now the debate is over who.

* “Ritual purposes” is the go-to explanation when ancient humans did or made something particularly baffling, which means it turns up all over Orkney.

I wish them luck. This site was also free, although they’d like donations. It’s privately owned right now, and the excavation was just closing up for the winter when I visited--I think it’ll be uncovered, if not actively being excavated, from May to August, but obviously priority is on protecting the site.

And from there I biked maybe half a mile to the Standing Stones of Stennes, which are all that remains of another massive stone circle. Less survived so it’s less exciting, but it is visible from the Ring of Brodgar and vice versa--the people who built these were not concerned about overcrowding their monuments.

And I still wasn’t done for the day! But tumblr only lets me upload 10 photos at a time.

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