I live in Jerusalem.

I'm sort of getting into a routine now, and all it does is emphasize how crazy it is that I live in Jerusalem. Many of my classmates have traveled often through their lives, but for a guy that has only been one other country outside of the USA, it's still a bit hard to believe. This post has a variety of things, mostly because I put it off for so long.

I'll come out and say it: I deeply enjoy food. I love cooking it, trying new cuisine, and finding the best a town has to offer. That said, as an austere student, I am always trying to find ways to cut corners without sacrificing a positive sensory experience (I also like words. Sorry.). Fortunately, much of modern Israeli cuisine is fairly straightforward and came from a time of economic hardship. One breakfast dish that I think is particularly excellent is shakshouka. It's straight-up peasant food, but like most other such dishes, you can find it in finer establishments as well. It's quite simple: poached eggs in a tomato based sauce.

One benefit being in this region is that just about everything is in season, all the time. Yesterday at Damascus Gate, I bought a very large box of tomatoes and a number of fresh figs for 15 shekels, $4.15, and I ended up splitting it with another student. I made some tomato sauce this afternoon. As for the figs, oh wow they are fantastic. I don't know if they're around in the states, but I have a very strong feeling they would be great paired with apples in some sort of dessert.

On the past couple weekends I visited the Tower of David Museum, and the Israel Museum. The Tower of David, a fortification in the Old City so called by Crusaders that mistook it for the palace of King David, is now a museum that gives an overview of the long, tumultuous history of Jerusalem. It's a citadel with ancient foundations: Israelite, Roman, Crusader, and Islamic finds are represented in this fairly small fortification. 

In the following two photographs, we have foundation remnants, from Herod in the first century, on top of remains from houses attached to the city wall from the Hasmonean(Maccabees) Period. Good example of what the archaeology here looks like. 

Here is a picture of sling-stones, used by the Seleucid army during the Hasmonean period. 

The Israel Museum is the flagship museum of Israel. It houses an archaeological collection, art, various exhibits of Jewish interest, and even a collection of indigenous cultures from the pacific, Asia, Africa, and the Americas. Of greatest note are the dead sea scrolls, manuscripts of every book of the Old Testament except Ester, which are housed in the Shrine of the Book. Also displayed in the Shrine is the Aleppo Codex, and various other writings.

The real Isaiah scroll, the oldest complete book of Isaiah, written in 100 B.C., was not on display. Regardless, the facsimile, as well as the other copies of various books, was incredible.  The oldest form of the Old Testament, before the scrolls were found, was the Aleppo Codex which is dated to around 935 A.D. The scrolls predate the codex by about 1,000 years. The oldest document I saw before the scrolls, was the 1297 Magna Carta. All of the scrolls I saw were far, far older. Seeing these ancient documents, that say the same thing as the bible I have, was awe-inspiring.

Now for some quirky finds. I saw a Chinese student using this pen. It came from Tipton, Indiana. 

America: Weapons aren't the only things we sell.

Thanks for reading, everyone. 

Until next time.