ISRAEL TRAVEL
BAR-ILAN UNIVERSITY
proudly presents
MEI AMR,
On Wheels
A unique opportunity to see
Israel through the eyes
of Bar-Ilan experts.
MARCH 3-13, 1992
You, too, can participate in our outstanding
spring trip which will include:
Bar-Ilan professors travel
ing with us throughout
Israel; see the country come
to life through the eyes of
experts
The deepening of your
Jewish experience through
an intensive and superbly
guided visit to Jerusalem.
Home hospitality and ex
A beautiful "Kinneret Din-
tensive contact with
ner Cruise?'
Israelis, including recently
arrived Soviets and Ethio- Aft,
pians, Israel's special pride. .= ■, M Experiencing the unique
entertainment and cultural
A close look at how Bar-
life that is Israel's alone.
Ilan's research and other
activities are having a ma-
CZI=" Learning how Bar-Ilan is
jor impact on the quality
incorporating excellence in
of Israeli life.
both academics and
A complete sightseeing
Judaica.
package excellent for both
/11.111.
first timers or repeaters.
Price includes baggage
Round trip air transporta-
handling, most meals,
tion and 8 nights with
transfers, local hotel service
5-star deluxe accom-
charges, taxes and much
modations.
more!
1
411111 ■
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111r=Ct.,
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, 115
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ROCHELLE LIEBERMAN, MICHAEL HOROWITZ,
Mission Chairmen
BAR-ILAN UNIVERSITY • 29200 SOUTHFIELD ROAD
SUITE 201-A • SOUTHFIELD, MI 48076
PHONE (313) 423.4550
FAX (313) 423-9357
SHERATON'S WINTER SUN
TEL AVIV
$324
7 Nights
FROM EVERY POINT OF VIEW
THE BEST
pp room only
This year treat yourself to a spectacular view of the
sparkling Mediterranean in Tel Aviv and to a
JERUSALEM magical view of the Old City in Jerusalem.
AND BE WARMED BY OUR WINTER PRICES
I Deluxe guest rooms with fruit basket on arrival.
I Discounts for children.
7 Nights I 10% discount in all our restaurants.
pp room & I Flexible Holiday Plan — spend a minimum of
Continental
7 nights in either hotel or combine the two.
Breakfast
Winter Sun is valid from November 16, 1991 -
February 29, 1992 (Christmas supplement $17 per person, per night)
P.S. Our average Winter sunshine temperature is 17°C.
For reservations call your travel agent or I.H.R.C. at 1-800-552-0141
$282
ITT Sheraton
ISRAEL
JERUSALEM — TEL AVIV
ITT SHERATON. THE NATURAL CHOICE.
44
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 1991
Ancient Mansions:
Jerusalem Attraction
A
n entire residential
quarter in what used
to be known as the
Upper City • of Jerusalem,
from the time of the Hero-
dian Dynasty, is the newest
attraction available to
visitors in Israel's capital.
The spacious mansions,
decorated with frescoes,
molded stucco and colorful
mosaic floors, were opened to
the public exactly two years
ago for the first time since
the Romans put the torch to
those luxurious residences
on 20 September 70 C.E.,
thus completing the destruc-
tion of Jerusalem.
The Herodian Quarter was
excavated by Professor
Nahman Avigad and scores
of archaeologists and vol-
unteers, who dug their way
through 2,000 years of
debris. They were followed
by the restorers. After years
of intensive labor, this
splendid site has been open-
ed to the public.
Going below the modern
buildings, it is possible to
wander through the palatial
mansions that were built
here by wealthy
Jerusalemites, on the
choicest real estate the city
had to offer. The creme de la
creme of the city gathered in
the sumptuous reception
halls; the proprietors lux-
uriated in their various
bathing installations. How
all this survived succeeding
waves of destruction, seems
miraculous.
Jerusalem has been
destroyed scores of times.
The most recent wave of
devastation took place bet-
ween 1948 and 1967.
Paradoxically, it led to an
almost unprecedented res-
urgence of the city's past.
The area had been the
Jewish quarter within the
city walls since the Middle
Ages. Whin Israel's capital
was reunified in 1967, the
returning Israelis found the
quarter to be one big heap of
rubble. A company was set
up to rebuild the area. At the
same time, droves of archae-
ologists descended on the
quarter to research the past;
for them, it was the chance
of a lifetime, or rather
several lifetimes, which
heretofore had been denied
them and previous genera-
tions (and still is, in other
parts of the city, because of
crowded living conditions).
Thus, a period of frenzied
activity got under way in
1967 — upwards and
downwards. As buildings
went up, archaeologists dug
downwards into the past.
Now, after almost 20 years
of planning, digging,
building and restoring, the
Jewish quarter is once again
a residential area, an area
offering glimpses into the
city's millenia of history.
Builders and diggers
worked together. They
aimed to leave the more im-
portant finds exposed at
street level or visible under
the newly built houses. The
incorporation of the Cardo
street from Byzantine and
Crusader times into the pre-
sent street plan is a prime
example of imaginative
planning and design that
has drawn worldwide "atten-
tion. Other ancient remains
punctuating the rebuilt
quarter include an apse of
the sixth century Nea chur-
ch, built by the Empror
Justinian, and fortifications
built by the Maccabean
rulers in the 2nd century
BCE and by King Hezekiah
in 701 B.C.E.
The latest complex of ex-
cavations to become accessi-
ble is a quarter of luxurious
residences built in the 1st
century B.C.E., when King
Herod the Great carried out
extensive building projects
that made Jerusalem one of
the most splendid cities of
the time. Restoration of the
mansions had to wait till the
rebuilding of two religious
academies on top of the ex-
cavations was completed.
Now, it is possible to descend
below the new buildings and
Now, after almost
20 years of
planning, digging,
building and
restoring, the
Jewish quarter is
once again a
residential area,
an area offering
glimpses into the
city's millenia of
history.
walk through a complex of
palaces.
These mansions were
located at the eastern edge of
the Upper City of the time,
and had a magnificent view
of the huge Temple espla-
nade built by King Herod,
and of the Mount of Olives
beyond.
The mansions have an
amazing array of water in-