Jerusalem University College- Israel

Once we arrived on campus, we were given a tour and had our Orientation class. We had quite a bit of homework to complete before heading to Israel. One of the main objectives of this academic tour was to learn the Historical Geography of the regions. I won't bore you too much with the details, but it's very interesting to learn the layout of the land. You can better imagine why people fought over certain areas (perhaps the soil, climate, access to water, etc.) and you can see just how hard some of the journeys taken would have been. Geography, Geology, Archeology were main topics of discussion during our stay.

JUC

The tour guide we had was very, very good. Dr. Carl Rasmussen has had many years of experience in Israel and has published an atlas of the bible with Zondervan publishing. It was wonderful to learn from such a distinguished instructor. Carl teaches at Bethel University (or may have recently retired, I'm not sure) and serves as an adjunct professor at JUC.


The college itself sits on Mount Zion and overlooks the Hinnom Valley. The history of the land includes:

- JUC relocating to this location following the Six Day War in 1967 after being occupied by troops. It overlooks a valley that was considered no mans land during the war.
- The historic buildings were part of the Bishop Gobat School built in 1853.
- The grounds and buildings rest atop portions of the Herodian Wall and includes the site of the Essene Gate. (Herodian= really old, possibly built by Herod the Great 74 BC- 3AD).
- There is also a cemetery located here, where famous protestants from the 19th and 20th century are buried.

This is the dining room where we enjoyed lunch on campus.

Carl describing the tombs and burial methods. Notice the people in the background? 

Our fearless leader stopping to get a picture. Carl has a free website filled with pictures of the holy land. HolyLandPhotos.org.