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Mar Saba's Monastery

Half way between Bethlehem and Jericho, through the deep valley of Kidron, you will find an old monastery on the southern end of the deep valley, looking like a medieval fortress hugging the mountain.

This monastery was built by St. Saba in 483 AD. He started his life as a hermit in the caves of that prairie, dedicating his days and nights to prayer and fasting. This Saint was born in 439 AD in Turkey. He was an orphan, and remained in his uncle's care until he came to visit the Holy Land and decided to remain there as a hermit. Many monks joined him in the caves of the prairie reaching 2000 in number. He built this monastery to house them. The magnificence of the building is astounding, and it contains many old icons, books, and manuscripts that are invaluable and unique. The gate to the monastery is very small, yet famous for a huge key. There is a guard's tower where monks used to take shifts watching the road for caravans coming from Jordan and other countries of the Fertile Crescent to Jerusalem carrying goods and supplies. The merchants always gave alms to the monastery and its hermits who in return gave assistance and services for all the passers by. At the bottom of the monastery is a cave with a water spring that has an exceptional taste. This spring is the only one in this deserted prairie.

The monastery follows the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate in Jerusalem and still goes by the old system since St. Saba. Time is lunar, and fasting, eating and prayer each have traditions that have remained since the establishment of the monastery. Women are not permitted to enter the monastery, and nearby there is a small convent called "The girls' convent" where women can stay.

When the crusaders left Palestine, their leaders took with them the body of St. Saba to Venice. In 1964, following a Papal visit to the Holy Land, Pope Paul the 6th promised to return the body to its monastery. The Body of St. Saba lies now in a glass coffin in the monastery, and it still retains excellent shape.

The Islamic Museum

To the west of Al Aqsa mosque, within the same compound, you will find the oldest museum in Jerusalem, the Islamic museum established in 1923. The museum is housed in two historic buildings - one Ayyubid, and the other Crusader. The museum houses many Islamic artefacts and historical objects, and exhibits a variety of items ranging from tiny flasks for kohl eye make-up to giant architectural elements from mosques. The smaller objects are displayed in the first building (the Ayyubid construction) and include porcelain cups from the Far and Near East, inscribed brass mosque seals, glassware and incense burners, among other things. There are also exquisite thirteenth century gilded and enameled mosque lamps from the Hebron area, a large jewel- encrusted Hand of Fatima, and a collection of decorated guns, swords, and daggers from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The manuscript section has some rare medieval and Ottoman copies of the Koran, including an eighth century version ascribed to the prophet's great grandson.

The exhibits in the second building are much larger and include the burnt remains of the great cedar wood, ivory and mother-of-pearl minbar given to the Al Aqsa mosque by Salaheddin in 1187. You will also find exceptionally rich religious vestments of silk and gold, fragments of Al Aqsa's seventeenth century prayer rug and decorative cypress wood panels from the original eighth century mosque. From the Dome of the Rock itself, there is the magnificent Crusader wrought-iron screen that surrounded the Holy Rock from the twelfth to the twentieth century, and remains of mosaic and ceramic walls. Displayed also is the cannon that was fired to mark the start of the fast during Ramadan.