EGAD
or, (de)mythologizing the fetish of placewherein our unlikely hero composes a series of
empirical geo-anthrospatial dispatches, aimed at establishing just where
he is, and perhaps even why it matters
Pesach (Passover) us coming upon us now ... most of the serious preparations are happening today, as religious Jews will have to stop whatever they're doing at sundown tomorrow to observe Shabbat.
One significant feature of these preparations is that every Jew must clean their home of all chametz, or anything levened (plus various other things determined by halackic law). But many Jews consider the Land of Israel to be their home. Hence this bit:
In Orthodox neighborhoods of Jerusalem and Bnei Brak, observant Jews performed the ritual of "purifying" kitchen utensils by immersing them in boiling water to guarantee that no trace of leavened bread (hametz) remains.At the office of the Chief Rabbinate in Jerusalem, religious leaders took part in the official selling of leftover leavened bread to a non-Jew, as is required by halakha. Hussein Ismail Jaber of Abu Gosh purchased the hametz from the state for the tenth consecutive year, and paid NIS 20,000.
So technically, this Jaber fellow owns all the bread in Israel. Or maybe just all the bread that was owned by Jews. I think he sells it back the week after Pesach. What happens if he gets really hungry and tries to enforce that contract, I wonder?
Last post. In Egypt 'til Tuesday. Enjoy the weekend, and for the Jews in the audience, hagg same'ach, shabbat shalom.
Posted by Milligan at April 21, 2005 08:45 PM | TrackBackFARED IBRAHIM ,FROM ABU-GOSH VILLAGE IS THE OWNER OF AMAZING DEALS. WHO SELL WHOLESALE OF GENERAL MERCHANDISE TO DISCOUNT AND DOLLAR STORES IN NEW YORK/NEW JERSY AREA. ANOTHER SUCCESS STORY FROM ABU-GOSH.
Posted by: FARED IBRAHIM at September 17, 2005 08:47 PM (Permalink)Your name came up when i searched for 'ancient altitudes Bethlehem Jerusalem
Quick aside: Beit Lehem= house of bread. since vowels are not present might it be Beit Lohem = house of warriors"
there is roughly a 15 meter dif in the altitude between Bethlehem and Jerusalem. The ancient water workers used this dif to bring water from Solomon's Pools near Bethlehem to the Temple Mount. Question: how did they know there was a 15 meter differance?
ref: Table of heights Templemount.org.
The big guys never bother to answer me. I figure an inquisitive student might give me a few clues on HOW to look.
Posted by: Calman Rosen at September 17, 2005 10:28 PM (Permalink)From what I can gather, not a great deal is known about ancient Jewish surveying techniques (this is probably wrong, and I've just missed the relavent sources). They may have just observed that water will flow downhill the whole way, but I suspect something more advanced.
A great deal, however, is known about Egyptian and Roman surveying technology. Hit your local public (or better, university) library and read up on that.
http://www.unc.edu/courses/rometech/public/content/transport/Adam_Pawluk/Contruction_and_Makeup_of_.htm is a short article on building Roman roads, that lists some source books at the end.
http://corinth.sas.upenn.edu/gromatxt.html is a page on the "groma", the primary Roman surveying tool. Again, some source books are listed.
Since tools like the groma can do leveling and alignment, the key was probably to hop from hilltop to hilltop, adding up the changes in altitude along the way. But I've walked from the Temple Mount to the vicinity of Solomon's Pools. The terrain is quite uneven, and it's a fair distance. This would not be an easy feat of measurement.
Posted by: Milligan at September 18, 2005 12:55 AM (Permalink)