Israel
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Until the mid-nineteenth century, non-Muslims were not permitted in the area. Since 1967, non-Muslims have been permitted limited access, however non-Muslims are not permitted to pray on the Temple Mount, or carry any form of religious artifact or anything with Hebrew letters. The Israeli police help enforce this.
Jerusalem, Israel, 2012.IsraelPalestinemiddle eastJerusalemTemple MountPrayingMuslimPhotito travelphotitotraveltravel photographydocumentary photographyspencerphotographyculturewww.photito.com
Son consoles his drunken father with the use of the Torah at a synagogue during the festival of Purim.
For more on drinking during Purim please visit "the people of Mea Shaerim" under the "meet the people" gallery.
Mea Shaerim, Jerusalem,Israel, 2012IsraelPalestinemiddle eastJerusalemTorahPurimMea ShaerimJewJewishPhotito travelphotitotraveltravel photographydocumentary photographyspencerphotographyculturewww.photito.com
Arab boy peeping through a key hole.
Akko, Israel, 2012.IsraelPalestinemiddle eastJerusalemAkkoPhotito travelphotitotraveltravel photographydocumentary photographyspencerphotographyculturewww.photito.com
Although the identification of the Aedicule as the site of Jesus' tomb is not a tenet of faith for any major Christian denomination, many Catholic and Orthodox Christians hold fast to this traditional location. However, due to the many issues the site raises, several scholars have rejected its validity. Additionally many Protestants have often opposed the traditional location because it has previously received support from Catholics. After time spent in Palestine in 1882–83, General Charles George Gordon found a location outside the old city walls that he suggested to have been the real location of Golgotha. Although the Church of the Holy Sepulchre has its tomb just a few yards away from its Golgotha, there is no particular reason to regard this close juxtaposition as a necessity; however, Gordon followed this principle, concluding that his site for Golgotha must also be the approximate location for Jesus' burial, identifying a nearby tomb, now called the Garden Tomb, as the location for the event. Pottery and archaeological findings in the area have subsequently been dated to the 7th century BC so, in the opinion of archaeologists the Garden Tomb site would have been abandoned by the 1st century. Biblically this does not match three of the Gospel accounts (Matthew, Luke, and John) which specifically state the tomb was new and no one had ever been laid inside. Despite the archaeological discoveries, the Garden Tomb has become a popular place of pilgrimage among Protestants. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints leaders have been more hesitant to formally commit to the identification even though many Mormons regard the Garden Tomb as the correct location of Jesus' tomb.
Currently, no other potential site for the tomb has received much attention or academic support.
Church of the Holy Sepulchreare, Jerusalem, Israel, 2012.IsraelPalestinemiddle eastJerusalemChurch of the Holy SepulchrePhotito travelphotitotraveltravel photographydocumentary photographyspencerphotographyculturewww.photito.com
The healing properties of the Dead Sea are so legendary that Cleopatra herself is said to have soaked in its waters.
Dead Sea, Israel/Palestine, 2012.IsraelPalestinemiddle eastJerusalemDead SeaPhotito travelphotitotraveltravel photographydocumentary photographyspencerphotographyculturewww.photito.com
Streets in the old part of Jerusalem are well indicated with signs in three landguages, Often one of them is defaced depending on the area.
Arab quarter, Jerusalem, Israel, 2012.IsraelPalestinemiddle eastJerusalemArab quarterPhotito travelphotitotraveltravel photographydocumentary photographyspencerphotographyculturewww.photito.com
Christeen 22 is an Armenian Christian who came to Jerusalem seven years ago to start a new life with her husband, an Israeli Armenian whom she met back at home. Now a single mother of two boys she longs to return to Armenia one day.
Jerusalem, Israel, 2012.IsraelPalestinemiddle eastJerusalemArmenian ChristianPhotito travelphotitotraveltravel photographydocumentary photographyspencerphotographyculturewww.photito.com
Portrait of a Palestinian Muslim woman.
Jerusalem, Israel, 2012.IsraelPalestinemiddle eastJerusalemPhotito travelphotitotraveltravel photographydocumentary photographyspencerphotographyculturewww.photito.com
Women of the Israeli Defence Force make there way into the old walled city of Jerusalem to start there shift keeping the peace between the differant religious groups.
Jerusalem, Israel, 2012.IsraelPalestinemiddle eastJerusalemsoldierswoman soldierIDFIsraeli defence forcePhotito travelphotitotraveltravel photographydocumentary photographyspencerphotographyculturewww.photito.com
Portrait of a muslim man.
Jerusalem, Israel, 2012.IsraelPalestinemiddle eastJerusalemPhotito travelphotitotraveltravel photographydocumentary photographyspencerphotographyculturewww.photito.com
Jewish boys dressed up for the Purim celebrations.
Jerusalem, Israel, 2012.IsraelPalestinemiddle eastJerusalemPhotito travelphotitotraveltravel photographydocumentary photographyspencerphotographyculturewww.photito.com
Muslim girl walks to school in the Arab Quarter.
Jerusalem, Israel, 2012.IsraelPalestinemiddle eastJerusalemPhotito travelphotitotraveltravel photographydocumentary photographyspencerphotographyculturewww.photito.com
A polish man takes a mud bath in the dead sea.
The natural black mud is a mixture of many Dead Sea salts and minerals, rich in magnesium, natural tar (bitumen), and the silicates (silicon compounds), the organic elements from the shoreline all blended with earth. It is the silicates that have the effect of a mask to the skin and is useful for cleansing and softening the skin resulting in a wonderful glow. Generally, Dead Sea mud on the skin improves and stimulates blood circulation.
Dead Sea, Israel/Palestine, 2012.IsraelPalestinemiddle eastJerusalemDead SeaPhotito travelphotitotraveltravel photographydocumentary photographyspencerphotographyculturewww.photito.com
Painted door in the Arab Quarter.
Jerusalem, Israel, 2012.IsraelPalestinemiddle eastJerusalemPhotito travelphotitotraveltravel photographydocumentary photographyspencerphotographyculturewww.photito.com
Portrait of a Jewish boy.
Mea Shearim, Jerusalem, Israel, 2012.IsraelPalestinemiddle eastJerusalemMea ShearimPhotito travelphotitotraveltravel photographydocumentary photographyspencerphotographyculturewww.photito.com
Door at the entrance to the church of the holy Sepulchre. The site is venerated as Golgotha (the Hill of Calvary), where Jesus was crucified, and is said also to contain the place where Jesus was buried (the Sepulchre). The church has been a paramount and for many Christians the most important pilgrimage destination since at least the 4th century, as the purported site of the resurrection of Jesus.
Jerusalem, Israel, 2012.IsraelPalestinemiddle eastJerusalemPhotito travelphotitotraveltravel photographydocumentary photographyspencerphotographyculturewww.photito.com
Portrait of a young man.
Mea Shearim, Jerusalem, Israel, 2012.IsraelPalestinemiddle eastJerusalemMea ShearimJewJewishPurimPhotito travelphotitotraveltravel photographydocumentary photographyspencerphotographyculturewww.photito.com
Children running along the streets of Mea Shearim.
For more on Mea Shearim please visit the "Meet the people" gallery.
Jerusalem, Israel, 2012.mIsraelPalestinemiddle eastJerusalemMea ShearimPhotito travelphotitotraveltravel photographydocumentary photographyspencerphotographyculturewww.photito.com
Man dressed in fancy dress during the Purim festival prays at the wailing wall.
Jerusalem, Israel, 2012.IsraelPalestinemiddle eastJerusalemPurimwailing wallPhotito travelphotitotraveltravel photographydocumentary photographyspencerphotographyculturewww.photito.com
Unknown by much of the world, monks and nuns of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, have for centuries quietly maintained the only presence by black people in one of Christianity’s holiest sites,the Church of the Holy Sepulchre of Jesus Christ in Jerusalem.
Through the vagaries and vicissitudes of millennial history and landlord changes in Jerusalem and the Middle East region, Ethiopian monks have retained their monastic convent in what has come to be known as Deir Sultan or the Monastery of the Sultan for more than a thousand years.
Nune at the monastery of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, Israel, 2012.IsraelPalestinemiddle eastJerusalemPhotito travelphotitotraveltravel photographydocumentary photographyspencerphotographyculturewww.photito.com
Jewish man turned muslim.
Jerusalem, Israel, 2012.IsraelPalestinemiddle eastJerusalemPhotito travelphotitotraveltravel photographydocumentary photographyspencerphotographyculturewww.photito.com
Jewish boy during the purim celebrations.
For more on Purim please visit "the people of Mea Shaerim" under the "meet the people" gallery.
Mea Shearim, Jerusalem, Israel, 2012.IsraelPalestinemiddle eastJerusalemPurimMea ShearimJewJewishPhotito travelphotitotraveltravel photographydocumentary photographyspencerphotographyculturewww.photito.com
Haredim walking along the streets of Mea Shearim.
For more on Mea Shearim please visit "the people of Mea Shaerim" under the "meet the people" gallery.
Mea Shearim, Jerusalem, Israel, 2012.IsraelPalestinemiddle eastJerusalemHaredimMea ShearimJewJewishharediPhotito travelphotitotraveltravel photographydocumentary photographyspencerphotographyculturewww.photito.com
One of the magical moments in Jerusalem is watching the sunset whilst listening to the distant voices of prayer coming from the wailing wall. Minuites later the call for prayer coming from the many mosques around the city fill the air. Soon after the church bells make the final call to there devouts before the city is shrowded by darkness.
Jerusalem, Israel, 2012.IsraelPalestinemiddle eastJerusalemtemple mountAlAqsa MosquealMasjid alAqṣāPhotito travelphotitotraveltravel photographydocumentary photographyspencerphotographyculturewww.photito.com
Soldiers of the IDF on security duties in the Muslim quarter protecting the Jews as they make there way to the wailing wall.
Jerusalem, Israel, 2012.IsraelPalestinemiddle eastJerusalemIDFsoldierisraeli soldierisraeli defence forcejewjewishharediPhotito travelphotitotraveltravel photographydocumentary photographyspencerphotographyculturewww.photito.com
Man praying at the wailing wall.
Jerusalem, Israel, 2012.IsraelPalestinemiddle eastJerusalemwailing wallJewJewishPrayingPhotito travelphotitotraveltravel photographydocumentary photographyspencerphotographyculturewww.photito.com
During the Crusades the Dome of the Rock was given to the Augustinians, who turned it into a church while the Al-Aqsa Mosque became a royal stable. The Knights Templar, who believed the Dome of the Rock was the site of the Temple of Solomon, later set up their headquarters in the Al-Aqsa Mosque adjacent to the Dome for much of the 12th century. The "Templum Domini", as they called it, was featured on the official seals of the Order's Grand Masters, and it became the architectural model for Templar churches across Europe.
IsraelPalestinemiddle eastJerusalemwailing wallDome of the RockPhotito travelphotitotraveltravel photographydocumentary photographyspencerphotographyculturewww.photito.com
