View allAll Photos Tagged MiddleEast
Reference: APAAME_20160919_DLK-0279.jpg
Photographer: David Leslie Kennedy
Credit: Aerial Photographic Archive for Archaeology in the Middle East
Copyright: Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommerical-No Derivative Works
Many days in a row we started our days with this. Olives, bread, raw veges, Hummus
made from egg-plants, yoghurt, home-made cheese etc etc. Ah we miss the roti canai
Mea Shearim was established in 1874 as the second settlement outside the walls of the Old City by a building society of 100 shareholders. Pooling their resources, the society members purchased a tract of land outside the Old City, which was severely overcrowded and plagued by poor sanitation, and built a new neighborhood with the goal of improving their standards of living.
Conrad Schick, a German Christian architect and missionary, drew up a plan for Mea Shearim in 1846. Joseph Rivlin, one of the heads of the Jewish community in Jerusalem, and a Christian Arab from Bethlehem were the contractors. The work was carried out by both Jewish and non-Jewish workers.
The quarter was surrounded by a wall, with gates that were locked every evening. By October 1880, 100 apartments were ready for occupancy and a lottery was held to assign them to families. By the turn of the century, there were 300 houses, a flour mill and a bakery.
Conrad Schick planned for open green space in each courtyard, but cowsheds were built instead. Mea Shearim was the first quarter in Jerusalem to have street lights.