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Time Capsule Exerpt Jerusalem, Judaea, April 70AD "Watch out, Rachel!" came a cry to my left. I looked quickly in that direction but was a second too late to escape. Alexander was on me before I could move. "Tag, you're it!" he announced with a happy glee before running off. I surveyed the group of kids now trying their best to run away from me. My good friend, Megan, was on my right but I didn't really want to go after her. With her bad right leg, she made an easy target. Not much fun in that. I looked around some more before settling on a boy of about 14. Peter was running as fast as he could up the embankment but the steep slope was slowing him down. I started after him and caught him within a minute or two.

"Rachel, you're fast!" he said as he stopped to catch his breath. We were together on the top of the hill now and looked down at the scene around us. The high stone walls of our city, Jerusalem, were visible in the distance, no more than a ten minute sprint away. At least for me, anyway. Small stone houses, both old and new, dotted the surrounding hills and valleys, peppered with trees and bushes of varying sorts. Desert sands dominated the outlying areas. It had been home for my whole life. Thirteen years worth. The sky was clear and the springtime sun was already hot, even though it was still mid-morning. Not as hot as the summer months bring, but hot enough for most. I saw the rest of the small group, five in all, assemble around the bottom of the hill, looking expectantly at me. "Maybe we ought to take a break", I suggested. "The sun is getting too hot right now." "Ok", said 12 year old Abigail. The rest nodded in wordless agreement. Peter started down the hill first. I looked once more out across the land of my home, and noticed something I had missed before. A cloud of dust was rising from the north. Riders on horseback. Someone was coming. It was probably nothing to be alarmed about. People come and go through Jerusalem all the time, using it for a marketplace, a house of worship, and for local governance. The odd part was the speed of the riders. To be kicking up that much dust meant only one thing � they were riding hard and fast. Not your typical traveler, especially in this intense heat. I pointed out across the desert towards the distant cloud of dust and mentioned it to my friends. But at this point, they were already heading towards the gates and waved off my questions. Following behind them, I decided to keep it to myself. For now at least. But the feeling of unease refused to go away. We passed through the guarded gates of the city, and entered the newest quarter, Bezetha. Immediately the noise level increased as we made our way through the mass of people. Normally this part of the city was pretty quiet and uncongested, but the start of the Passover celebrations had also brought with it people traveling on holy pilgrimages. Living in makeshift tents in this part of the city, they came from all over the land to worship at the Second Temple, the spiritual center of the Jewish faith. The Passover celebrations were the most sacred of all holy days, as they symbolized the freedom of the Jews from captivity in Egypt centuries before. It was a very special time for all of us. As we passed through Bezetha, we could see larger stone buildings and city streets teeming with life of many kinds. People and animals living together, creating their own working harmony. We could see the inner walls looming ahead, separating us from the New Town district. Passing through these gates, we would be in the physical center of the city, with Bezetha to the north and west of it, and the impressive temple and the huge towering castle of Antonia to the east. The large palace, which was build by King Herod many years back, can be seen to the west, and the Old Town district is directly south. Each of these locations were surrounded by high inner walls to match the stoutness of the protective outer walls. Gates were built into each wall to allow access back and forth between the districts. Looking up at the inner wall, I remembered stories my father once told me. Jerusalem was the center of the Jewish faith and had been fought over for centuries. These inner walls served as a backup defensive barrier as well as constant reminder of our violent past. "Rachel, are you coming?" Deborah asked. I was startled for a moment. The rest of my friends, Alexander, Peter, Deborah, and Abigail, were already through the gate! I must have been daydreaming again. I hurried after them. The well we were looking for was in the Old Town district where we lived. After we passed through those gates, we ran down six blocks of two-story stone buildings and private courtyards, past several groups of children playing, and finally to the central square. This was a marketplace of sorts, where people came to buy and sell almost anything. There was also a large well which several women were gathering around. The well was surrounded by stone tile in a circular pattern, with a tripod of three long wooden poles centered over a deep hole in the ground. A wooden bucket was tied at the joint where the poles come together, and could be lowered and raised by hand. As we approached, one of the women, recently married to my brother Jacob, looked in our direction. "Hi Rachel! Hi everyone!" she said with a grin on her face. "You look tired. And hot." She turned around and dropped the bucket down the hole and quickly filled it with fresh cool water from underground springs. As she brought it back up, I made a decision.