Day 6—we took off from Aqaba to the Dead Sea by a circuitous route. The crossing into Israel demanded a change in buses. Our first stop was at the southern copper mines, with the pillars of Solomon. They had a mockup of the wilderness tabernacle here. We then traveled northeast to several very large craters south of the Negev. I was fairly overwhelmed by the irregularity of the landscape. I have no idea how Moses with a million plus people could have made it through. We stopped at the grave of Ben-Gurion,and was able to overlook the valley of Zin, where Moses sent out the spies to the land of Canaan. Finally, we made it to Dead Sea just as the sun was going down.
Temple mock-upOverview of tabernacle
Wilderness of Zin
Day 7—An early rise and breakfast was followed by travel along the west coast of the Dead Sea. First, we stopped at the Masada, where in AD73 a group of Jewish zealots were finally brought to an end by the Romans building a massive siege ramp up to the fortress. This was followed by a hike up En-Gedi, where David encountered Saul in a cave. We stopped at Qumram, the site of discovery of the Dea Sea scrolls. Finally, there was a stop at the archeological dig at Jericho, where one could see the fallen walls of the old city. By then, nightfall had hit, and we drove up in darkness to Tiberius on the Sea of Galilee for our hotel.
Cable car to the top of the MasadaThe cliffs off the top of the Masada, overlooking the Dead Sea
The Springs of en-Gedi
Rock Coney, at En-gedi
Jericho ruins
Day 8— This was a busy day. It had started raining, so that everything was quite muddy. We started out by going to the top of Arbel, a peak with a very steep cliff, and a similar adjoining mountain with a narrow canyon between. It is in this canyon that the road from Nazareth to the Sea of Galilee runs. We then went to Yardinit, where they have a commercial production of getting baptised or re-baptised. I was a bit astonished to find that Betsy and I were the only people in our group that said no to this. It is like suggesting to get re-circumcised. It cheapens baptism to a simple show or action that we do. Anyway, from there, we traveled to the town (excavation mostly) was Magda, which used to be one of the larger cities on the Sea of Galilee and from where Mary Magdalene came. Traveling north, we saw a boat which had been discovered in the mud of the sea of Galilee, and showed what a typical fishing boat it Jesus’ time looked like. We went out a short ways on the sea in a wooden boat, a form of crass commercialism that they called the Jesus-boat. We went up to the mount of the beatitudes, and, first avoiding the “church” the Papists built in the 1930s, but rather sat on the slope where Jesus probably gave his sermon. It was interesting that the stony ground of basalt amplified the voice in that area so that one could speak to a large crowd and be heard. Going inside the church was a small comedy that was more an idol to the Papists than a reverential area. We last went to Caperneum on the north side of the sea of Galilee, to see the synagogue where Jesus taught, and to see the alleged house of Peter. The Papists built a giant flying saucer over the home to protect it, which they also called a church. Back to our hotel in Tiberius, we were a little exhausted, enduring many crowds and a constant rain.
On top of Arbel, overlooking the Sea of Galilee
Tree and beautiful Frau on summit of Arbel
It rained all day, leaving a very wet John
Drei Engeln am Jordan Ufer
Schöne Frau am Jordan Ufer
On the Sea of Galilee looking back at Capernaum and Arbel
Slope where Jesus probably taught the sermon on the Mount
Unmasked caped crusaders at the Beatitudes mount church
Day 9— And yet another very busy day. I hope I can remember everywhere we went! We started by heading north of Tiberias into the Hula valley. On the right, you could see the hills of Naphthali, which border Lebanon. We visited the archaeological dig at Dan, seeing mostly Old Testament history, notably the high place that Jeroboam created. From there, we headed up into the Golan Heights, stopping at Castle Nimrod, a Crusader era Castle built by the Muslims, and fortress on the Damascus Road. We skirted the side of Mt. Hermon, stopping at a Nature Preserve of one of the three sources of the Jordan River. We drove up to the top of Mt. Bental, where we were able to look onto Syria. There had been some Syrian fire toward Israel yesterday, and as we left the mountain, we saw two attack helicopters flying over us, only to learn later that there was more fire toward Israel, and that Israel launched a retaliatory return fire. We visited a partially restored Talmudic house from the time of Christ, and then an olive oil factory. Lastly, we stopped by the ruins of Bethsaida, home of Philip and Andrew, and probably where Jesus performed the miracle of the feeding of the 5000.
In the area of Dan, at one of the three sources for the Jordan River
The high place at Dan, built by Jeroboam. The metal frame attempts a reconstruction of the possible form of the high place.
The entrance of the ancient Canaanite city of Dan. Abraham probably walked through this portal.
Schlomo on Mount Bental overlooking Syria
Day 10— It was sad leaving the peaceful serenity of the Sea of Galilee. We drove through the town of Cana, which is now a fairly large town, and skirted Nazareth, an even larger town. We did not go into Nazareth itself, since nothing there resembled what might have been found in Jesus time. Instead, we went to the precipice outside of town, a very steep cliff that drops off into the Jezreel valley. It gave a great view of Mt. Tabor, Mt. Gilboa, and the whole Jezreel plain. You could also see where the town tried to through Jesus off the cliff. We ventured from there to the Archaeological digs at Mediggo, having both Canaanite as well as Solomonic and post-Solomonic findings. The next stop was the top of Mt. Carmel, where Elijah challenged the prophets of Baal. Traveling down the coast in the plain of Sharon, we arrived in Caesarea, a town with harbor. Built by Herod, and visited often by Paul, but also where Peter met Cornelius. We arrived by nightfall in Jerusalem, where we took a walk that evening into the old city, and visited the wailing wall. We wailed.
Mount Tabor and the Jezreel Valley from the precipice
Jezreel valley looking back to Nazareth from Mt. Carmel
Remains of seaport at Caesarea
Mediterranean Sea from Caesarea
Aqueduct which brought water to the city of Caesarea
Continued in Part 3…
