Entering Galilee

First day out in Galilee--and goodness, was it BLAZING hot! Our first stop was at Beth-She’an, where we oriented ourselves to some of the mountains in the region, saw the ruins of an Egyptian governor’s home, as well as the fantastic ruins of the Roman city of Schytopolis.

Canaanite art—or rather, a copy of a discovered piece. It’s actually made of Styrofoam. =/

The tree featured in the movie, “Jesus Christ, Superstar.”

Schytopolis

Me and Schytopolis

Schytopolis and an earthquake—no, really, I’m not kidding.

I’ve got my reading material for the ancient Roman public toilets.

Sometimes we struggle with the smiling.

There, that’s better!

A Roman sauna. They would place a floorboard over those stumps, and heat water underneath so the steam could rise.

Next, we went to Megiddo, the city most well known probably for its mention in the End Days of Revelation 16. But more than just for its apocalyptic significance, it was an important historical city as well, because it was the most direct route in the region. Therefore, possession was greatly contested by the kings of the surrounding nations.

It takes four Israelis and a machine to set one stone. And how long did it take them to build the wall of Jerusalem?

I think these are the first cows I've seen in Israel.

It was a sad day when I had to tell Jon he finally outgrew his beloved crib.

Aubrey told us she had a surprise for us on the way to our next stop. We were all hoping it was ice cream. Instead, it was this tomb.

At Mt. Carmel, we listened again to the profound story of Elijah vs. Jezebel's prophets of Baal.

For our last field study stop of the day, we stopped at a mountain peak right out outside of traditional Nazareth.

Mt. Moreh in the distance

The black domed church in the middle of the picture marks the traditional site of ancient Nazareth.

Looking across the valley at Mt. Tabor

Aubrey's husband, Vernon

I think they were doing a live broadcast to their church or something...

Standing on the ledge of the mountain where it is believed Luke 4:28-30 occurred. The Jews wanted to stone Jesus by throwing him off the cliff and dropping stones on him, but according to the biblical account, he just walked right through them. Tradition says that Jesus jumped off the cliff; therefore, they call the it the Leaping Mountain.

After the long day, we took a walk down to the Sea of Galilee, where it was surprisingly quite the bumpin’ boardwalk. Haha. We’ll have fun here, but first we have to survive the hot, hot days!

Marketplace Enculturation

After an exhausting three days of hiking through the wilderness, we all were looking forward to a free day to catch up on reflection papers (or blog posts, for me) and rest. But, of course, being a member of Pat Blewett’s team, there is no such thing as boredom on a day off. So, out we went to the Garden tomb, the location a man named Gordon thought was Golgotha (where Christ was crucified and buried). It turns out he was mistaken, but the site has been nicely preserved to resemble more what Calvary would have looked like at the time, instead of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre (which is more likely the accurate spot).

The Hill of the Skull

The most apt description in the place

Dr. Blewett: faithfully orange. =P

Beth Moore was speaking at the Garden!

I also finally got some pictures from the market that we’re always walking through:

A garbage tractor

Some crazy drink vendor—I’m not really sure what it is.

Shops right inside the Damascus gate (the Arab side)

Pickled cauliflower?

My favorite: GUMMIES!!!

A spice tower—crazy huh?

"Hallo, Madam! Where are you from? Let's make a deal."

Baklava and other desserts in funny lighting

And, I’m not sure what that is actually, but it looks good.

You have to be fast when taking pictures in the market; otherwise, you just get shoved along in the flow of traffic. But these are just a few examples of typical market scenes that we pass by when we're in Jerusalem.

The Dead Sea and It's Scrolls

Thank goodness the haze cleared out for the final day of our Negev field study. We stopped first at Masada, a very interesting mountain with a lot of history behind it. Herod built a palace up on Masada as a secure fortification in the event a retreat was necessary. Although it was so secluded, he managed to build such an effective aqueduct system they were able to fill a swimming pool! So whereas the besieging armies had to hike through the desert to the springs of En-gedi for water, Herod's soldiers were splashing in the pool on the mountaintop.

Later, Josephus, the historian, records that the Romans were so frustrated with Israelite rebellion, they decided that no matter what, they would take Masada. Rather than submit to Roman rule the Israelites finally decided to destroy their storehouses and commit mass suicide. Whether or not this account is true is debated, but it's a dramatic and powerful story nonetheless. So much so, the Israeli military used to march their recruits up Masada in full battle gear in order to receive their issued Bibles at the top and swear in, "Never again." Never again would Israelis need to commit suicide in order to avoid foreign rule. However, recently the military has stopped doing this, because they've realized that it's the Israelites who suffered through exile and foreign rule who continued on the Jewish line. Glorifying suicide is not congruent with Jewish theology, so the military has since ceased swearing in their recruits at Masada. However, the site remains very significant to Jewish history.

The "War Machine"...bwahahaha!

Hiking to the top of Masada

I missed breakfast that morning, so I popped some BBQ Pringles instead. =P

CIU power team

Pillars from Herod's palace on Masada

These birds were everywhere--and everywhere around us after Stewie decided to feed them some Pringles.

A rabbinic classroom

Stewie didn't need a classroom to preach Paul's sermon on Mars' Hill.

A visitor doing his prayers on top of Masada

The white trail is the "Snake Path" we took down the mountain. Going downhill has never been so difficult. No wonder Herod only ever came to his palace on Masada twice.

And at this point of the trip, we start taking self-portraits...

...and being silly or looking creeper. =P

But not to worry, because the the next stop was water! The Dead Sea has the highest salt content in the world and is also the lowest point in elevation on the entire earth. Apparently, it is shrinking rapidly everyday, though.

You really do float in the Dead Sea.

And be careful you get NONE of it in you because it will buuuuurn!

I made it my mission to find some Dead Sea mud, and with the help of Jon and some locals, I succeeded in plastering my body with mud! (Don't worry, Mom. It's supposed to be really good for your skin because it's very rich in minerals.)

From the saltiest water on earth we went to some of the most refreshing, cool spring water at En-Gedi. This is the place where David cut the corner off of Saul's robe while Saul was, uhh, "relieving himself." haha.

The water levels were lower than usual.

But it still made for an AMAZING swim.

On our hike back, I managed to catch a rock badger mid-air. =D

...I wonder, if you put a rock badger and an ibek on a cliff, who would have better footing?

Finally, we concluded the Biblical Negev study with a visit to Qumran, the site where they discovered the famed Dead Sea scrolls.

A mimosa tree...possibly?

The cave where they found the first set of scrolls. It's also called "The Library."

The Dead Sea and Jordan Plateau behind me

Yay! Jon's little finger-man climbed the rock!

And from there, it was back to Jerusalem for hot showers, delicious dinners, and wonderful beds for our sleepy heads...