Wednesday was the first day of our extended trip to the Biblical Negev. We started off with a stop in the hills of Sataf, or Zobah (the biblical name), where we discussed living conditions back in the day.)
The view from the top. You can see the ruins of the Roman village there on the hill.
We went down and explored the ruins.
Farmers still grow crops on the hillside terraces.
We also hiked down to the spring. The hike back up almost made me think it wasn't worth it. =/
In 1 Samuel 6:10-20, the ark of the covenant makes a stop at Beth-shemesh. This is also the setting for the story of Samson.
In a field similar to these, Samson lit some fox tails on fire and let them run through the Philistine's fields after they betrayed him in matters concerning his first wife. In doing so, he effectively ruined them for the year.
And from there, we proceeded on to Azekah, where we could overlook the the Valley of Elah, where the famed battled between David and Goliath took place.
Todd, the leader of the Western Seminary group, sharing with us a short message (under the BLAZING sun) about David and Goliath
The confrontation likely took place in the valley beyond the front ridge in this picture (the yellow-ish patch in the top left hand corner) or bit further beyond. The significance of the story is not so much that little guys can do big things, too (despite what VeggieTales says). Rather, the Philistines were comfortable in their own land. The land of the Israelites did not provide much by way of resources. However, if the Philistines could take this valley on the border, they would have access to Gibeah (the capital) and Hebron (the jackpot of resources in the Judean hills), which would keep the Israelites disorganized and on their side of the valleys.
This man's a trooper, participating in just about all the hikes with the rest of us.
This is an example of the Israeli mindset about security. Here, a class of elementary school children are on a field trip, and their chaperone stands over them with a semi-automatic rifle.
Our final stop for the day was the important city of Lachish, which was apparently the most important city in Israel, second only to Jerusalem. It's gate was one of the most impressive of its day, being a six-chambered gate instead of just four-chambered. Honestly, by the time we got here, I was so tuckered out from all the hiking and the hot, hot sun, I didn't pay too much attention to the site. Nevertheless, we still had fun--as always:
Our cool pose for the day =P
A lush vineyard below us
A very pretty butterfly in the thistles
Day 1 down of the Biblical Negev trip: two more to go. Will we make it? Suuuure, we always do. ;)
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