Tiberias

Young people having fun in Tiberias.

Irene asked if she could take a picture, and they readily agreed.

Rocks on graves.

Each rock is a representation of how we will build on the foundation of what this person stood for. In the west we place flowers on graves; Jews place rocks on graves.

Lights were burning at the ancient graveyard of Tiberias.

Gai Beach Hotel

The hotel looked like a resort.

Fireworks over the lake

First Sight

Our first glimpse of the Sea of Galilee

Megiddo

Megiddo, a tell with 26 layers of civilizations. More battles have been fought over Megiddo than anywhere else in the world.

This is the biblical Armageddon (har-Megiddo) where the final battle will be fought.

They definitely know about battles in Megiddo

Megiddo was fortified by King Salomon. It was a chariot city, with a 6 chamber gate.

The people from Megiddo prepared for siege by collecting grain in a huge silo.

Built on top of Megiddo is a former "high place" from the Canaanite period. Here you can see the round altar.

Another way the people prepared for a siege was to protect their water source. It was outside the city walls, and the people had to dig a tunnel through bedrock and made the water available inside the city.

It was 187 steps down - quite far!

A 25 meter shaft.

The tunnel was 75 meters long, with the water source being at the very end.

The spring. The water used to be higher, but the need for water is so high in the modern-day city of Megiddo that the water is now quite low.

There was a green frog in the spring :)

On the way

This first century grave was found when they built the road.

It was "found" by a bulldozer - not a usual archaeological tool.

Druze village

We went to a Druze village for lunch. It was on mount Carmel.

A palm tree full of dates

For lunch we had falafel, olives, a spicey mix of peppers and parsley, and humus on pita bread

Druze women

The Druze men had strange hats on their heads

Mount Carmel

Mount Carmel comes up quite suddenly

The cows on the mountain were in need of shade.

The Yizrael valley - a very fertile and strategic place.

That may be why the contest between the Prophets of Baal and Elijah (his name meaning "the Lord is God") took place at this mountain ridge.

Caesarea aquaduct

This aquaduct was made by the 10th Roman legion . This was the same legion that went to Masada in the year 72 CE.

Josh climbed on top to take a picture.

This is where the water would have run.

Caesarea

Ceasarea is a big site. Here, we are outside the back of the theater.


This statue must have been huge.

[to get an idea of the scale look at the previous picture]

When you enter the theater through the rear you can see the Mediterranean sea.

We came into the theater at the second ring level.

Faith Lesson:
Our faith lesson was about the flesh-eater, or sarcophagus. These were used in the Hellenistic culture. First, a body was put in one of these; after the flesh was gone the bones were put into an ossuary. This was a called a "double burial".
When Jesus said "let the dead bury the dead". He was speaking out against the Hellenistic culture.



The translation of the stone seen above.
"Pontius Pilatus, the prefect of Judea, erected a building dedicated to the emperor Tiberius."
Pontius Pilate was a real person.

The remains of Herod the Great's glorious palace. The apostle Paul was imprisoned here.

The palace is to the left of this picture, the arena to the right, and the crusader city in front of you on the other side of the harbour.

The arena used for gladiator games. They think it was originally supposed to be for races, but it was too small. The larger arena was in a different place.

There is still much to be excavated yet in Caesarea.

On the way out we passed the crusader city. The crusaders came to "liberate the Holy land". Instead, they left a path of destruction. It is a black page in our history.

Here you see the dry moat around the city. It is very European to make a moat even though this is a dry climate.

Jaffa

Joppa or Jaffa (the old part of Tel Aviv) is the town where Jonah set off for his trip to Tarsus and was swallowed by a big fish. [Picture from Josh]


Behind this building you can see the edge of the harbour of Joppa. The apostle Peter spent some time in Joppa, at the house of Simon the tanner.


Olga in Joppa in front of a beautiful view of Tel Aviv.

Day 3 starts at the beach

We got up at 5.30 and walked to the beach of Tel Aviv. A lot of embassies and foreign journalists live in Tel Aviv. It was quiet at the beach, and the water was really nice.


Most hotels look a little strange in Tel Aviv because the top floors are often used by the military.
Josh took this picture with the airplane flying close by.

These flowers smelled wonderful.