Israel: December 2019 - January 2020
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We began our journey on December 27 along with 47 other travelers, including our trip leaders Lisa and Carl Toney. After two flights we arrived in Tel Aviv the following evening, met our guide Heidi, transferred our luggage and ourselves to our bus, and drove to the West Lagoon Resort in Netanya. We were up early the next day, ready to head to our first destination.
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December 29: Our first stop was Caesarea (also called Caesarea Maritima). A seaport city on the Mediterranean coast, Caesarea was built by Herod the Great, beginning in 22 BCE, who named it after his patron, the Roman emperor Caesar Augustus. Herod built the first quay-based port of its kind in the Middle East, submerging platforms made of volcanic rock onto the seabed. He built storerooms, markets, baths, temples and a palace on a promontory jutting out into the sea.
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Caesarea, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, was the largest city in ancient Israel, with upwards of 100,000 residents at its height. In this city, the apostle Paul was imprisoned for two years and preached to the last of the Herods, King Agrippa II, who said that if he were to listen any longer to Paul's persuasion he might become a Christian (Acts 23).
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Megiddo is known for its historical, geographical and theological importance, especially under its Greek name Armageddon. Trails connect remnants from more than 25 historical periods from 4000 BCE to 400 BCE. Among the excavations are the 8th century BCE stables and horse troughs believed to be Solomon's stables, and the 9th century BCE water system. We descended 183 stairs to a 100 ft. deep shaft and a 230 ft. long tunnel hiding the city's water source from invading forces.
December 30: The Mount of Beatitudes is believed to be the setting for Jesus' most famous discourse: the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:1-10). The eight sides of the octagonal Church of the Beatitudes represent the eight beatitudes.
Nazareth is most well known for being the childhood home of Jesus and the place where Mary received the message that she would give birth to Jesus (Luke 1:26). The Church of the Annunciation, the largest Christian church in the Middle East, was built in 1969 over ruins believed to be those of Mary's home and over remnants of earlier Byzantine and Crusader churches.
In 1986 during a drought, Moshe and Yuval Lufan, brothers and fishermen, discovered the Ancient Galilee Boat buried in mud near the shore of the Sea of Galilee. Ever since the boat, called the "Jesus Boat", was positively dated to the first century BCE, people have pondered whether it could have been the same vessel in which Jesus sailed the Sea of Galilee.
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We visited the sites of the ancient cities of Chorazin and Capernaum. The remains of an elaborate synagogue, constructed of local black basalt stone, are a striking feature of the ruins of Chorazin.
Jesus made Capernaum his home during the years of His ministry and it was the scene of many of His miracles. The reconstructed synagogue is believed to have been built on the foundations of the synagogue in which Jesus taught.
What do you have for lunch when you're at the Sea of Galilee? Fish, of course! Of the 27 species of fish in the Sea of Galilee, the best known is nicknamed St. Peter's Fish. The name refers to the story where Jesus instructs Peter to go to the sea, cast a hook, take the first fish he caught and pay the temple tax with the coin found in its mouth (Matthew 17:24-27).
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We stopped to see the ancient city of Magdala and then crossed into the West Bank to visit Jericho, considered to be the world's oldest continuously inhabited city. The remains of 20 successive settlements have been unearthed, dating back 11,000 years. Our last stop of the day was the Ein Gedi Kibbutz Hotel.
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January 1: Today our sunrise was over the Dead Sea. We rode the cable car to visit Masada, an ancient fortress situated on top of a massive plateau. A UNESCO World Heritage Site, Masada stands as a symbol of Jewish courage and freedom. In the year 73 CE, following the fall of Jerusalem two years before, the Romans besieged Masada and succeeded in reaching the steep fortress after constructing a huge earthen ramp on its western side. The 960 Jewish zealots living at the top chose self-inflicted death rather than to fall into the hands of the Romans.
A hike through Ein Gedi Nature Reserve led us to David's Waterfall, the place where David, in his exile, encountered King Saul (1 Samuel 24). Next we visited Qumran Archaeology Park to see the caves where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found. In 1947 a young Bedouin shepherd discovered a clay jar containing 7 scrolls in a cave near Qumran. Further exploration uncovered a total of 972 texts in 12 caves, including the oldest known existing copy of the Old Testament. The scrolls are now housed in the Shrine of the Book at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem.
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Before our drive into Jerusalem we had an opportunity to take a dip in the salty Dead Sea. The surface and shores are about 1,400 ft. below sea level, making it Earth's lowest elevation on land. We were thrilled when we caught our first views of Jerusalem! Located just inside the Jaffa Gate in the Christian Quarter of the old city, the Gloria Hotel was our Jerusalem home for four nights. We were within walking distance of all the major sites and enjoyed great views of the city walls.
January 2: We toured the Western Wall Tunnels, walking along sections that today support streets and buildings in the Muslim Quarter. The biggest stone in the wall is estimated to weigh 570 tons. One of the most significant places to visit is the part of the Western Wall traditionally considered closest to where the Holy of Holies used to be on the Temple Mount. After 12 years of structural support, construction, and archeology work, a small synagogue opened in this location in 2017. On the right is the Golden Gate (also known as the Eastern Gate or Gate of Mercy). It is said that Jesus entered this gate on Palm Sunday and that He made his last entry to Jerusalem here.
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The Temple Mount is a holy site within the Old City for Jewish, Christian and Muslim people. Jerusalem's iconic symbol is the gleaming Dome of the Rock, whose golden roof has dominated the Temple Mount for centuries. Built atop the earlier location of the Temple, the Dome of the Rock was erected by the Muslim ruler Abd el-Malik in 688-691 CE. For most of the 12th century, when the Crusaders controlled Jerusalem, the Dome of the Rock was actually a Christian church.
Time for a break, a chance to enjoy some Turkish coffee and explore the variety of merchant stalls in the Old City.
The Western Wall is the holiest place in the world for the Jewish people. King Herod built the Western Wall in 20 BCE during an expansion of the Second Temple. When the Romans destroyed the Temple in 70 CE, the support wall survived. It is the place where Jews through the ages have expressed their grief over the destruction of the Temple, their anguish giving the wall another name: the Wailing Wall. The wall and the plaza in front of it form a permanent place of worship, a site of pilgrimage for Jews and a focus of prayer, often with petitions written down and placed between the huge stones. The prayer area in front of the wall is divided into separate sections for men and women.
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January 3: We crossed into Palestine to visit Bethlehem but our first destination was Herodium, the site of King Herod's mountain fortress and palace. Constructed in 23 BCE over a small natural hill, it was an impressive seven-story structure. Nearby springs were channeled to supply water to the Herodium's aqueduct system, water the gardens and bring water to an artificial pool. Four watchtowers provided views of the Judean desert, the Dead Sea, and the mountains of Moab. Herod also had a royal tomb built for himself. After climbing to the top, we returned by way of the underground tunnels.
Today the Church is jointly regulated by three Christian denominations: the Armenian Church, the Roman Catholic Church and the Greek Orthodox Church. Each has control over different parts of the Church. The main basilica is entered through a very low door called the Door of Humility. The church's interior features medieval golden mosaics that once covered the side walls and 44 red limestone columns adorned with paintings of saints. Stairways on either side of the chancel lead down to the Grotto of the Nativity. The spot where Jesus is said to have been born is marked by a 14-point silver star.
We stopped at the Mount of Olives for this view of the Dome of the Rock.
The Garden of Gethsemane is named as the place where Jesus prayed the night before He was crucified (Matthew 26:36). Beside the garden is the Church of All Nations, also called The Basilica of the Agony, built in 1924.
January 4: We visited the Israel Museum to view the impressive Second Temple Jerusalem Model as the city looked in 66 CE. Adjacent is the Shrine of the Book where the Dead Sea Scrolls are housed. The building's white dome is shaped to resemble the lids of the jars where the first scrolls were found at Qumran.
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The Pools of Bethesda are where Jesus healed a paralyzed man (John 5:2-9). Since it is below ground level, the only access to the pools is by a stairway. Discovered in 1956, there are two sizable rectangular reservoirs to collect rainwater, with four colonnaded porticos around the sides and one opposite it, confirming John's account of five colonnades.
We began our walk along the Via Dolorosa, the route established by tradition that Jesus took on His way to the cross.
The 14 Stations of the Cross are points along the way commemorating events that occurred during Jesus' crucifixion and burial. While scholars disagree on the path Jesus took on Good Friday, processions in the 4th and 5th centuries followed more or less the route taken by modern pilgrims. Today's Via Dolorosa was established in the 18th century.
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The Church of the Holy Sepulcher is built on the traditional site of Jesus' crucifixion and burial. The Garden Tomb, unearthed in 1867, is considered by many scholars to be the site of Jesus' burial and resurrection. We gathered in the garden in the evening for worship and communion. Whether it is the actual tomb or not, we can commemorate the risen Christ.
We celebrated with a farewell dinner at the Ambassador Hotel. We feasted on makloubeh, a traditional Palestinian dish consisting of meat, rice and vegetables placed in a pot, which was then dramatically flipped upside down before serving.
We have traveled to many places in the world and each time came back broadened by our experiences, but Israel was different. This trip did not just broaden us but it changed us. We knew we'd be learning new and interesting things about the history and culture, but didn't expect to glean new insights about ourselves. We knew we'd be walking where Jesus walked, but didn't expect to experience Him so vividly. We were looking forward to seeing places known to us from Bible accounts, but we didn't expect Israel to feel so familiar. The quote: "Israel is already home to every child of God" rings true. Certainly God met us there in profound ways and the best part is that He is with us wherever we are; we have a renewed gratitude for this fact. So blessed to have traveled to Israel...we will never be the same!
Shalom. |
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