Israel Trip: Days 1 and 2

So, I have to write travel journals each day as part of my class for the trip to Israel, so I am going to try to post those along with a few pictures every day or so for those who care to read.

Since the internet where we are currently staying in Tiberias (Near the Sea of Galilee) is kind of slow, the number of pictures will probably be limited. Once we get to Jerusalem perhaps things will be better. If not, then I will put some up on facebook once I get back.

Jim/Hopps

Day 1

12-March 2010

We left Longview at 1:30AM on Thursday and drove to DFW, we encountered no problems getting on our flight and getting to Newark, NJ. We then had a layover until 4pm before leaving for Tel Aviv. It was interesting, at Newark we had to pass through another special temporary security check point that apparently the Israelis setup for each international flight going into Israel. It wasn't as strict as I thought it might be though, they checked your passport and did an individual bag search and body scan with a metal detecting wand. From getting into Newark to leaving the airport at Tel Aviv we had our passports checked nearly a half dozen times. On the flight to Tel Aviv there quite a number of observant Jews. There was a range from those who just wore a Yarmulke to those wearing the earlocks and tassels. It hadn't occurred to me before, but when it came time to serve dinner the flight attendants had to serve kosher meals as well for the large Jewish population typically on the flight. Early Friday morning many of the more observant Jews got up and put on their prayer shawls and read the Torah while standing and I notice at least one put the little box with the scriptures in it on his head (name?).

Once we landed in Israel we got our bags and passed through surprisingly little customs security, no bag scan, just a passport/visa check. We then got on the bus and headed to Caesarea on the Sea, which is north of Tel Aviv on the Mediterranean coast. While on the way Mishi, our tour guide, gave some basic background. It is important to remember Israel has always been fought over because it is the land bridge between Europe, Asia, and Africa. While one can transit by sea, large scale caravans and troop movements are far more feasible on land.

The Theater at Caeserea Phillipi

Caesarea by the sea was a city built largely by Herod the Great, he made a deep water port, using breakwaters, that competed with the great port of Alexandria for Roman-Far East trade. It became an important city in the Roman empire. It was here that Peter traveled to visit the centurion Cornelius after having a vision that the gospel could, and should, be shared with the gentiles. It was also here that Paul made his defense against charges brought against him in Acts 23ff. This is when Paul requested to be brought before Caesar, this appears to somewhat be Paul taking this opportunity to spread the Gospel to Rome and Caesar. There was a great aquaduct that served it and theater and hippodrome (for horse/chariot races). The Hippodrome is unique in that it sits on the coast with seats on one side, but not the other so that mock sea battles could be seen from the stands. Caesarea was fought over by the Byzantines, Crusaders, and Muslims until being destroyed in the 12^th Century. It remained so until the Turks moved some muslims there from Bosnia at the end of the 19^th century.

The aquaduct that brought water from the Carmel mountains to Caeserea Phillipi

We then visited the Carmelite Monastery. Mt. Carmel is where Elijah and the Baal prophets had a showdown, ending with the Baal prophets all being slaughtered. It is highly likely this is where it happened, near the monastery a natural theater shape in the hills can be seen and it is thought it occurred there. Also a vast plain can be seen stretching along the Carmel mountains to Megiddo and around. This is thought to be where the battle of Armageddon in Revelation will take place. If one controls the high places, such as around Meggido, one can control the battlefield.

View from Mt. Carmel. The showdown was probably in this little valley/natural theater or one directly to the right.

For lunch we stopped at a restaurant in the hills and had falafel. It was delicious, there was table with a lot of different types of vegetable toppings to put on it. We ate outside and relaxed in the shade. It was interesting as we were waiting to go in, there was a cat wondering around, in and out of the restaurant. The bathrooms there were also something to take note of, the mens and womens were kind of combined. On one side were stalls for men, and the other side, stalls for women. There was a common sink area in between, kind of confusing at first.

Finally we went to Nazareth where Mary was met by the archangel to be told of her bearing the baby Jesus. It likely was near the stream of Nazareth.

We then went to our hotel in Tiberias and checked in. It is a nice clean hotel, though the rooms are quite small andit wouldn't be considered a 5 star hotel by any means, but a very nice place to stay and feels less “separated” from the culture. It was rather interesting that there was a guy walking around the front lobby keeping an eye on things with a pistol on his belt. Israel is very modern, and at times it seems rather different from what one usually thinks of, just the old time Bible Israel. But, there is cell phone signal everywhere, modern roads, WiFi, etc. At times it hardly feels like another country, but when I was sitting in my room with the patio door open I could hear voices outside talking, and it definitely wasn't in English, except for the word “ready.” Now to sleep to rest from 50+ hours of not being in a bed.

Day 2

13-March 2010

We started by going to the Golan Heights. We stopped at a place called the Gadot Observation point. It overlooks much of the valley below the Golan heights. Much of the dispute here, as elswhere, is control of water since springs flowing out of the Golan feed the Jordan river, about 30% of Israel's water supply. At this place there is a memorial to the units that were stationed there and those who died. On the flat plaque are many small rocks placed there, this is from the old practice of putting a pile of rocks over a grave to keep wild animals from digging up the bodies, and when one went to visit a grave one would add another rock to the pile, kind of like putting flowers on a grave. It also has bunkers and tank traps remaining from the fighting.

One of the remaining bunkers. There are bunkers and and slit trenches all throughout the N Israel left over form previous conflict, but left in case they are needed again.

Throughout the Golan height area there are still mine fields from the Syrians that haven't been cleared, often for cost reasons, and so they are restricted areas. I thought it was interesting, and I'm not sure why, but there was quite a bit of trash lying around the memorial area. To me, that seems rather disrespectful for such a place. I like the point Mishi made that he wanted people to remember, those people on the plaque at the memorial were real people and freedom and democracy has a price, sometimes a very serious one. From the observation point the Syrian border was a “distant” 2 miles to the north. Mishi sees the solution to the Golans is to give it back to Syria but sign a contract to keep living and farming there for 99 years, that way children grow up not hating each other. Establish good relations with Syria, and at the end of the time either leave or live in Syria as a minority in a friendly country. This seems a rather good solution, sadly most on both sides don't see it that way.

We then went up close to the border and saw a UN compound in the buffer zone area and saw into Syria. We also saw the valley that was the road to Damascus that Saul/Paul had his revelation on. This area has also been used for ancient armies to pass through, it is rather a natural passageway. Nimrod castle was seen going north towards the Lebanon border, it was a castle built by Moslems and used by them and crusaders to defend the area surrounding it and Baneas.

At Baneas(Caeserea Phillipi) was ruins of a place dedicated primarily to the god Pan, but was also used for numerous other gods; Roman, Egyptian, and Greek. One reason for this location was that the Greek mythology was that you had to cross the river Styx to get to Hades upon dying, so the fact this is a spring that feeds the Jordan was for them indicative of a place a dirty could reside. There was a shrine of the sacred goats there as well. The goats in that area stand on their back legs to eat the bottoms of trees, but they can be trained to do that when hearing certain music, it gives the appearance of dancing, which they had a platform area for. They were somehow woven into their worship. It was near this area that Jesus asked Peter if he loved Him. He probably didn't go into Caeserea Phillipi because it was so associated with the pagan gods.

Next was Tel Dan which is now surrounded by a nature preserve. Israelis often go there to see the river and trees and enjoy themselves. Tel Dan is where one of the golden calves was setup by Jeroboam after the death of Solomon and Israel split into Judea and Israel. Something Mishi mentioned that really caused it to be an abomination was that they were using worship and sacrifice methods described for the Temple in service of another god. Here also was found a rock with an inscription describing the Assyrian king defeating and slaughtering the house of David. This is important because it is the oldest mention of the house of David and gives verification his existence. Also, the dating of Tel Dan is pretty accurate by identifying the stone construction style, C10-9BC. A this site is a basic metal reconstruction attempt at what the altar might have looked like. There is little to go off of, and it is likely wrong since their vision is too tall to be able to reach the horns and Dan was a refuge city where someone who accidentally killed a man could run to for safety, but he had to grab the altar horns for it to become effective, so being unreachable is unlikely. At Tel Dan the gift shop had some amusing shirts; such as "America, Don't worry. Israel is behind you" with some pictures of a tank and helicopter. Also "JerUSAlem" Israel with an American flag and Israeli flag. They were interesting in that to an extent they show how Israel feels about America, as well as a little bit of pandering perhaps to the large American tourist population (though that is by now means the only visitors they get there, there are even numerous Israelis who go through there). Also in Tel Dan off the nature trail were old bunkers and slit trenches left over from previous fighting, but they are there in case they are needed again.

Tel Hazor is one of the oldest tels found, 3 and half to 4 thousand years old. It consists of 10-11 cities and has “Solomon's Gate” there. It is a gate with 4 actual gates and 3 gate rooms in between. It is a little later design, the gate seen at Tel Dan was only 3 gates with 2 gate rooms in between for added protection. Hazor in its time was one of the most important cities in the middle east, artifacts have been found there from all across Africa and the far reaches of the middle east as so much went through that area. Both here and at Tel Dan I found it fascinating to look at the construction of the walls, the large rocks, either laid rough or cut quite cleanly. It is interesting to me the skill and incredible amount of work it took to make these things. Or with the Nimrod castle; it is on top of a large hill, the effort it took to get all those rocks up there and assemble them is enormous, all done by brute force alone. And the end to day two we went downtown Tiberias and saw some peddlers and bakeries and coffee shops. Fun seeing things around and trying to buy stuff from people who speak another language. :-)