North Shore of Galilee

A first century fishing boat was found in the Sea of Galilee.  Amazing, the boat survived in the mud without completely decomposing.  This may have been the type of fishing boat that Peter, James, and John used.

We boarding a boat at Nof Ginosar for a ride on the Sea of Galilee.  Arbel Mountain in on the left.  This mountain along with several others form a channel for air from the ocean.  When water evaporates quickly from the Sea of Galilee, it can draw air from the Mediterranean Sea.  This air rushing in through the channel can cause sudden storms on the Sea of Galilee.

We visited Capernaum.  This was one of the primary towns from which Jesus conducted his ministry.  Perhaps the best part of Capernaum is the house of Peter's mother-in-law.  We know from Matthew 8 that Jesus was there.  The picture below is the front of the house from underneath a viewing platform.

The picture below is the Moses Seat in a synagogue at Korazim.  Teaching in the synagogue would take place from this seat.

Although the exact site of the Sermon on the Mount is not known, monks built the Church of Beatitudes on a site that could have been a likely location.  The picture of the hillside provides an idea of the type of setting the Sermon on the Mount could have been delivered in.

Mt. Carmel and Megido

We started of the day going to Mt. Carmel.  Carmelite Monks built a church at the location traditionally associated with Elijah's confrontation with the worshipers of Baal.

Some argue that Megido, which translates into Armegeddon in Greek, is one of the most important findings from biblical times.  The city was in a very strategic location.  As a result, it was often under attack.  In fact, the city was destroyed and rebuilt 25 times.  Solomon was one of the kings to fortify the city.

Grain silo



Entrance to the water supply, located outside of the city, from inside the city.  There are 180 steps down.  The water containers the women carried would have weighed over 40 pounds when full.



Underground tunnel to the water supply outside of the city.  This was used whenever the city was under attack.

We also visited Seppora.  The city has the same name as Moses' wife.  Part of the importance of this site is that the Herod Antipas started building the city to be his capital.  However, he did not fully complete the city deciding to place his capital in Tiberias instead. 

A mosaic was discovered in one of the houses that has about 10 times the number of tiles per square centimeter than is typical making the resolution of the mosaic quite striking.  The woman pictured below is part of the mosaic and has become known as the Mona Lisa of Galilee.

The city later fell into the hands of crusaders who resused stones to construct their fortress.

On the way to the Sea of Galilee, we were able to see a first century grave discovered during road construction.  It is similar to the type of tomb that would have been used for Jesus.

Yafo and Ceasarea

We started off the day with a short drive to southern Tel Aviv (TelYafo) to an area known as Jaffa. This area was an early port and was controlled by the Egyptians and the Phillistines. Jaffa is mentioned several times in the bible.  It is the site that Jonah tried to postpone going to Nineveh but setting sail to Tarshish.  Peter also healed a woman in the area.  St. Peter's church and monastary was built here to commemorate the event.

We also visited the first tel excavation in Israel before heading to Ceasarea.  Ceasarea was constructed under Herod to honor Ceasar.  Below area a few pictures of the theater. The theater is still used today which is why there are lights and chairs in these photos.  The body of water in the background is the Mediterranean Sea.

The city would have been very impressive in its time.  The backdrop of the Mediterranean Sea was certainly unique.  Herod also had a fresh water pool built.  That was a tremendous luxury in a land that does not have an abundance of water.  The water reached the city through aquaducts.

Based on the organization of the city, the building in which Paul asked to be tried by Ceasar may have been located.

The city fell into the hands of a number of different groups throughout time.  Crusaders from France were one of these groups.  Below is the gate the their fortress.

The day ended on the coast of the Mediterranean.

May 24th

Jaresh, Jordan provides a quite striking contrast between the past and the present. On one side of the street you can see the current city. On the other side of the street you can see the ruins of a Roman city. The Roman city had a hippodrome, two theaters, two temples, a forum, bridges, etc. The engineering is actually quite remarkable. You can find manhole covers leading to the drainage system under the road which carried water to a reservoir. The columns were build to withstand earthquakes. In fact, I was able to capture a video of someone moving a pillar. Their understanding of acoustics when building their theaters always amazes me. Yet, despite their intellectual marvels, they could be incredibly cruel and perverse - an very interesting dichotomy. Below are just a few of the pictures from the site.































After a huge and very good Jordan lunch, we drove toward the Allenby bridge connecting Jordan and Israel. However, before we crossed over into Israel we had the unique opportunity to look at an undoing dig. The dig is part of the Sodom Tall el-Hammam Archaeological Excavation which is an attempt to find a more likely location of Sodom north of the Dead Sea instead of South of the Dead Sea as is often assumed.















One reason an alternative site for Sodom is being sought is the Lot selected the best land to dwell in. The area south of the Dead Sea is not nearly as good as the land surrounding this dig north of the Dead Sea. These last two pictures show the land from the dig site.






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Location:Jaresh and Hammam

Madaba and Mt. Nebo

We left Petra today and drove to Madaba which is known for mosiacs.  About 150 years ago a church was built around a particular mosaic known as the Madaba map to help preserve that mosaic.  The Madaba map has been useful in determining the location of various biblical events since it covers the entire Holy Land.  Unfortunately, approximately 2/3 of the mosaic has been lost.

There was also a mosaic depicting Jerusalem.

From Madaba, we went to Mt. Nebo.  Mt. Nebo is where God took Moses to give him a vision of the Promised Land and where He burried Moses.  The exact location  is not known.  However, the memorial commemorates the likely spot of this event.

On the left hand side of this picture you can see the north end of the Dead Sea.  The haze in the background is from the evaporation of the Dead Sea which has been droping in water level about one meter per year.  Behind the haze are the Mountains of Judah.

From Mt. Nebo, we went to Amman.  There was sometime to kill between check-in and dinner so my dad and I went for a little walk to explore the city.  We were walking along a busy road.  There were no traffic signals, no clearly marked cross walks, and definitely no protected cross walks.  Crossing the street was like human Frogger.  The walk was worth the entertainment value alone.