The other day was the day of the animals. Today begins as the day of the machine. We began at Tell Beth Shean. Emily had to compete with a back hoe, a crop duster airplane and a scooter when she was talking. Later she had to compete with some kind of hammer (jack-hammer?) and a scooter. One of the things we plan to focus on today is the entrances and exits to the Jezreel Valley.
We left the hotel around 7 am. Our first stop was into town to buy pita bread for lunch. We discovered that it must be market day because there were many vehicles lined up with produce waiting to turn down a particular street. The produce looked amazing. We saw heads of cauliflower, tomatoes and corn. We also have been enjoying many fresh vegetables. After picking up the pita bread we headed up the Rift Valley (north of the Dead Sea along the Jordan River toward the Sea of Galilee). There was a lot of farming being done. We were often trying to figure out what was growing in the fields. Not far away we noticed the barrenness of the land. How different it looks without water. There was also a mist coming up off the Jordan River that gave the valley a unique look.
Our first stop was at Beth Shean which is about ¾ of the way north of the Dead Sea to the Sea of Galilee. It is just west of the Rift Valley along the Harod Valley. Thus it has been a significant location for watching over the trade routes. The Egyptians had a presence here and we were able to see where the governor’s palace used to be. We don’t often hear of the Egyptians being this far north but that has happened more often. Beth Shean was located on top of a hill. This Tell also reminds us of the story of King’s Saul’s final battle. 1 Samuel 27 tells us that the night before the battle Saul went up to En Dor (a little north and past the camp of the Philistines) and found a witch there. He had her contact Samuel who informed Saul that he would lose the battle. The next day that is what happened. The Philistines took Saul’s body and Jonathon, his son, and hung them from the city wall. At night some of the men from Jabesh-Gilead came and took the bodies down and gave them the proper care.
The hottest temperature ever recorded in Israel was recorded here – 129 degrees! There is also a good amount of rainfall annually – about 12 inches. So it is a good location for a city. Thankfully there were no records being set today. The weather was beautiful. It is slightly cool which makes for great walking. We did need to walk up a number of steps to get to the top of the Tell but nothing terribly difficult. Some of the members of the group seem to be feeling it from walking down the Masada yesterday.
After spending way too little time at Beth-Shean we hopped on the bus and headed off to Megiddo. As we drove along we saw “Nazareth Ridge” but the ancient core where Jesus grew up is just to the other side.
Our next stop was at the Tell of Megiddo. 26 levels have been found at this Tell which indicates it was a very important city that was often fought over. A group from Chicago did a “trench dig” to discover the various levels. This was a very important Ttell because it guards one of the passes into the Jezreel Valley as part of the Inter-Coastal Highway. The first gate system we saw was one with stairs indicating it was before the time of chariots. Next we saw both a 4 chamber gate as well as a 6 chamber gate. The 6 chamber is believed to be from the time of Solomon.
It is a little cooler at Tell Megiddo. It is a little closer to the Mediterranean Sea and higher. We also walked down 183 steps into the water system (It is dry and no longer in use.) and 80 steps back up after going through a tunnel. This was similar to Hezekiah’s Tunnel in Jerusalem. There is a spring just outside the city and it is believed that during the time of King Omri or Ahab this was dug to bring water from the stream into the Tell.
Our next stop was at Sephoris, a town near Nazareth. There were some remains from the time of Jesus there. But also around the time of his birth, following the death of King Herod the Great, the town rebelled against Rome. Rome sent a strong force to deal with the rebels. Not long after that, Herod’s son decided to make this his capital city. So there is some speculation that Jesus may have worked in this town. It is about a 45 minute walk from Nazareth. Emily noted that we often speak of Jesus as a carpenter. However the Hebrew term can better be translated “craftsman” which could include working with wood. But Emily called us to think about the basic building material used in the country. We agreed that it isn’t wood. Most of the buildings are made out of stone.
Our last site to visit for the day was Nazareth. We went to a high place on the ridge where we could look down on the city. Nazareth has grown and expanded. It is no little town like in Jesus’ day. Then it may have had about 300 or so members. Today it has spread out over the hillside. Just to the south, over the ridge, is the Jezreel Valley where many historically significant events happened in Israel’s history. Jesus no doubt heard those stories. We ended the day with a reading from Luke 4 where Jesus reads from the scroll of Isaiah and tells the people that prophesy is being fulfilled in their day by himself. They try to throw Jesus off a high cliff but he walks through the crowd. We were on a high cliff and that made the story even more real.
Following that, we loaded up on the bus as the sun was setting and the temperature was dropping. We had about an hour and a half bus ride to our new hotel – JUC north as Emily calls it. It is a beautiful resort right on the Sea of Galilee. We are anxious to see it in the light since we arrived in the dark. We gathered for supper which provided us with some new choices and opportunities to try foods we are not as familiar with or to stay with choices we know. It was a little bit later than normal due to the time we arrived so there wasn’t much time after supper. Most of us are planning to do a couple of things in the room and then hop into bed for some much anticipated sleep.
Tomorrow morning breakfast is at 6 and we need to be on the bus at 7:15. Emily graciously has given us an extra 15 minutes to sleep in!! We plan to enjoy every one of those minutes. The plan for tomorrow is to head north of the Sea of Galilee.
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