Beginning the day with a wonderful, three course breakfast helps to get any tired body started! I awoke more exhausted today than the first morning. Touring across two Mid-East countries in only 15 days seemed hard to accomplish at the outset of the tour, but with our delayed departure cutting three days off our schedule, we’re practically going 90-to-nothin’.
Our first experience today was a stop at the shores of the Mediterranean Sea. Piling out of the bus, our group of 45 scattered along the beach, and some of the students – who are the most athletic and adventurous of the group – abandoned their shoes at the parking lot and took off towards the water. Nearly up to our knees, the water was freezing, but the color was the most beautiful I’ve seen. Florida’s crystal clear waters are pretty, but could not be half as beautiful as what we saw of the Mediterranean Sea. The waves are the most deep, aqua blue you can imagine.
With barely 20 minutes on the shoreline, we quickly snapped pictures of an aqueduct on the beach, which had been part of the city of Caesarea (different from Caesarea Philippi), dried our feet and returned to the bus to drive up to see the ruins of ancient city itself.
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| "The Youngin's", as we were called by our senior traveling companions. L to R: Heather, a fellow UMHB student; Jenna; David, a California college pastor; Jessica, my roommate, a Junior at Baylor (Waco) |
With barely 20 minutes on the shoreline, we quickly snapped pictures of an aqueduct on the beach, which had been part of the city of Caesarea (different from Caesarea Philippi), dried our feet and returned to the bus to drive up to see the ruins of ancient city itself.
The wonders of archeological excavation continue to fascinate me during this trip. Under large hills of sand and gravel, ruins of vast cities have been unearthed to reveal the most precisely engineered architecture. I’ve been reminded that the knowledge we have in our modern world related to building, structural engineering, and architecture has been modeled, in fact, after the incredible structures of ancient cities like Caesarea and others. The giant theater was especially extraordinary, as it is the oldest of its kind within Israel. Built during Herod's time and for his use, the incredible area is engineered to accommodate 4,000 people. The vast seating, built facing the sea, allows the audience to view the stage with the backdrop of the gorgeous Mediterranean waters behind it.
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| Looking at the sea in the background, you can get a feel for how huge the visibility was -- the horizon appears to be warped, barely showing the earth's spherical shape. |
In close proximity to the theater, sits one of Herod's great palaces, positioned perfectly on the shoreline of the sea. It was prime real estate back in Herod's time, and I'm sure someone would kill to live on the spot of land today. Archeological excavations have uncovered a Herodian amphitheater between the palace and the theater. More than twice the size of the theater, this place of entertainment is more like a stadium, with room for over 10,000 spectators. The huge area between the seating and the beach was likely used for horse racing and large sporting events. Not only did Herod pick a primo spot to build his mansion, he spared no cost to create a giant 'playground' to go with it.
Next we drove to the top of Mt. Carmel, where Elijah’s encounter with the prophets of Baal took place. Much to our disappointment, the monastery built atop the mountain was closed for New Year’s Day, so we were not able to enter through the gates to see the marvelous view of cities and valleys below. We peeked through the thick trees next to the monastery gates and took as many pictures as we could through the thick brush, before hitting the road for our next location of interest.
Walking to the bus, I passed a couple trying to take a picture with the mountain view behind them. I noticed they weren't talking to each other, and only motioned to a passer-by to take their picture. They got a picture, but didn't appear to be pleased with the result, and I had the suspicion that they were deaf, so giving camera instructions to someone else would be difficult without speaking. Having completed 4 semesters of American Sign Language (ASL) at UMHB and working for my deaf professor as a teacher's assistant, I was prepared and excited to approach them in their native language:
"Are you deaf? I know sign!"
They were pleasantly surprised, and signed back: "Oh WOW! Yes, we are!! How amazing to meet you!!"
"Would you like me to take your picture?"
"Yes! Please do! We appreciate it!!"
They were finally happy with the result, and I was thrilled to find a deaf couple on the other side of the world using ASL, and signing in a similar "accent" to the one I had learned. We understood each other perfectly! I told them my name and that I was from Texas, then asked what state they were from:
"We're from Florida. In fact, you see that bus over there? *pointing* It's full of deaf people, because we came here with a huge group from Florida and we're traveling together through Israel!"
The couple wanted me to meet some of their friends, but they soon noticed that their bus was waiting on them to leave the site. They were sorry to leave quickly, but we shook hands and extended blessings to each other for the remainder of our travels. Catching up with the rest of my group, some of the comments from friends were funny: "What were you doing over there?" or "What was that about?" came from some who were confused, while some that were excited said, "Did you just...like...have a whole conversation with your hands?! That is so cool! Where did you learn that?" It was definitely a fun and unexpected experience!
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| The (limited) view from atop Mt. Carmel |
Walking to the bus, I passed a couple trying to take a picture with the mountain view behind them. I noticed they weren't talking to each other, and only motioned to a passer-by to take their picture. They got a picture, but didn't appear to be pleased with the result, and I had the suspicion that they were deaf, so giving camera instructions to someone else would be difficult without speaking. Having completed 4 semesters of American Sign Language (ASL) at UMHB and working for my deaf professor as a teacher's assistant, I was prepared and excited to approach them in their native language:
"Are you deaf? I know sign!"
They were pleasantly surprised, and signed back: "Oh WOW! Yes, we are!! How amazing to meet you!!"
"Would you like me to take your picture?"
"Yes! Please do! We appreciate it!!"
They were finally happy with the result, and I was thrilled to find a deaf couple on the other side of the world using ASL, and signing in a similar "accent" to the one I had learned. We understood each other perfectly! I told them my name and that I was from Texas, then asked what state they were from:
"We're from Florida. In fact, you see that bus over there? *pointing* It's full of deaf people, because we came here with a huge group from Florida and we're traveling together through Israel!"
The couple wanted me to meet some of their friends, but they soon noticed that their bus was waiting on them to leave the site. They were sorry to leave quickly, but we shook hands and extended blessings to each other for the remainder of our travels. Catching up with the rest of my group, some of the comments from friends were funny: "What were you doing over there?" or "What was that about?" came from some who were confused, while some that were excited said, "Did you just...like...have a whole conversation with your hands?! That is so cool! Where did you learn that?" It was definitely a fun and unexpected experience!
Arriving next at the gate of the city of Megiddo, we climbed to the top of one of the large hills where the city rests to overlook the Jezreel Valley.
We received detailed instructions from Pitch and Dr. Wyrick explaining the impressive view from atop the hill of the city. We learned that the 'hill' of Megiddo is not a completely natural hill. In fact, the high place is a pile of 26 cities that were built one on top of the other. They were built, destroyed, rebuilt, destroyed again, built up again, destroyed again,......on and on.
The site is impressive, not only for the history of how the 'high place' became high from the piled cities below it, but also for an underground tunnel built below the city that was constructed in a manner similar to the system of Tel Dan, during the time of the Israelite kings. Like Tel Dan, the system was constructed for the same purpose of bringing water into the city from within the walls, to be used during a time of attack. A humongous 36-meter shaft was created, and connects to a tunnel (70-meters long) that reaches a spring.
Cut at an incline, the tunnel was engineered so that water would flow from its underground source directly to the bottom of the shaft so that water could be accessed from the top. To be even more sneaky, the outer entrance to the water was closed securely with a stone wall and covered with earth. The people of the city could draw water when the enemy cut them off, and they could conceal their means of doing it if the enemy besieged the city!
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| The gate of Megiddo |
We received detailed instructions from Pitch and Dr. Wyrick explaining the impressive view from atop the hill of the city. We learned that the 'hill' of Megiddo is not a completely natural hill. In fact, the high place is a pile of 26 cities that were built one on top of the other. They were built, destroyed, rebuilt, destroyed again, built up again, destroyed again,......on and on.
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| Layers, upon layers of excavations... |
The site is impressive, not only for the history of how the 'high place' became high from the piled cities below it, but also for an underground tunnel built below the city that was constructed in a manner similar to the system of Tel Dan, during the time of the Israelite kings. Like Tel Dan, the system was constructed for the same purpose of bringing water into the city from within the walls, to be used during a time of attack. A humongous 36-meter shaft was created, and connects to a tunnel (70-meters long) that reaches a spring.
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| Dark, slippery stairs led down to the base of the water system |
Cut at an incline, the tunnel was engineered so that water would flow from its underground source directly to the bottom of the shaft so that water could be accessed from the top. To be even more sneaky, the outer entrance to the water was closed securely with a stone wall and covered with earth. The people of the city could draw water when the enemy cut them off, and they could conceal their means of doing it if the enemy besieged the city!
Our break hour was spent at a local café which neighbors a small supermarket. Actually, I’m not sure if the store was small or not, since it is the only supermarket I’ve visited here in the Near East. At any rate, we were quite delighted with the charming displays of native products of all sorts, and even many familiar foods sold with Hebrew labels. The ratio of fresh products to canned goods was, not surprisingly, more favorable to fresh foods than the US. There was no pre-sliced bread for sale, only freshly baked breads and pitas; deli meat could only be obtained from the fresh deli, since there were no packaged lunch meats either.
It was exciting to hear Hebrew all around me and look at native Israeli products while shopping with the locals. I never blended in for a second – you can spot a tourist a mile away here – but it was fun to act like I knew what I was doing, and pretend I was shopping like any other resident.
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| Pitch, our Israeli guide, shops for lunch |
It was exciting to hear Hebrew all around me and look at native Israeli products while shopping with the locals. I never blended in for a second – you can spot a tourist a mile away here – but it was fun to act like I knew what I was doing, and pretend I was shopping like any other resident.
To complete the day, we drove through the city of Nazareth for the first time on our way to the high mountain that overlooks the city and miles and miles of other Biblical sites below. Traveling at a break-neck speed can be nice when we approach less interesting sites, since we are done quickly and move onto something new. Coming to the top of the mountain to look out over Nazareth, the home city of Jesus himself, made us all wish we could have stayed for hours.
Sunset quickly approached and we met our bus to travel back to the hotel, enjoying another three course meal before retiring for our much-needed sleep.
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| Looking out over Nazareth -- Jesus' hometown |
Sunset quickly approached and we met our bus to travel back to the hotel, enjoying another three course meal before retiring for our much-needed sleep.
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