tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-154776602191677932024-02-21T10:05:44.640-08:00Minnesotans in the Holy Land 2014Bryanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00732421572673163979noreply@blogger.comBlogger19125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15477660219167793.post-75509627476854581272014-02-16T20:56:00.001-08:002014-02-16T20:56:22.115-08:00Final Day of Touring (Petra, Jordan), Trip Home<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Wow! It's the middle of February and it's been over a week since I
posted anything about our Holy Land trip! I wish I could blame it on
laziness or busyness, but instead I get to blame it on illness. For the
last week I've been dealing with strep throat. I was basically in bed
last Friday and Saturday and have been trying to get back to "normal"
(whatever that is) ever since. There are several bits of good news I
want to share with you before I wrap up with a description of our last
day of touring and our travel home. First, I'm almost finished
re-editing all of the pictures from the trip! That means I'm almost
ready to begin work on the book about the trip that you'll be able to
purchase. It will include many of the pictures and descriptions from
this blog as well as quite a bit of other stuff I've held back (yes,
believe it or not, there are MORE pictures). Also, I will be giving a
presentation on this trip at Trinity Lutheran Church in Brooten, MN on
Sunday, February 23 at 10:30 a.m. We will have a shortened worship
service, followed by the presentation, followed by a potluck lunch in
the basement (free will donation). Everyone is welcome and I'm excited
to share this experience with folks in my congregation and anyone else who wants to come and hear about it.<br />
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With that out of the way, let's wrap this blog up with a good long post about our last day of touring, shall we?<br />
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Our 9th and final day of touring found us waking up bright and early one last time at the Ambassador Hotel in Jerusalem. Our guide wanted us to get an early start so we would be one of the first tour buses in line at the border crossing when it opened. We enjoyed another wonderful breakfast, made sure our luggage was on the bus, double checked that we all had our passports, and a few of us took the opportunity to exchange some Israeli shekels back into US dollars. Before long it was time to board the bus and be on our way out of Jerusalem. One last view of the hotel:<br />
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And I took the opportunity to get a picture with our great bus driver, Isa. We were all amazed at how smoothly and expertly he navigated some very tight spaces, especially in Jerusalem. I can't imagine any group having a better driver/guide combination than we had with Isa and Gila. <br />
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After my experience with Israeli security crossing from Jordan to Israel, I expected the border crossing going the other way to be just as difficult and prepared for a long process. It turned out the longest part was just waiting on the bus for the border to open. As our guide predicted, we were the first tour bus in line, sitting with several other buses full of Palestinian travelers as well as commercial semi trucks. The crossing itself was simple. We left our bus, identified our luggage to the porters so we made sure we had all of our things, then walked into the security checkpoint. Our passports were checked and stamped, then we were on our way out the other side of the building to find our Jordanian bus. A kind of surreal moment for me was walking out of the checkpoint and looking to the left to see Isa and our Israeli bus sitting less than 100 yards away, then to the right and seeing our Jordanian bus and driver (Sam, the same one we had before) waiting for us. I was free to go to one bus, but not back to the other, even though there was no fence or barricade or anything to stop me from trying. It made me think a little about how silly our man-made borders are sometimes, but I guess they're necessary at some level, too. At the very least, there are a lot of people in a lot of places who are employed in some capacity to maintain and defend all of these borders. <br />
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After crossing the Jordan River one last time, we made our way into the checkpoint on the Jordanian side where we picked up our Jordanian guide, Fadi. Our destination for the day was Petra, in southern Jordan, so we had a few hours' bus ride ahead of us. First, we had to climb out of the Jordan valley. What looked barren and desolate a week ago actually did kind of look like fertile farmland this time around, at least to my eyes, with groves of olive trees and other kinds of agriculture dotting the hillsides:<br />
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We came into the outskirts of Amman and got on the main highway that would take us south into the desert toward Petra. We had traveled this highway on our first night going from the airport to the hotel. It was a different experience to see it in the daytime. All of this was feeling a lot less foreign to me. If not for the Arabic on the trucks, this could easily pass for a freeway in the American southwest:<br />
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Traveling south, the terrain got very desolate. The skies cleared, but the wind was still blowing pretty strong. We didn't encounter any major sandstorms, though. This is basically what the view was like for a good long while:<br />
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One of the main products of export for Jordan is potash, which is mined in the desert. Here's a distant view of one of the potash mines, along with a narrow gauge rail line that comes up from the port of Aqaba on the Red Sea. <br />
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We passed through several towns along the way. Here were some children playing soccer in an open area next to the highway: <br />
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After a bathroom and refreshment stop, it wasn't long before we turned back east off of the desert highway and started down a two lane highway toward Petra. The view didn't change much at first, though: <br />
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Another town we passed through, showing some of the shops and some of the typical Middle Eastern parking prowess:<br />
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The landscape became hillier and we began descending down through the rolling terrain. After a while we came to the city of Petra:<br />
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Our first stop in Petra was for lunch at another buffet that featured some specifically Jordanian cuisine. Some of it was very similar to what we had in Israel, but a few different spices and flavors. Here we are leaving the restaurant to head for the ancient ruins of Petra that are the main attraction here: <br />
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Petra is most famous for the ancient Nabatean city that is literally carved out of cliffs. It looks like it comes right out of the rocks. It's been made famous through movies like Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, has been named a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and is on many lists of great places to visit including Smithsonian Magazine's "28 Places to See Before You Die". Entering from the east side of the city, we walked down a gravel path, descending through ruins that are actually ancient tombs. There were of course many vendors as well as people selling carriage rides down the path and back up again to save all the walking we did. Here was one of the first carved formations we came across:<br />
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About halfway down the first path we walked, looking back up the hill:</div>
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Another example of the way they carved these things right out of the rocks:</div>
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After a half mile or so walk, you come to the entrance of the Siq (pronounced "seek") that leads down to the main portion of the city. The Siq is a naturally crack in the earth, probably produced by an earthquake. This is part of what made this site ideal for a well-protected city. Here is the entrance to the Siq, showing the path we'll continue down as well as one of the carriages carrying some folks back up the hill.<br />
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I don't know exactly how to describe how amazing it was to walk through this natural wonder and see not only the beauty of the rocks themselves, but also the interesting man-made accomplishment of building a city here. Here's a picture showing the rock walls, a tree growing along the wall, and you can sort of make out the water channel that was carved into the wall to bring fresh water down to the city. This channel runs the entire length of the Siq.<br />
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Looking up at one of the narrower places we walked through as we descend lower toward the city:<br />
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A place showing one of the natural faults in the rocks we saw. The rocks also began to change color to this beautiful red. This is why Petra is sometimes called the Rose City. <br />
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Another niche carving along the way:</div>
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The bench in the distance gives you a little sense of scale for how massive these rock walls are:</div>
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Our group walking along:</div>
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I could have spent the entire day just exploring the various features of the rocks with my camera. It's amazing what wind and sand and water can do over time to create some truly beautiful formations like this:</div>
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We stopped along the way at several places where our guide Fadi explained different aspects of the city to us. This shot also shows the water channels carved into the walls:<br />
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Another shot of our group, and again you can see the water channel.</div>
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There were also several dams built to hold back rainwater so that the Siq wouldn't be flooded.</div>
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Some more interesting engineering with steps that were carved right into the wall to reach a tomb above. </div>
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After another mile or so, we came to what Fadi called our "Indiana Jones moment" where you walk through a narrow part of the Siq and catch your first glimpse of the most famous part of Petra, a carved facade called the Treasury:<br />
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It's incredible to step out of that narrow passage into an expansive area and see this immense carving in front of you. This is a picture I took a bit later when Fadi came up to me and said, "Get a picture. You almost never see it without people in front of it!" The entire thing was carved out of the canyon wall, including the columns. You can also see a small opening just above the door. Fadi said this is where they started carving the inside room, first creating the ceiling, then chiseling away at the floor until they reached the bottom. Pretty ingenious if you ask me! This would have been another tomb, but it's called the Treasury because local legend held that many of the decorative figures and containers on the outside held treasure. Unfortunately, this meant some of them have been destroyed, only to find of course that there was nothing inside. <br />
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One of the reasons I'm sure you almost never see this without anyone in front of it is because everyone wants their picture in front of it, of course, but also because this is a place where there were people offering camel and donkey rides for a few dollars. A few members of our group decided it was too good of an opportunity to pass up, and we all enjoyed watching them have their rides. <br />
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The process of getting on and off the camels was really the most entertaining part:</div>
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<br />After we had our time at the Treasury with Fadi, we had time to explore a little farther before making our way back up the Siq and to the bus. Not far down the path from the Treasury were more impressive tombs:<br />
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An overall view of the area, showing you some of the vendor stalls that were also set up here. <br />
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Another collection of tombs:</div>
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We just made it far enough to see some of the city itself, including this amphitheater:</div>
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The big tomb in the middle of this picture has been restored to show how most of these places would have originally looked before thousands of years of erosion took their toll:<br />
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I really wish we would have had more time to explore because we just barely scratched the surface of what there is to see at Petra. I'm sure you could spend days and days exploring all of the ruins and seeing it all and I'm sure it all looks completely different at various times of the day. Before long it was time to start on the mile and a half hike back up the hill. Because I still had my Vibram running shoes on, I decided it was a rare opportunity to run through some ancient ruins, so I left my camera with some other members of the group and took off toward the top. It was really fun to run back up through the Siq. What I didn't expect was that there were a few Arabic guys I passed about halfway up who I think were a little macho and wouldn't stand for this American to just run past them. A few of them started to run with me a little ways. It was all in good fun, though, and it wasn't long before we were all smiling and laughing. They were trying to get me to run faster and showing off a little. I've been running long enough to know not to worry about how anyone else is running and just go the pace I set for myself. So I let them run on ahead and tire themselves out. It wasn't long before I caught up to them and ran right on by. I easily beat them all to the top and exchanged a few high fives and handshakes in the end. It was a good time, but the most thrilling thing about it was just getting the chance to run in a place like that. I still like the gravel roads and parks around here, but the scenery doesn't quite compare to Petra.<br />
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At the top, a strange sight met us. One member of our group is allergic to horses, so as we went farther down the Siq in a more confined space where horses were going by fairly frequently, he began to have a reaction and decided to head back up to the top. They passed the time by purchasing a couple of Arab headdresses. A few more of our group bought some more, so we suddenly had a few Norwegian sheiks on the bus. Here are Dan and Sharon with their headdresses on:<br />
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After a good supper and a brief but comfortable stay at our hotel in Petra, we woke up before 4 AM so we could be on the road back to the airport in Amman. It was the start of our long travel day that would bring me from Jordan back to Chicago, on to Minneapolis, and eventually, to my bed at home in Brooten. Here is the Royal Jordanian airplane that would take us on our 14 hour flight from Amman to Chicago:<br />
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I'll spare you the details of that flight, but it included me watching 3 movies only to find that the flight was barely half over, as well as a member of our group (a registered nurse) coming to the aid of another passenger who had some kind of medical emergency as we flew over Canada. We were all very thankful that the passenger was fine for the rest of the flight and we weren't forced to land somewhere other than Chicago. <br />
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After marveling at what ancient civilizations were able to accomplish, it was really remarkable to travel nearly 7000 miles in only about 30 hours. To think that our day began with this sunrise over the Jordanian desert and ended with driving through near whiteout conditions in central Minnesota! <br />
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So that's about it for the trip. I'm glad so many of you have enjoyed following along. I'm extremely grateful for the people who made this possible for me and I'm thankful that they appreciated my presence on this journey. Above all, I have to thank my wife Lindy who bravely stayed home with our three children, as well as my mother in-law Laurie and our favorite babysitter Michelle who pitched in to help, too. I thought this would be a once in a lifetime kind of a trip, but now that I've been, I want to go back and take my family along next time. The trip has forever changed the way I read the Bible as well as the way I think about the Middle East. I hope you've learned a little something, too. Thanks again for tagging along!<br /><br />+PBKBryanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00732421572673163979noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15477660219167793.post-50882028087331290082014-02-01T07:16:00.001-08:002014-02-01T07:16:44.024-08:00Day 8: Final Jerusalem DayI'm slowly but surely making progress and I'm hoping to have the last photos edited after this weekend, but we shall see. For now, I'm ready to give you a rundown of what I saw on our last full day in Jerusalem. This was our "free day" to explore the city on our own without our guide. Not everyone did the same things, so part of this post will be from Pastor Art.<br />
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In the morning, we arranged for our usual bus and driver to drop us off at the Jaffa Gate of the Old City. Most of the group planned to go to the King David Museum, which Pastor Art will share with you in just a moment. I was interested in going back to the Lutheran Church of the Redeemer. After seeing so many Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches, I jokingly told everyone that I wanted to walk into a church where I could say, "I belong here! I'm Lutheran! Where are the things for me to kiss and the curtains that I get to look behind?" Of course, there is nothing like that there, but I did want to see the church and perhaps meet with the two ELCA pastors that serve the English-speaking congregation. The Lutheran Church of the Redeemer also features a large bell tower (a picture was in my previous post) that you can climb up to get a good view over the entire Old City. That sounded like a wonderful idea on a beautifully clear morning like the one we had that day.<br />
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A few others from the group thought that sounded interesting and decided to tag along with me. It was nice to have their company and somewhat of a relief to not be wandering through the narrow and unfamiliar streets of the Old City alone. Even so, everyone else gave us a hard time, waving goodbye and taking our picture as we walked away as if they would never see us again. We were pleasantly surprised to find the streets almost completely empty. Our route to the church took us through part of the busy market that we had walked through the day before along the Via Dolorosa. Instead of being crowded with people, however, it was virtually empty as most of the shops were not yet open, even at 9:00 in the morning. After our nice, leisurely stroll to the church. The old church was locked, but the church offices attached to it were open, so we found out from the receptionist that the building would not be open for tours until 10. We also found out the pastors were around, but in a meeting.<br />
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With some free time on our hands, we decided to make the short walk around the corner to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Amazingly, we found this place also almost empty, at least compared to how we experienced it the day before. With no line, we took advantage of the opportunity to go back up to the top of Calvary to see the place of crucifixion. Here is a closer view of some of the decorations:<br />
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Here is the place they believe the cross would have stood. You have to kneel down to see it, and you can put your hand inside the hole there to feel the indentation in the rock where the cross would have been placed. <br />
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Some more decorations adorning the altar built over the place of crucifixion: </div>
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A single prayer candle lit, overlooking one of the chapels that surrounds the main part of the church. It really was a completely different feel to the place this time around; much more quiet and contemplative. </div>
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Another view of the modern mosaic behind the Stone of Anointing, this portion depicting Joseph of Arimathea removing Jesus' body from the cross. <br />
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I was able to get a better view of a few of the Orthodox pilgrims who were there so you can have a look at the reverence they show to the Stone of Anointing. <br />
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By this time, a large group of Russian Orthodox pilgrims had arrived, so the line to see the tomb was quite long again, but I did have the chance to get a better picture of the shrine that's been built there than I had the day before. You can just see the tops of some heads as people make their way into the door in front. <br />
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It really was a beautiful day to have a more relaxed look around the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and the Old City itself. Here's the courtyard we saw the day before, this time in brilliant morning sunlight: <br />
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We made our way back to the Lutheran Church of the Redeemer to use the restroom and see if the church would be opening for tours soon. As I waited for the others in the reception area, the two ELCA pastors came down the stairs and I introduced myself. They were very kind and welcoming to us. They even took time away from a birthday party (complete with cake) to give us a tour of their offices (very brave, if you ask me, to let tourists into your office!) and showed us the chapel where the English speaking congregation typically worships. It's an old Crusader chapel, simple but beautiful. Here I am with Pastors Angela and Martin Zimmann in the chapel. Like I said, they were very gracious to spend some time with us and it was interesting to hear their perspective on living and doing ministry in Jerusalem. <br />
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After our visit, Pastor Martin told Maurice (the man in charge of giving tours and collecting the fee to climb the tower) to show us everything and not charge us anything. While they went off to the birthday party for one of their colleagues, we went back outside to a cafe across the street to wait for Maurice to open the building. After purchasing a few things from one of the local vendors, we sat down for the ladies to have a glass of pomegranate juice:<br />
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Here was the view up at the church tower from our table: </div>
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After a while, Maurice came down and opened the main part of the church for us. Here is a look at the altar. This space is used by the Palestinian congregation, hence the Arabic: </div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
A wider look at the front of the sanctuary: </div>
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After having a look around the sanctuary, it was time to climb the narrow circular staircase up to the top of the tower. There's something like 177 steps to the top, so it's a good long climb. The view was well worth it, though. Here we are looking to the east toward the Dome of the Rock and the Mount of Olives beyond: <br />
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Looking down toward some of the streets on the west side of the tower. The cafe we sat at is out of the frame at the bottom: <br />
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Looking toward the northwest, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre is on the right: </div>
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Looking southwest, the large towers in the distance are the King David Museum where the rest of our group was. It sits right next to the Jaffa Gate where we entered the Old City on this morning. You can see a small arch in some shadows on the far left center of the picture. This is where Muristan Street (the street the church sits on) enters the enclosed market. <br />
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It was really neat to be able to look out over the Old City and see a different perspective on many of the places that we saw during our time in Jerusalem. After taking our pictures and enjoying the view, it was time to head back down the spiral staircase and meet up with the rest of our group back at the Jaffa Gate. Here is the view of the descent down the tower. It was so tight of a space that I ended up having to duck my head for a lot of it, so the feeling was a lot like the old game of putting your head on a baseball bat and spinning around. Luckily there are two landings along the way to break up the trip or else I'm sure I would have been really dizzy at the bottom.<br />
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Here we are reunited with the rest of the group, waiting for our bus to come and pick us up. <br />
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For the afternoon, most of our group traveled back to Bethlehem to have lunch with a Palestinian Christian family who have been to the United States to sell olive wood carvings and inform American Christians about the situation for Christians in the Middle East and specifically in Israel. By this point in the trip, I was pretty well mentally exhausted. After having a more relaxed morning exploring on our own, I knew it would have been hard for me to muster the energy to make another trip back through the checkpoint and wall to Bethlehem, travel by car to someone's home, and listen to passionate (although interesting) conversation about politics. As I mentioned before, I also knew I needed to get a little work done to prepare my sermon for the Sunday after we returned home, so I, along with a couple of others who weren't feeling well, decided to go back to the hotel and have a more laid back afternoon. <br />
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After a little nap, the weather outside was just too nice to stay inside, however, so I ended up taking a little stroll a few blocks from the hotel to the light rail station. I think I already shared in an earlier post that I like trains (since the age of 2, more proof that I haven't really grown up yet), so it was fun for me to go and take a few pictures of the modern light rail trains that climb up and down some of the hilly streets of Jerusalem. Here's one of the pictures I took of a train stopping at the Shim'on Ha-Tsadik station.<br />
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That's all I really have to share from my day, so here is Pastor Art to tell you about what everyone else did:<br />
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">20 of our group spent the
morning of day 8 touring the King David Museum at the Citadel, one of the most
easily recognized landmarks in the western part of the old city.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Citadel was built by Herod the Great as protection
around his palace in Jerusalem.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>From the
top of the highest tower, which Herod named Phasael, after one of his brothers,
we got a great panoramic view of the old city, including the Lutheran Church of
the Redeemer.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">In the many rooms of the
fortress, the Citadel houses the King David Museum, which tells the story of
3000 years of history and civilizations which have controlled the area of
Jerusalem. </span></div>
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<![endif]--><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Here is Craig looking at a display which explains how the Citadel was constructed,
a subject of great fascination to the farmer/builders in the group.</span>
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<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIGznp2BXf7k3cnPNB5qN0yVqEQ5xtXD3xCdk6DnpWL_faTFwbOYCHlF_Ifk_6BlkavxGVC1fDpvxU7yjlO3V3iRjF5EGKEQjizaUDY8XLdyRfF-U_NsRD9g_3xTzK8SYhFdfzxQj623Y/s1600/IMG_6625.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIGznp2BXf7k3cnPNB5qN0yVqEQ5xtXD3xCdk6DnpWL_faTFwbOYCHlF_Ifk_6BlkavxGVC1fDpvxU7yjlO3V3iRjF5EGKEQjizaUDY8XLdyRfF-U_NsRD9g_3xTzK8SYhFdfzxQj623Y/s1600/IMG_6625.jpg" height="320" width="213" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">This minaret, often called the
“Tower of David” is a later addition from the Muslim Era, is a Muslim prayer
house, which they named “David’s Cell” because they believed that David prayed
in this place.</span></div>
<br />
<br />
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Group members relaxing and refueling at the snack bar in preparation for their
last shopping excursion into either the bazaar in the old city or the modern
shopping mall just across the street.</span></div>
<br />
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">We
also saw schoolboys there on a fieldtrip to study the history of the city of
Jerusalem.</span></div>
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<![endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">In
the afternoon, we ventured back into the city of Bethlehem at the invitation of
Michael and Carmen Zoughbi.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They are one
of the few number of Christian families still living in Palestine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Many of them have moved out because of the
difficult living conditions brought about by ongoing conflict with the Israelis
over the past dozen years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They served
us a lovely meal of chicken or pork schwarma (pleasing to our pig farmers),
vegetables, fruit and coffee.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was a
delightful and informative afternoon of conversation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In addition, we got to meet their son, Jamal,
whose wife had given birth to their first child on the day before we
arrived.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We then enjoyed thrilling car
rides up and down the hills of Bethlehem on our way to the olive wood shop that
the Zoughbis manage on behalf of a wood carving cooperative.</span>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">The
last picture shows the hillside looking north from the gate to the house.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Supposedly, there are four steeples visible
at the top of the hill (not necessarily in the picture), they represent a wide
diversity of Christian denominations in Bethlehem, Greek Orthodox, Roman
Catholic, Syriac and Lutheran (Christmas Lutheran Church of Bethlehem).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">This is Bryant again, just wrapping up by saying thanks as always for following along and thank you to Pastor Art for sharing some of his pictures and words with us. There is only one more day of touring to tell you about before our long plane ride home, so stay tuned for our trip back into Jordan and a spectacular visit to the ancient city of Petra.<br /><br />Peace,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">+PBK</span></div>
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Bryanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00732421572673163979noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15477660219167793.post-30755754179657281792014-01-27T08:54:00.002-08:002014-01-27T08:54:40.868-08:00Day 7, Part 2: Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Western Wall, Holocaust Museum, Garden Tomb<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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With another bitterly cold day outside, I suppose now is as good as any to stay indoors and tell you some more about our Holy Land adventures. The end of my last post left us at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre near the middle of Tour Day 7. After going into the shrine that marks the place where they believe Jesus was buried, we gathered in the large open sanctuary in the church. A small group of us returned the next morning and I took a few more pictures then that I'll share later, but here are a few highlights of what we saw on my first visit. In the middle of the sanctuary was this basin, known as the Omphalos or "navel", marking what Greek Orthodox Christians believe to be the center of the world. I looked up a little more about this object and on the Church of the Holy Sepulchre website (<a href="http://holysepulchre.custodia.org/">http://holysepulchre.custodia.org/</a>), they write this: "This notion was already present in the Jewish religion which considers
the entire city of Jerusalem to be the center of the world; for Muslims,
the center of the world is marked by the rock at the center of the Dome
of the Rock. In the Church of the Holy Sepulchre the cross of Christ is
the center of the world from which the arms of the Savior extend to
embrace it in its entirety." <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJHGNl9byOMvfjAqHo-Q6o55IHDdoAhAADYZpcR6SyZh51rJDCNLDAd4DMOo_ISwTvzNkpRYQoM2755c4tDBwPCV7TGdew3maGWeqcYajQ7lVr_zbGnPw0EjN0g9Lv7eYz6UWJBZYVufQ/s1600/DSC_0365.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJHGNl9byOMvfjAqHo-Q6o55IHDdoAhAADYZpcR6SyZh51rJDCNLDAd4DMOo_ISwTvzNkpRYQoM2755c4tDBwPCV7TGdew3maGWeqcYajQ7lVr_zbGnPw0EjN0g9Lv7eYz6UWJBZYVufQ/s1600/DSC_0365.jpg" height="320" width="216" /></a></div>
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After a few moments looking in that area, we made our way back toward the entrance of the church so we could go up some stairs to see Golgotha, the place where Jesus was crucified. The mount has been enclosed by the church centuries ago, but the exposed rock at the top where they believe the cross was placed is in a shrine that you can touch. On our way, we passed what's called the Stone of the Anointing, commemorating the anointing of Jesus' body before burial. There's a beautiful mural behind it that depicts the scene of Jesus being taken down from the cross and being anointed and buried. The stone itself is revered highly by Orthodox Christians and we saw many of them coming and kneeling before it, many of them kissing it in much the same way many of the figures in the mural were kissing Jesus. Here's a view of that part of the mural from next to the stone:<br />
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From there, we walked up some stairs to the top of Golgotha to view the place of crucifixion. Here is a portion of the inscription over the doorway we passed through on our way up the stairs. By now, you are an astute enough Holy Land traveler to notice something odd about this. We're in a Greek Orthodox church, yet the inscription is in Latin. This is because this raised portion of the church was originally built by the Crusaders and there is still a Roman Catholic Chapel of the Crucifixion right next to the Chapel of Calvary that we visited:<br />
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The top of the stairs opened directly into the Chapel of Calvary. This picture shows a small part of the numerous decorations that enshrine the hole in the stone it's believed the cross would have been placed into. They allow you to see and touch that very spot, but the line was pretty long when we were there as an entire group, so we saw it from a distance and moved on. Again, I'll have more pictures of this from the next day when a few of us returned to this place. <br />
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Underneath that shrine, at the base of Golgotha, is a small space called the Chapel of Adam. A couple of windows look to the base of the rocky hill that has been enclosed by the church itself. This shows the crack its believed was formed from the earthquake at Jesus' death. You can also see a small Orthodox icon in the upper left depicting the crucifixion.</div>
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After a brief stop in the Chapel of Adam, we once again took to the streets of the Old City, making our way back to the Dung Gate where we first entered that morning. Just around the corner from the Church of the Holy Sepulchre is the Lutheran Church of the Redeemer:</div>
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The sign at the entrance to the church describing what you can see there. You'll notice the sign is in German and English. This property was given by the Ottoman Empire to German Emperor Kaiser Wilhelm I in the late 19th century. The infamous Kaiser Wilhelm II personally dedicated the church when it was completed in 1898. The church and adjoining buildings remain the property of the Evangelical Church in Germany. However, there are also offices of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land on the site, as well as an English speaking congregation served by two pastors from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. This is another place I returned to the following day, since all we got to do was walk by it and snap a few pictures.<br />
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Here is the main entrance to the church:</div>
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A familiar name along the way:</div>
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Here we are walking back east toward the Western Wall Plaza at the Dung Gate. The Mount of Olives is in the distance:</div>
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Here is an overview of the area of the Western Wall. The security checkpoint is in the foreground, although the area we entered as visitors to the Temple Mount in the morning is just out of frame to the right. You can see the covered wooden ramp we walked up in the center of the picture. Beyond it is of course the Dome of the Rock and the primary place of prayer along the Western Wall is to the left of the ramp. <br />
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Once we had a bathroom break (the restrooms here were free, so we took advantage...I haven't mentioned before that some of the toilets we used were pay toilets, usually costing 1 or 2 Israeli shekels, about 50 cents), we gathered to hear Pastor Art read a portion of Solomon's prayer of dedication for the Temple, especially emphasizing the place where Solomon prays that God would hear the prayers of foreigners who come from distant lands to pray in this place. So in a way, Pastor Art told us, Solomon was praying for us; an excellent thought to center ourselves with as we ourselves went to offer our prayers at the Western Wall.</div>
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As I mentioned when we first saw the Western Wall when we were going to the Temple Mount, there are two separate sections for men and women to pray in. Men are expected to wear something to cover their heads. Some of our group had caps on, but most of us donned kippahs that were available for anyone to borrow. After spending some time praying and placing prayer notes in the cracks in the wall, Pastor Art and I posed for a picture:<br />
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I told you in my last post that I started paying more attention to children after my experience at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, and as we gathered together in the plaza to make our way to where the bus would pick us up again, a group of Israeli schoolboys came along. Not all Israeli boys dress this way, but this is an example of orthodox or "observant" Jewish schoolboys wearing kippahs, having long locks of hair to the sides of their faces, and also wearing tassels. <br />
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After the schoolboys cleared out of the way and had a seat nearby to eat their picnic lunches, a little girl decided to do some twirls and run around in the open space. Eventually, she found her way over to the fence in the background where she peered through to look at some of the soldiers at the security checkpoint for the Temple Mount, that is until her mother caught up to her and gently pulled her away.<br />
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After boarding the bus, we drove through the city to a different hotel that had a large cafeteria where we had lunch. After that, we went to the Holocaust Museum for a brief tour. Here is the visitor's center at the Museum, seen from inside the park. <br />
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The first place our guide showed us was a place called The Righteous Among the Nations, honoring those who saved the lives of Jews during the Holocaust. A "forest" of trees is part of this memorial, lining both sides of a path called the Avenue of the Righteous. Here is the one that honors perhaps the most famous such person: Oskar Schindler of "Schindler's List" fame. It was planted by Schindler himself in 1962. <br />
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The main thing that our guide wanted to show us here was The Children's Memorial, dedicated to the memory of the 1.5 million children who died in the Holocaust. Here is the sign near the entrance to the memorial: <br />
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A view down the path leading into the memorial. The small bars sticking out of the stone symbolize the lives that were cut short. <br />
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Pictures weren't permitted in the memorial itself, but needless to say it was one of the more sobering experiences of our trip. There is a recording that plays the names, countries of origin, and ages of the children as you walk through. After seeing some portraits of some of those Jewish children, you enter the main part of the memorial were many mirrors reflect just a few small candles into an infinite number of lights. <br />
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After the Children's Memorial we walked through Janusz Korczak Plaza and viewed this sculpture that commemorates (surprise!) Janusz Korczak. He was a Polish pediatrician and author who, according to our guide, was sort of like the Dr. Spock (the famous pediatric author, not the Star Trek character) of his day. He was also the director of an orphanage in Warsaw. According to one legend, when the 190-some orphans were taken to the Treblinka extermination camp in 1942, Korczak was supposedly recognized by an SS officer who offered to help him escape. Korczak refused to leave the children and ultimately went to the gas chambers with them.<br />
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Walking back to the visitor's center and entrance, we again passed the Avenue of the Righteous. This man holding a baby caught my eye, an ordinary scene that almost brought me to tears after our experience here. It reminded me of a song written by Larry Olson, a Lutheran musician and songwriter, originally from Madison, MN. During an experience in war-torn Bosnia, he asked a man there what he could do to help. The man replied that he could teach his children not to hate. So he wrote a song whose chorus goes, "I will not raise my child to hate your child, I will raise my child to love your child...I will not raise my child to hurt your child, I will raise my child to help your child." <br />
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On a lighter note, we saw this on our way to the bus, a name that should be quite familiar to Minnesotans or at least fans of the Minnesota Vikings:<br />
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We also had to endure the sight of snow in the parking lot!</div>
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Our last stop of the day was at the Garden Tomb. This is an alternative site for Jesus' death, burial and resurrection. I'm not sure if I've discussed before about the difference between an "authentic" site and a "traditional" site. Authentic means there's no dispute about what took place there. Traditional means that it's where many people believe something happened, but it may not be the exact place. So there are two traditional sites for where Jesus may have been crucified and buried. One is at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre that we already saw and the other is here at the Garden Tomb. It was interesting to talk with members of our group later and hear who was more convinced by one or the other. <br />
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At the Garden Tomb, the place has been made into a traditional English garden. It provided a peaceful place for reflection in the midst of the busy city. It's outside the walls and to the north of the Old City. This site provided a guide for us, and the first thing he showed us was the place presumed to be Golgotha or Calvary, the mount of crucifixion. You can see why the Englishman who originally set aside and developed this site thought this might be Golgotha or "the place of the skull" because the rocks do sort of form the face of a skull. <br />
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Next we saw the tomb itself, carved out of a rock face. Here is our guide explaining the site to us.</div>
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This is the entrance to the tomb. The steps take you over the channel where the large stone would have been rolled along.</div>
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Another nice thing about the Garden Tomb is there are many places on the site for worship services to be held. This gave us another opportunity to worship together, sing a few hymns, and have Holy Communion. Pastor Art offered another brief sermon as well. Here I am leading the worship service:<br />
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And distributing Holy Communion. The tomb is behind those trees and shrubs in the background.</div>
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After our worship service, we had the chance to go inside the tomb itself. This is what part of it looked like inside, with areas carved out of the rock where a body could be laid. This is what a typical family tomb of the time would have looked like. A body would be left here for a time to decompose, then the bones would be gathered into one of the ossuaries or "bone boxes" we saw earlier in our travels so that the space could be used for the next body. <br />
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After a brief stop in the gift shop, it was time to get back on the bus and head for the hotel to have supper and end our day. Looking back, it's amazing to see how much we experienced in such a short time. The two full days we spent touring in Jerusalem were incredible, but also really overwhelming. It will probably be quite some time yet before I can really wrap my mind around everything we saw. Thanks again for following along. Since it looks like I'll be home for most of my day off today, maybe I'll get a start on the next post later this afternoon. <br />
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Peace,<br />+PBK<br />
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<br />Bryanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00732421572673163979noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15477660219167793.post-82632754918058497392014-01-22T22:09:00.001-08:002014-01-22T22:31:42.774-08:00Back in Brrrrrooten and Day 7, Part 1: Temple Mount, Pool of Bethesda, Via DolorosaGood news! Our group made it safely home to Minnesota, even though it decided to throw us a little bit of a snowstorm to celebrate our homecoming in the wee hours of Friday night/Saturday morning. The last few days for me have been spent trying to readjust to God's time (Central Standard Time, of course) and trying to be with my family as much as possible. Pastor Art, the wizened ministry veteran that he is, had arranged to have someone else lead worship for him on Sunday. Myself, being younger and more foolish, thought it would be no problem to come back and lead worship on Sunday, complete with two annual meetings, and oh yeah, just cap the day off with having both church councils over for supper that evening. Needless to say, my wife is an absolutely amazing woman and I couldn't have done any of this without her. So now I'm trying to take it a bit easier at the start of the week to allow her and I both to get as much rest as possible...not easy with three young children. <br />
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The other good news to share, which you're probably much more interested in than my dull, yet somehow exhausting life is that I've made substantial progress on editing pictures for the blog and a book that I'll be putting together in the coming weeks. The small netbook computer that I had with me on the trip was nice for travel, but it doesn't have the more sophisticated photo editing software that I have on my home computer, so I'm taking the time to go back and re-edit all of the pictures, including the ones that I've already shared on the blog. I won't be replacing the original posts, but they will look even nicer when it comes time to print said books. I'm planning on using Blurb to create the books and they will be available for sale to anyone who wants one. When the book is done I'll share the link to where you can purchase it. <br />
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So as the windchill dips into the -40 range this evening and my children are finally snuggled comfortably in their beds, how about I try to tell you about our seventh day of touring the Holy Land?<br />
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Tour Day 7 for us was Tuesday, January 14, our third day staying in Jerusalem. We awoke bright and early to be near the front of the line to get into the Old City of Jerusalem and into the Temple Mount. The Temple Mount, so named because it's the site where the Temple of Jesus' day once stood (the so-called Second Temple, built after the Israelites returned from exile in Babylon, eventually destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD). To say that the Temple Mount is interesting and important is an understatement. It is a holy site for three of the world's major religions. For Jews, it is where the Temple once stood which was for centuries the center of worship for the people of Israel, where the presence of God dwelt with the people, and where the High Priest communicated directly with God. It is still the place toward which many Jews direct their prayers. For Christians, it is a place that Jesus taught, prayed, and worshiped, not to mention the heart of the city where the central elements of the story of his death and resurrection took place. For Muslims, it is a holy site because it is believed that Mohammed ascended into heaven from this location during his Night Journey where he spoke directly to God and received important instructions regarding prayer. After Jerusalem came under Muslim control in the 7th century, the Dome of the Rock shrine was built over a large rock called the Foundation Stone. It's this building that currently resides on the Temple Mount, its gold dome the most recognizable landmark in the Old City skyline. This Foundation Stone is believed to be the place where the Holy of Holies stood in the Jewish Temple, and it's also believed by Jews to be the place where Abraham nearly sacrificed his son Isaac. Muslims also believe this, except that it was Abraham's son Ishmael who was nearly sacrificed. Confused enough yet? As I said, it's nearly impossible to overstate the importance of this site to literally millions of people. <br />
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Even though Jerusalem itself has changed hands several times in recent history, most notably in 1967 when Israel gained control of the Old City and the rest of the West Bank from Jordan, the Temple Mount itself remains under the oversight of Muslim authorities. Israeli Police provide security on and around the Temple Mount, but Muslims make the decisions about when and for how long the site will be open to visitors. They also forbid anyone to bring non-Islamic religious texts and artifacts into the site or to openly pray while there. This meant that we left our Bibles on the bus for the morning portion of our tour. It also posed a problem for us because we planned to walk the Via Dolorosa after visiting the Temple Mount but before we would return to the bus. Because neither Pastor Art nor I had the texts for the stations of the cross memorized, we needed a way to read the Biblical text without bringing a Bible with us. Luckily, technology saved the day and someone from the group had an e-reader with the Bible loaded on it. Either the Muslim authorities haven't caught on to this technology or they don't care because we didn't have a problem bringing it with us. <br />
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Ok, so that's the most I've written about any single site we've visited thus far, but like I said, it's really impossible to do justice to the historical significance of this place. I think of any single place we visited, it fascinated and made me a little nervous because of how contested it is. Not only is it a place where so many people have gone to worship for thousands of years, but it's also a place marked by conflict, assassination attempts (at least one successful), and protests in more recent years. <br />
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So where was I? Oh yeah, so we left early to get in line to go through the security checkpoint to be able to get in to the Temple Mount. Non-Muslims are allowed access from 7:30 to 10:30 in the morning, so our window for visiting was rather small and we didn't want to spend most of our day waiting in line. As usual, our guide was nearly perfect in planning when we should leave our hotel and we were one of the first groups in line. After a short wait, the gates opened and the screening process began. After going through the checkpoint, you walk up a long covered ramp that takes you above the large open area below that's known as the Western Wall, sometimes called the Wailing Wall. The Western Wall is the last portion of the original Temple area that is still standing, and it is a famous place of prayer for Jews. Here is the view from inside the ramp of men praying. A smaller area for women to pray is just out of frame to the right. <br />
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Upon entering the Temple Mount, we found ourselves standing between the Dome of the Rock to the north:<br />
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and the Al Aqsa mosque to the south: </div>
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As we stood and listened to our guide describe the buildings and history of the place, as well as answer many more of our questions about the current politics of the place, we got a first hand experience of the tension that exists over this sacred site. There were several groups of Muslim men seated in various places around the Temple Mount and we started to hear some of them chanting something a little ways off. The Israeli Police, who had just moments before been helping tourists take pictures in front of the Dome of the Rock, started talking on their radios and looking more alert. It turned out that a group of Jews had for some reason been granted permission to walk through the Temple Mount wearing kippahs (or yarmulkes or yamakas, whichever you prefer). Of course this was seen as a sign of protest and the Muslims who were there praying and studying were voicing their own protests against them. When she realized what was going on, our guide said something like, "We're just going to move a little farther away from them." That's how we found ourselves standing virtually alone on the vast platform that immediately surrounds the Dome of the Rock:<br />
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The smaller structure to the right is called the Dome of the Chain. It was most likely used as a model for the Dome of the Rock, although the Dome of the Rock was ultimately constructed with a hexagonal outer wall rather than octagonal. Like many places we've visited, this building has a history of use by both Muslims and Christians for prayer depending on who had control of the Temple Mount. <br />
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As we explored this area, another rare sight greeted us: one of the doors of the Dome of the Rock was open. Our guide suspected that the snowfall that Jerusalem received the week before may have caused some damage as they were apparently hauling scaffolding into the shrine to make repairs. As recently as 15 years ago when Pastor Art first visited the Holy Land, visitors were allowed inside the Dome of the Rock. Since 2000 and the Second Intifada in Israel, it has been off limits to non-Muslims, so it was indeed rare for us to get at least a peek inside. And yes, for you farm implement aficionados, that is a Bobcat-like machine to the right being used to haul the scaffolding to the door:<br />
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Here's a view of the inside of the Dome of the Chain, showing the intricate tiling that decorates both it and the exterior of the Dome of the Rock: <br />
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A view to the north side of the Temple Mount:</div>
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Looking to the east toward the Mount of Olives. You can see the small dome of Dominus Flevit Church near the center of the middle arch.<br />
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Walking down those steps and slightly to the north, we came to the Golden Gate. It's no longer in use, and the current gate probably only dates to the 6th century AD, the original gate below this one, but this is believed to be the location that Jesus entered the city during his triumphal entry that we remember on Palm Sunday. The man on the roof was keeping a close eye on all of us: <br />
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After the Temple Mount, we ventured into the narrow streets of the Old City of Jerusalem and made our way just a short distance to the Pool of Bethesda at St Anne's Church. Here we are getting our first good look at the streets of the Old City:<br />
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Pastor Art reading the story of the healing of the sick man by the Pool of Bethesda in John 5. </div>
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A view of the site of the Pool of Bethesda. Like many archaeological sites we've seen, this one contains many layers of history including a Byzantine church, a Crusader church, as well as a Roman temple. <br />
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After having a look at the archaeological stuff, we stepped into St Anne's Church and our guide encouraged us to sing a few songs in the acoustically beautiful space. <br />
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Bonnie graciously stepped up to direct our singing: </div>
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After this, we began walking to the place where we would begin our journey along the Via Dolorosa. The streets that seemed narrow enough just walking through them became even narrower as we also shared the road with vehicles: <br />
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The approximate location of the Antonia Fortress marks the beginning of the Via Dolorosa. This is the location that Jesus most likely would have been taken to his trial before Pontius Pilate. Today, several churches are located in this area to mark the site, and we began by visiting the one named Ecce Homo (Latin for Pilate's words, "Behold, the man"). Our guide Gila took the time to explain the path we would walk and show us some drawings of what the city probably looked like in Jesus' day. Here she's showing us the place where they believe Jesus was crucified and buried, outside the city walls of the time, but today the place where the Church of the Holy Sepulchre stands. You can also see of course the Temple Mount with a depiction of what the Temple itself would have looked like. The large building to the left of the Temple Mount is the Antonia Fortress. As an aside, the more time we spent with Gila, the more we realized what a remarkable guide she is. Pastor Art, in preparation for leading our devotions along the Via Dolorosa, did a simple Google search of "Via Dolorosa Bible readings." Google answered with nearly 200,000 websites and the very first one listed was from itsgila.com, our guide's website. She was a wealth of information, not to mention an experienced guide who seemed to have a knack for getting us to places at times when very few if any other tour groups were around. <br />
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After hearing the first reading of the stations of the cross from Pastor Art, we went underneath the church to see a large cistern and some of the ancient streets of Jerusalem that have been excavated. The grooves in the limestone pavement were to help horses get better traction when it was wet. <br />
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Back on the "modern" streets, we began our walk along the Via Dolorosa by passing under the Ecce Homo arch, the site traditionally recognized as the place that Pilate delivered that speech. <br />
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We made several stops to read as we went along. Several stations occur at the same location and not every location is accessible for devotional readings. We did the best we could, however. Here we are at station 6 listening to Pastor Art read for us. This is the station that remembers the legend of Veronica wiping the face of Jesus with her handkerchief. This event is not recorded in scripture, so we read Matthew 25:40 instead. <br />
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Part of the Via Dolorosa goes through a marketplace. Even though the merchandise and services offered are modern, you really got a sense of how crowded it must have been as Jesus carried his cross through the streets. <br />
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This gentlemen certainly caught our eye as he quickly strolled by: </div>
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Soon, we were standing in a courtyard near the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. The large dome in the background with the cross on it is part of the church. In order to keep peace among the various denominations that come to the site, reading and singing as a group is not typically allowed within the church, so we used this space to read the final passages for the stations of the cross where Jesus is crucified, then brought down from the cross, and buried. <br />
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For me personally, this was the most emotional part of the entire trip, and I know it was very meaningful to many others. Throughout our time in the streets of Jerusalem, I was typically the "rear guard" or caboose for our group, making sure that we all stayed together and no one got left behind. During our walk along the Via Dolorosa, I saw more people putting an arm around their spouse or holding hands than any other time on our trip. I hope it doesn't embarrass them too badly, but I had to get at least one picture of this kind of moment, so here is Jim and Sue as we prepared to walk into the Church of the Holy Sepulchre for the first time and see the place that embodies the central event of our faith. I think it pretty well summarizes the way most of us felt as we took those steps. <br />
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After passing through a couple of small chapel spaces, we came to the main entrance of the church:</div>
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Being an Orthodox church, it had the same level of ornamentation and decoration that we were now used to seeing in such places: <br />
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We took our place in line to wait to see the spot where Jesus was laid in the tomb. Pictures were not allowed inside, but here are some of the decorations just above the entrance:<br />
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It's now getting close to midnight here in Brooten and I should be getting to bed. There is a lot more to share from this day, but it will have to wait. I have to share one story with you, though, about my experience of seeing this place in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Inside this shrine that's been built around the spot they believe Jesus was buried, there are two rooms. The first room you enter is simply a waiting room. The room containing the altar and other decorations around the place of the tomb is rather small so they only allow four or five people in at a time. There is an Orthodox priest standing in the "waiting room" that tells you when you can go in and when your time is up and you have to come out. As usual, I was at the end of the line in our group, just behind Pastor Art and his wife Brenda. As our turn came closer, Pastor Art was cut off just after Brenda went in, which unfortunately meant they didn't get to go in together. Just as I was feeling bad about that, a young woman and a little girl came into the waiting room behind us. The little girl, no older than 6 or 7, was dressed brightly and carrying a backpack. The priest, dressed in black with a long beard and a kind but stern face suddenly lit up as the girl smiled, said something to him, and ran and leaped into his arms. Even though I didn't know the language they were speaking, it was immediately recognizable as the universal language that exists between fathers and daughters. It was almost indescribably beautiful in that holy place to see the unconditional love between parent and child on display. It of course made me miss my own children, but it also made the priest seem more human to me and the entire place lighter and less formal. In fact, when he put her down, she tried to get past him into "the place," and he had to catch her by the arm. From that point on I started paying more attention to children in the places we were visiting (you'll see more evidence of this later), and I began to wonder if her attitude of smiles and laughter and joy was more appropriate than all of the somber faces I saw waiting in lines to see this or kiss that or kneel before this other thing. She was a great gift to me because I think she gave me the clearest expression of the hope we have in the resurrection I could imagine: laughing and smiling right by Jesus' tomb and the loving embrace of parent and child. I think that's a good thought to end on for the night. Peace to you all.<br />
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+PBK<br />
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Bryanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00732421572673163979noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15477660219167793.post-91242103763188408012014-01-16T09:44:00.000-08:002014-01-16T09:44:29.078-08:00Hello from Petra, JordanWe are safely in Petra, Jordan for the night and had a wonderful walk through the ancient city of Petra this afternoon. Our hotel is very nice but only has WiFi in the reception area and restaurant. That and the fact we have to get up before 4 in the morning to get on the road to catch our flight from Amman means this is the last post I'll make before we arrive back home. I just thought I would let you all know that we are safe and happy, but ready to come home. Pray for safe travel and favorable weather. I promise to finish sharing our trip with you at some point when I'm home and feeling up to it. I'm glad so many of you have enjoyed following our adventures through my words and pictures here. Thanks for your kind comments and as always your thoughts and prayers are greatly appreciated.<br />
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+PBKBryanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00732421572673163979noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15477660219167793.post-78086061487642884132014-01-15T20:25:00.000-08:002014-01-15T20:25:41.284-08:00Day 6: Dead Sea, Masada, Qumran, Jericho<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
It's early on Thursday morning here in Jerusalem. We're getting up plenty early so we can leave and be one of the first buses in line at the Jordanian border when it opens later this morning. It's kind of sad to be leaving Jerusalem and Israel behind, but I'm of course excited to start the trip home to see my family. Hopefully I can get this post finished before I have to go get some breakfast.<br /><br />Day 6 of our touring was when we visited the Dead Sea area to the east of Jerusalem. The Dead Sea is the lowest place on earth, over 1400 feet below sea level. As we made our way down along the highway from Jerusalem, the countryside changed from hills with small trees on them to a more arid looking place. We also saw more Bedouin camps along the way, such as this one:</div>
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Here is another Bedouin shepherd with his flock of sheep and goats:</div>
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It was a lengthy and steep descent from Jerusalem, and when we got toward the bottom everything opened up into a fairly wide valley. Looking to the north, we could see the city of Jericho:</div>
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Here is a sign we passed showing we were now 300 meters below sea level (984 feet)</div>
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One of the most exciting things that happened all day was, after turning south onto the highway that runs along the western shore of the Sea, we encountered this large herd of domesticated camels. It was a good opportunity to be reminded that they are technically dromedaries because they have only one hump. Later, our guide would tell us that Muslim legend says that there are 99 attributes to Allah, and only the camel knows the 100th, so that's why they're smiling. Anyway, here's the herd of dromedaries and you can see one of the herdsman in the background and behind him one of the date palm plantations that's also in the valley:</div>
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Amazingly, as we sat there and watched them, the herdsmen brought them across the highway right in front of our bus:</div>
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More camels crossing the highway and stopping traffic:</div>
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After waiting for all 90 some camels to cross, we continued north, getting a good look at the cliffs and hills along the west side of the Dead Sea valley:</div>
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Looking north along the Dead Sea at one point where the highway climbs up a bit. You can see how the sea level has receded dramatically in recent years, mostly because of local use of the water. Sink holes are even starting to open up in some places along these now exposed mud flats. </div>
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Our first destination for the morning was the fortress of Masada. Built during the time of Herod the Great, it's most well known as the place where hundreds of Jewish people fled during the first Jewish-Roman war that resulted in the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD by the Romans. According to the story of the event told by the ancient historian Josephus, over 900 people were in the fortress when the Romans laid siege to it. Eventually, the Romans built a ramp up to the fortress from the west side and threatened to overthrow it. After the wall had been breached, the night before the Romans were going to enter and most likely take the people off into slavery, the leader of the Jewish rebels convinced the men to prefer death over slavery and they committed suicide after killing their wives and children and burning most of the buildings. When the Romans entered the fortress the next morning, they found only two women and five children still alive. Here is a model of Masada in the welcome center before you either take the Snake Path (a narrow winding path and staircase) or the cable car to the top, over 900 feet up:</div>
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We, of course, took the cable car:</div>
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Looking south from the top, you can see the Dead Sea in the distance:</div>
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A view of some of our group gathered on the platform at the top of the cable car line:</div>
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Another view looking east toward the Dead Sea from inside the fortress:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJug6PrEdugUWQBGW2aMbCPQLpiXDxzbkmwQ4g0L7h6u84NuIz4mMEnabugOgvyX8Xv_Cx-FUTfxft5cf_hR7Qg16zDn69QvY_LkEjQbhgHcJesaphX-Jnx8bNAvcP0HxOu0wA8Sl39Lw/s1600/DSC_0074.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJug6PrEdugUWQBGW2aMbCPQLpiXDxzbkmwQ4g0L7h6u84NuIz4mMEnabugOgvyX8Xv_Cx-FUTfxft5cf_hR7Qg16zDn69QvY_LkEjQbhgHcJesaphX-Jnx8bNAvcP0HxOu0wA8Sl39Lw/s1600/DSC_0074.jpg" height="224" width="320" /></a></div>
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Looking to the west, there are more hills. In the foreground are the storerooms that would have held provisions for Herod and later for the Jewish rebels. There were also large cisterns to collect rainwater that ran off of the hills. Part of why they think the Romans built the ramp and attacked is because they knew their best chance was to overthrow the fortress in the summer before the rains came again and replenished the rebels' supply of water. </div>
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Another view to the south, this time from near the top of the fortress. You can see the cable car and visitors center down below and the Dead Sea in the distance:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDF68Gca9xhSRfO6nYfimBpHpHBJMMHTVHNqdzUEIIdK0_wkco6vo_LfPOQEj0Z88XSrcl6efGu2qgUrcG5bVbC2b8HkyvqqHF289MvVZc5PyEkTZEgsSGX5QRRFZ_mxwPr4NE7ZEk7yo/s1600/DSC_0079.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDF68Gca9xhSRfO6nYfimBpHpHBJMMHTVHNqdzUEIIdK0_wkco6vo_LfPOQEj0Z88XSrcl6efGu2qgUrcG5bVbC2b8HkyvqqHF289MvVZc5PyEkTZEgsSGX5QRRFZ_mxwPr4NE7ZEk7yo/s1600/DSC_0079.jpg" height="217" width="320" /></a></div>
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Looking over the fortress, there are more storerooms in the center. Several have been intentionally left the way they found them when they excavated the site. The others have been rebuilt using the stones they found. After the Romans, some Byzantine monks lived here, and then the site was vacant and an earthquake eventually knocked most of it down. They know this because all of the stones they found were lying on the east side (the left in the picture) of the walls all around the site.</div>
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Gila explaining and much more to our group:</div>
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A view to the east from the top of the fortress. Immediately below are what they call the badlands, the Dead Sea beyond them, and the hills of the eastern side of the valley in Jordan are barely visible:</div>
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Looking down from our vantage point, you can see two lower levels of the palaces that Herod had here. I guess he appreciated the view as well. It's this three stair step design that made the place recognizable to an the archaeologist credited with discovering the site:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeZI3jbCHCq5CvjZXwK0ibpgfHiBTBfjh4664BuPImgNI-jQ4zdCJLtlQ1z548zyJzTj6hHWi1LTX2ap0MKJ8hIeoD7snML-OQMwFzxYsjSUSm_jjvTumoEtZbfd8YdcShOF8E6ikfWMU/s1600/DSC_0091.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeZI3jbCHCq5CvjZXwK0ibpgfHiBTBfjh4664BuPImgNI-jQ4zdCJLtlQ1z548zyJzTj6hHWi1LTX2ap0MKJ8hIeoD7snML-OQMwFzxYsjSUSm_jjvTumoEtZbfd8YdcShOF8E6ikfWMU/s1600/DSC_0091.jpg" height="225" width="320" /></a></div>
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Looking west from the top, the square in the center is one of the Roman army camps that was built during the siege:</div>
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A model of the palace showing the three level design:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4JQHIvz2vPjORiby_o33TOn8p8rfwH8nvZwVCTk2-_nps595GOuwBwcf0cljZJ8hy7AO9og9f8zvaaA41u8iNKXMm7dLRl1fu1fGJE4xCDSx0Lfs_1QCSZImi1emQx-c1mh4qHYh1HHk/s1600/DSC_0100.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4JQHIvz2vPjORiby_o33TOn8p8rfwH8nvZwVCTk2-_nps595GOuwBwcf0cljZJ8hy7AO9og9f8zvaaA41u8iNKXMm7dLRl1fu1fGJE4xCDSx0Lfs_1QCSZImi1emQx-c1mh4qHYh1HHk/s1600/DSC_0100.jpg" height="222" width="320" /></a></div>
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There was also a bathhouse located here, much like the one we saw in Beth Shean, only smaller. I didn't get very good pictures of the one there, so I tried to get some of this one. You can see how it worked in this reconstruction of one corner of the room. The pillars below supported a floor. Heat was brought under the floor and up through the pipes you can see inside the walls to provide a nice dry sauna experience. The openings to the left are meant to imitate the alabaster windows that were probably in place:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwG1h_uRYIM6xuwy9Bk-FL6r-Voxy-JK-__pr2vn3ZC52hyphenhyphenH_LaF0AAVebo_UQnUAbbIx-Ch_Amu24U123xcTOKsDKSeePIV2eQYbNpR5-oi8I7TdNlWeBtsYINuCbMowuyZbQCcD_RAM/s1600/DSC_0102.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwG1h_uRYIM6xuwy9Bk-FL6r-Voxy-JK-__pr2vn3ZC52hyphenhyphenH_LaF0AAVebo_UQnUAbbIx-Ch_Amu24U123xcTOKsDKSeePIV2eQYbNpR5-oi8I7TdNlWeBtsYINuCbMowuyZbQCcD_RAM/s1600/DSC_0102.jpg" height="218" width="320" /></a></div>
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The next place we stopped to talk was under this nice awning, and a bird joined us, making some of the people below him kind of nervous, but at least we got to see an Israeli bird up close:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgsOpb0GrVJu4VGCWBQ9uAqBpDJZxOTkGD7kYPgnctZco7JnO-HGyjTzj629HipEUzjigedh2BOS0lqximnuStqERUMTsrF89oS376hDmjCQC4pmFvHtc6CfqxGMxe5ut2yW5Z6JT-utU/s1600/DSC_0107.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgsOpb0GrVJu4VGCWBQ9uAqBpDJZxOTkGD7kYPgnctZco7JnO-HGyjTzj629HipEUzjigedh2BOS0lqximnuStqERUMTsrF89oS376hDmjCQC4pmFvHtc6CfqxGMxe5ut2yW5Z6JT-utU/s1600/DSC_0107.jpg" height="227" width="320" /></a></div>
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Looking to the north from near the northwest side of the fortress. In the foreground is one of the large cisterns built to collect water. Up above is where we were standing at the top of the palace area:</div>
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A view of where the palace was, showing the three steps and the Dead Sea beyond:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrqCue3lM3fLd9K-QDSCGVu88tLsHSK-EBa6zjHzy-kMeLW2dmYuRsh-YtJW8dxS8h8MDPDcg6i9VUIweArg5lHz2afJ43YcKem3oAfEVlKWLeMfogEClSzh2sXcl34eQgjXRjPm4mrSg/s1600/DSC_0114.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrqCue3lM3fLd9K-QDSCGVu88tLsHSK-EBa6zjHzy-kMeLW2dmYuRsh-YtJW8dxS8h8MDPDcg6i9VUIweArg5lHz2afJ43YcKem3oAfEVlKWLeMfogEClSzh2sXcl34eQgjXRjPm4mrSg/s1600/DSC_0114.jpg" height="219" width="320" /></a></div>
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Toward the middle of the eastern wall, they've reconstructed a portion of the ramp that the Romans built to finally breach the walls. This view is from the original gate that the ramp would have come all the way up to:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCG1rniPYpI-veJqGkDU5LfzeZiWWi-fvK6rqXkpwFxgC9fIARJKVzC9mx3w4EyS0JQNg7A34KEXzEKWDoyA3dFuiwjz0u7WmcvNGhVYvE_YOOhId0fyccIqLHoNdS3jNaK5x_B_NcsWE/s1600/DSC_0119.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCG1rniPYpI-veJqGkDU5LfzeZiWWi-fvK6rqXkpwFxgC9fIARJKVzC9mx3w4EyS0JQNg7A34KEXzEKWDoyA3dFuiwjz0u7WmcvNGhVYvE_YOOhId0fyccIqLHoNdS3jNaK5x_B_NcsWE/s1600/DSC_0119.jpg" height="320" width="217" /></a></div>
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Our group gathered around some of the large rocks they found that were thrown here by the Romans using large catapults. Many of these rocks were rolled back down the ramp by the rebels to deter the Romans as they built it:</div>
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From Masada we headed back north, passing some more wonderful scenes along the way like this. The small tree to the left is an acacia tree:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis__mhKzDs81nbfui-8ndzwjj364N3X59QDsv5dHNjn_cQEbQaaIK35LvdcuW5CC1YV9cT_sq_zGW7JcUJIZoatZB9ok6q-DYR7p4wKD-Q9R7CrCOX0kUvnpOyjALg6qzxDwHYMWaf864/s1600/DSC_0132.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis__mhKzDs81nbfui-8ndzwjj364N3X59QDsv5dHNjn_cQEbQaaIK35LvdcuW5CC1YV9cT_sq_zGW7JcUJIZoatZB9ok6q-DYR7p4wKD-Q9R7CrCOX0kUvnpOyjALg6qzxDwHYMWaf864/s1600/DSC_0132.jpg" height="217" width="320" /></a></div>
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Our next stop was the oasis of Ein Gedi, a place that David fled to when he was on the run from King Saul in 1 Samuel 24. Here is a view up the nature path we walked, showing you some of the hills as well as a few date palms. These palms have not had their lower leaves trimmed like many of the others we saw</div>
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This little guy scampered along the path next to us, commonly known as a coney:</div>
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The lower waterfall of the stream that comes out of the spring. We didn't walk to the upper falls or see the spring itself, but we got a good feel for what an oasis would have been like. David's encounter with Saul here would have been farther up in the hills:</div>
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Before boarding the bus again, another view of some of the date palms, showing you the trimmed ones in the foreground and a couple of untrimmed ones in the distance:</div>
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As we headed for Qumran, we found some ibex along the road, so we were excited to finally see some of these small deer or goat-like creatures:</div>
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At Qumran, we had lunch and did some shopping for Dead Sea products like moisturizers and bath salts. Then we explored the monastery that was built here by the Essenes, a Jewish sect that sought refuge in the wilderness here during Jesus' time. Less than 5 miles from here is where John the Baptist would have been doing his preaching and baptizing. Because he was born to elderly parents, it's possible that he could have been orphaned and taken in by the Essenes here. Qumran is most notable, however, as the site of caves in the hills above the old monastery in which the Essenes hid many scrolls of sacred texts. Their accidental discovery by Bedouins in the 1940s is without a doubt the most important archaeological discovery of the 20th century, in Biblical archaeology anyway. The scrolls predated anything else that had been discovered by over 600 years, so it really advanced scholarship on the Hebrew Bible. Here is Gila talking to our group with some of the hills in the distance that contained the first caves where scrolls were found:</div>
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Cave number 4, a place where every book of the Hebrew Bible was found except the book of Esther:</div>
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Because we had seen the actual scroll from Qumran of Isaiah 53, the Suffering Servant text, in the Shrine of the Book the previous day, I took the time to read that passage to the group and Art took this lovely picture of me:</div>
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After Qumran, we went down to the Dead Sea to a location where you can get in and float on the water. A handful of us decided to give it a try. The bottom was really slippery at first, so here we are gingerly making our way out to deeper water. You have to be very careful not to get the water in your eyes or mouth because it's over 30% salt and mineral, the saltiest sea in the world.</div>
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And here we are floating. It was really quite relaxing:</div>
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On our way down to the water, we saw a lot of younger people smearing the mud all over their bodies. Several of us also thought this looked like fun and gave it a try. Jim and I thought it felt great:</div>
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Our last stop for the day before heading back to Jerusalem was the city of Jericho. We were supposed to stop here on our first day in Israel, but we ran out of time that day. We didn't have a lot of time to spend at the ancient excavation of the city, but we did get to see a nice sunset along the way:</div>
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From the old city of Jericho, looking to the west is this hill known as the Mountain of Temptation because it's most likely in this wilderness area above Jericho that the temptation of Jesus took place:</div>
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Jericho is also, of course, where Joshua fought his famous battle and the Israelites first conquered a city of the Canaanites, although none of the walls have been found. One thing they have found on the site is this tower dating to 8000 BC, making it the oldest tower in the world:</div>
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As we headed back to the bus, some peacocks kept by a local business owner greeted us in the parking lot:</div>
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One was even on top of the bus! A fun way to end our day along the Dead Sea.</div>
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So that was it for day 6. I really have to get moving so I don't hold us up as we board the bus. I hope that the hotel in Jordan will have reliable (free would be nice, too) internet access so I can post more this evening. If not, I will post about the rest of our adventures once I'm back home. Thanks again for following along!</div>
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+PBK</div>
Bryanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00732421572673163979noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15477660219167793.post-72723480241159173272014-01-15T05:42:00.006-08:002014-01-15T05:42:49.554-08:00Day 5, Part 2: Israel Museum, Bethlehem, Church of the Nativity<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
It's now Wednesday afternoon in Jerusalem. We had a nice morning in the Old City again today, and now most of the group has gone to Bethlehem again to visit a family and have lunch there. A few of us decided to stay behind to get some more rest. I am preaching on Sunday when we return, so I wanted a little time to rest and begin preparing for that service. I thought I would also try to catch you up a bit with the blog and hopefully at least finish off the first day we spent here in Jerusalem. </div>
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After the Church of the Visitation, we drove to the Israel Museum where we would look at a scale model of the Old City of Jerusalem as it appeared in the 1st century AD, the time of Jesus. We would also tour the Shrine of the Book, an exhibit about the Dead Sea Scrolls. The public viewing for Ariel Sharon at the Knesset was going to start at noon, so our guide was surprised at how easily we made our way to the Israel Museum nearby. The parking lot and area in front of the museum was acting as a staging area for Israeli police who would be providing security:</div>
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This was the scale model we came to see. It's built out of actual stones and displayed outside. My only disappointment was that they had a railing around it so I couldn't get a picture of Art the Conqueror terrorizing the miniature streets of ancient Jerusalem. Otherwise, it was quite impressive:</div>
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Our group standing at the southwest corner of the city:</div>
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The Second Temple, viewed from the southeast. Solomon's staircase that we saw earlier in the day from the bus are along the Temple wall to the left. The eastern gate is in the center-right, and we're sort of floating above the Kidron Valley.</div>
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A straight on view of the Temple with the eastern gate in front:</div>
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After taking that picture, another American group was standing on an area above and behind us and I thought I heard a familiar voice. I turned around and it really looked like Dr. Thomas Schattauer, one of my professors from Wartburg Seminary. I almost hollered out his name but didn't think there could be any way that it was actually him. Their group left the area and I never said anything, but I emailed him that evening and it indeed was him. It's my one regret from this trip that I didn't shout to him, but it's cool that we were in the same place halfway around the world at the same time. </div>
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Back to our day, after viewing the model, we went into the Shrine of the Book where no pictures were allowed, but it was very cool to see pieces of the Dead Sea Scrolls, including a large piece that included the passage from Isaiah 53, the Suffering Servant text. On our way out of the Israel Museum, I took a picture of the Knesset with the Israeli flag at half-mast for Ariel Sharon. It's not often you're this close to something where world news is taking place.</div>
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Back on the bus, we made our way south to Bethlehem, which meant we had to pass through the wall that has been between Jerusalem and Bethlehem since the suicide bombings in Jerusalem in 2000. Again, I didn't risk taking any pictures as we went through the checkpoint, but I got the feeling that our process of crossing was quite smooth compared to some. You'll be able to see a portion of the wall in one of my later pictures. Our first stop in Bethlehem was the Christmas Tree Cafe where we had lunch, meaning I had another falafel sandwich. This time, they were preparing the falafels right out in front so I could show you what it looks like. It's simply ground chick peas rolled into balls and fried in oil. Here are some frying with some finished ones to the left:</div>
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The pestle for mashing the peas and the handle of the spoon for forming the balls. I thought this was one of the best falafel sandwiches we had. At one place you could tell they were pre-made and probably came off of the Israeli equivalent of the Sysco truck. Obviously, homemade is better!</div>
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After lunch, we drove to the Shepherd's Fields, a site near where they believe the shepherds were probably gathered and experienced the visitation of the angels announcing Jesus' birth. There is (surprise!) a small church there. Here we are outside the church. You can see the angel above the entryway and the standard Stearns county farmer stance:</div>
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The top of the church with a closer view of the angel. We were waiting our turn to go inside because it's not very large and it's another place where people often sing. We heard singing coming from inside, obviously Angels We Have Heard On High, but not in English. After the singing stopped, out came the same group of Koreans that we had heard singing in Caesarea the day before! </div>
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Inside, there were large murals on the walls depicting scenes of the angels announcing Jesus' birth to the shepherds:</div>
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At the front of the church was a scene of the Nativity:</div>
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We gathered around the altar in the center to take our turn singing:</div>
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One of the other murals:</div>
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Then we walked just a little ways down a hill to see the fields themselves. They are still apparently used by shepherds, because if you look closely you can see some Bedouin houses off to the left and a few tiny white dots toward the top left of the field. Those are sheep and maybe one goat...you'll just have to take my word on that.</div>
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At this spot, they had several areas for worship services, so we used one to have our Sunday worship. I led the liturgy, singing, and prayers, and Pastor Art read the Christmas story from Luke and preached for us. It was really nice:</div>
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Singing "O Little Town of Bethlehem" together:</div>
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After worship and a quick bathroom break, we drove back into Bethlehem to the Church of the Nativity to see the place they believe Jesus was born. Here is Nativity Square across the street from the church:</div>
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Looking toward the Church of the Nativity. We would enter through that small door directly in front of us where the two men are standing:</div>
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First we walked by some places where the newer floor had been opened up to show the old mosaic floor underneath:</div>
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The Church of the Nativity is an Orthodox church, so there were lots of ornate decorations in the sanctuary and near the place where you go to view the spot they believe Jesus was born.</div>
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An ornate version of the young Jesus on Mary's lap, a common depiction of the two in Orthodox Christianity.</div>
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The steps down into the place they believe he was born. This was pretty typical, so extremely claustrophobic people need not apply:</div>
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One of the decorations in the room:</div>
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Here it is, the spot Jesus was born:</div>
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When we were all finished, we went into the Catholic Church of the Nativity that adjoins the Orthodox one and then down some more stairs and eventually into a small chapel dedicated to Saint Jerome, the 4th century priest responsible for translating the Bible from Hebrew and Greek into Latin. His work comprised the majority of what's known as the Vulgate, the definitive Latin text of the Bible for the Catholic Church for over 1000 years. This stained glass window depicts him being visited by an angel:</div>
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On our way out of the building we passed through the Catholic Church of the Nativity. If you've ever watched the Christmas Eve Mass that they broadcast on the Catholic cable channel, this is where they do it every year. According to our guide, former Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's wife was Christian, so they often came here together for Christmas Eve:</div>
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A statue to Jerome in the courtyard on our way out of the church. Gila told us a legend that says he worked with a skull on his desk that spoke to him and said, "Get to work. You're not immortal." I guess that's one explanation for why he was such a prolific writer.</div>
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A look toward the top of the Catholic Church of the Nativity:</div>
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From there we drove back to the neighborhood near the wall where we had lunch, this time headed to an olive wood shop. We stopped at this particular shop because the owners were the ones who helped us get closer to the Church of the Nativity and our travel was made much easier because of their support. There were many beautifully carved items, and I bought a few small things to bring home. One last picture for the day, here is the street looking back toward Jerusalem. You can see the sign of the restaurant we ate lunch at on the right, and the madness of the traffic in the street to the left. The wall with a guard tower visible is in the distance. </div>
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<br />That ended our day. After making our way back across the wall, we went to the hotel for supper and some well-deserved sleep. Even several days later, I feel like this first day we spent in Jerusalem was our longest and most overwhelming in terms of what we saw and culture shock. Every day has been amazing, but this was quite a day. I hope you enjoyed following along. I'm going to take a little nap now. I might to get one more post written today. Otherwise, tomorrow we leave Jerusalem early in the morning to begin our trek home by first returning to Jordan where we'll see the ancient city of Petra. Then it will be Friday morning and time to catch our flight home! <br />
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+PBKBryanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00732421572673163979noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15477660219167793.post-65758323378028444022014-01-14T22:38:00.001-08:002014-01-14T22:38:17.316-08:00Day 5, Part 1: Jerusalem, Mount of OlivesThis morning is a bit more relaxed for our group. Instead of being out the door before 8, we're leaving at 9, so I have a little time to blog. Sunday, our first day in Jerusalem, was a big one, so I'm dividing it into two posts. I hope I can get both done today, but we'll see. <br />
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After leaving the hotel, we started our morning at the same place we ended the previous evening, overlooking the Old City of Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives. This is the direction Jesus and his disciples would have come into the city from during the triumphal entry (Palm Sunday). Our tour for the morning would follow the path down the Mount of Olives they would have walked:<br />
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A wider view with the Kidron Valley between us and the eastern wall of the city. The large gold dome is the Dome of the Rock, a Muslim shrine built on the site of the Second Temple. In the foreground is the largest Jewish cemetery in the world.</div>
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Our group taking in the view:</div>
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Before we began our walk, Gila had arranged a professional photographer to be there to take a group picture for us. A camel was also there that you could ride and several took advantage of the opportunity, including Betsey:</div>
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After that, we started our walk down the Mount of Olives. The first place we stopped was to see some caves with some bone boxes or ossuaries inside, some of them dating to the 1st century AD:</div>
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The next place we stopped is the traditional site of where Jesus lamented over Jerusalem and expressed his desire to gather the people like a hen gathers chicks. Here's Pastor Art reading that passage from Matthew 23 for us:</div>
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There's a church built on the site called Dominus Flevit (Jesus Wept), as well as restrooms, so we took a few minutes to explore the place. It's another good spot to get a nice view of the city. Here I am with the Dome of the Rock in the distance. Beyond that you can also see the gray dome of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and the tower of the Lutheran Church of the Redeemer:<br />
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The view from inside the Dominus Flevit church:</div>
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A nice mosaic on the front of the altar portraying the text from Matthew:</div>
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The outside of the church, shaped like a teardrop:</div>
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Onward from there, we continued to descend down the Mount of Olives toward the Garden of Gethsemane:</div>
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A view to the south across the Jewish cemetery:</div>
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Here are some of the very old olive trees in what remains of the Garden of Gethsemane. It was a much larger place in Jesus' day. Olive trees can live for thousands of years, so it's possible that these trees were young when Jesus and his disciples came here.</div>
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A closer view of the base of one of the trees with new shoots coming out of it. This is what Isaiah refers to in Isaiah 11 with the shoot that comes from the stump of Jesse:</div>
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There's a church on this site as well (get used to that) called the Church of Gethsemane. It was one of my favorite churches we visited. It's designed so that the inside reflects the feeling of being in the garden at dusk at the time Jesus and the disciples would have been there and there are several beautiful paintings at the front of the sanctuary depicting these scenes.</div>
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The painting behind the altar. This is the same scene that is depicted in the stained glass window behind the altar at Trinity Lutheran in Brooten where I serve; Jesus praying in the garden:</div>
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An overall view of the sanctuary: You can maybe see how the ceiling is decorated with stars and the windows are purple to diffuse the light and really make it feel like dusk. Like I said, in my opinion, one of the most beautiful sanctuaries we've seen:</div>
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After Gethsemane, we caught our bus and drove around the eastern wall of the Old City to the south side. Along the way we passed Solomon's steps, visible in the center of the picture next to the wall. These would have been there in Jesus' day:<br />
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Our next stop was the Upper Room where Jesus celebrated the Last Supper with his disciples. It may not be the exact room, but it's in the general area of the city where they would have been and is the same type of room they would have used. Along the way walking to get there, we passed the Zion Gate. When Jordan occupied Jerusalem, this was part of the border. On the left was Israel and a place they now call Mount Zion. The pockmarks in the wall are from the fighting that took place here:</div>
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Another sight along the way was this statue of King David:</div>
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Inside the Upper Room, we sat and had a lengthy but wonderful conversation. Here is the door into the room:</div>
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Our guide Gila during our great conversation. She said it was probably the longest discussion she had ever had in that place and we all enjoyed it. I'd love to tell you all about it, but it will have to wait for another time:</div>
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On our way back to the bus, passing the Zion Gate again, we found a large group of young Israeli soldiers gathering for a picture in front of it. Service in the military is compulsory for young people, although they can request not to serve. We saw many groups like this touring some of the same places we were:</div>
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From there we drove through the modern city of Jerusalem out into what's called in the Bible the hill country of Judea. Along the way we passed this playground, so I thought I'd show you as an example that life in Israel is very modern and felt quite familiar to most of us, aside from the language and geography:</div>
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The hill country of Judea. Terraces along the hills are for agriculture:</div>
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Our destination here was the Church of the Visitation, where Mary traveled to see Elizabeth when they were both pregnant with Jesus and John the Baptist. The walk up to the church was probably the most strenuous of our trip:</div>
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The Church of the Visitation. You can see "Magnificat" in the pavement in front. </div>
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The decoration on the front of the church:</div>
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Opposite from the church was this large wall with the Magnificat written in many different languages:</div>
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For the Norwegians out there:</div>
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For those who prefer English:</div>
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Pastor Art read the story of the visitation including the Magnificat from Luke 1 for us, with the English words right behind him. I'm sure he planned it that way:</div>
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There was a small chapel we could look into, and this was one of the paintings inside:</div>
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And a statue outside in the courtyard. This became one of my favorite stories this last summer and fall as we had many women in our congregation who were pregnant, including my wife. There's something very human about the story that transcends time and culture to encapsulate the joy that typically takes place when pregnant women meet. No wonder Mary was inspired to sing such a beautiful song.</div>
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That's it for the first part of our first day in Jerusalem. I have to head to the bus to go back into the Old City during our free day here. Our last day in Jerusalem and then we begin the journey home! Peace to you all.</div>
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+PBK</div>
Bryanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00732421572673163979noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15477660219167793.post-79020254095380212152014-01-13T13:20:00.000-08:002014-01-13T13:20:41.658-08:00Day 4, Galilee to JerusalemIt's now Monday evening here in Jerusalem. We've had another full day of exploring, this time traveling down to the Dead Sea. I know I say this about every day, but it really was absolutely wonderful and chock full of amazing sights and experiences I can't wait to share with you. One thing at a time, though, as I need to first get you to Jerusalem with us. For that we have to go back to Saturday. <br />
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Because we have quite a few farmers on our trip, they decided it would be interesting to try to tour something agricultural during our time here. We stayed at Maagan on the Sea of Galilee because it's owned by and operated by a kibbutz that also does some farming, so on our last morning there, one of the members of the kibbutz gave us a tour of some of their agricultural operations. This is one portion of the trip where my knowledge is admittedly limited, so I won't be able to share every detail, as you'll quickly see. However, as I told the group later, I took great joy in seeing their joy during this experience. It was a lot of fun to watch the sharing of information and mutual respect that was evident between farmers from opposite sides of the world.<br />
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First, we went to see the main part of the kibbutz. This is one of the streets with a kindergarten and senior center on the left. You can also see a raised stone area that looks like a garden on the left. This is actually a bomb shelter for protection in the event of rocket attacks from the hills above the kibbutz like the ones that occurred in 1973 during the war with Syria.<br />
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Another part of the central area of the Maagan kibbutz. </div>
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Then we went out to some of the fields just to the south across the highway from where we had been staying. The sun was already fairly high into the sky on a beautiful morning. A banana field with netting over it is on the right and some kind of fruit trees are on the left. The nets are crucial to being able to grow bananas here. I don't remember exactly why, but they are...something about needing less water or controlling temperature...well, clearly, we're getting out of my field of expertise, so I'll just show you the picture:</div>
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Elie was the man from the kibbutz who was giving us the tour:</div>
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Another man who is specifically in charge of banana production, whose name I've unfortunately forgotten, arrived to show us the banana fields:</div>
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He also had his dog with him, and since after only a few minutes they were deep into conversation about farming that was pretty well over my head, I befriended the dog:</div>
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The ongoing farming conversation:</div>
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Then we went into the banana field itself, where he showed us the trees:</div>
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Indeed, they were banana trees. The plastic is to help keep them from freezing...or ripen more slowly...or...something :)</div>
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So they occasionally give agricultural tours to groups, but I'm pretty sure this was the first time he'd been asked to show the irrigation pipe and certainly the first time he had a number of people wanting to take pictures of it. He even caught up with us again later to show them a short section of hose that he sliced open to show them some filters on the inside. I think he gave it to them to keep. Very very nice guy.</div>
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Of course, I tried to learn more about irrigation practices in banana fields, but my mind started to wander, so I took some pictures down the rows of trees:</div>
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A picture with some of the farmers:</div>
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Next, we drove just a bit farther down the fields to see the mandarin oranges. This man, again, whose name I've unfortunately forgotten, told us about how they grow the trees:</div>
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He also offered to let us pick a few oranges and eat them while we talked. It was by far the sweetest, best orange I've ever had in my life. I usually don't like to eat oranges because of the texture, but these just melted in your mouth with a burst of juice. Absolutely delicious:</div>
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When one wasn't enough, he let us keep picking and eating them. I caught Betsey reaching for another:</div>
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A look down a couple of the rows of trees:</div>
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Another portrait of farmers. I just love this picture...again, taking joy in the joy of others is a wonderful thing:</div>
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This was the view down the road we took into the fields. Banana fields are on the right, cedar trees on the left, and the oranges are on the other side of them.</div>
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From there, we drove west to the other side of town to another kibbutz to view their dairy operation. When Elie first boarded our bus in the morning, he said we would go see the Maagan kibbutz, then "everything else, the banana fields, the oranges, the cow sheds" except with his accent, we thought he said "cow s**t" so we all had a good laugh over that one. Anyway, on to the cow sheds:</div>
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Pastor Art has an affinity for cows, so we enjoyed seeing him overjoyed in the presence of Israeli cows:</div>
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A few curious looks:</div>
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Elie explaining something to us about the operation:</div>
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Tractor with palm trees:</div>
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In the barn with the calves, I was having too much fun taking pictures to pay much attention:</div>
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Ok, so that was our agricultural tour. I'm sure any of the farmers on our trip will be able to tell you many many more interesting details about this, but obviously I can't, so we're going to move on. All I can tell you is that they were all very impressed with the farming on the kibbutz and it really was a lot of fun and a highlight of the trip, even for me. After boarding the bus again, we were on our way west toward Mt Carmel. This took us away from the Sea of Galilee for the last time, so I snapped a parting picture:</div>
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After a while, we arrived at Mt Carmel and our bus made its way to the top where there is (surprise!) a monastery. There is actually a Catholic monastic order known as the Carmelites that was formed here. We went to their monastery for our visit to the area. Mt Carmel is most notable in the Bible as the location where Elijah confronts and slaughters 450 prophets of Baal during the time of Ahab and Jezebel. You can read that story in 1 Kings 18. Basically, King Ahab and the people have turned away from worshiping God to Baal. God sends Elijah to Ahab who calls for them to repent and announces a drought over the land. Finally, at the climax of the story, Elijah and the prophets of Baal go up Mt Carmel where they will finally settle the score. Both the 450 prophets of Baal and Elijah try to call down fire from heaven so they can see whose god is the true God. Elijah triumphs, the people of Israel turn back to God (at least for a while), the 450 prophets of Baal are chased down the mountain to the Wadi Kishon where Elijah kills them, and the drought ends. This is looking down the mountain toward the Wadi Kishon:</div>
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Another view from the top:</div>
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A statue of Elijah in the courtyard of the monastery:</div>
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From the monastery we went to a nearby town for lunch. We usually stop at a little mom and pop type sandwich stand with a selection of salads or a choice between chicken and falafel (ground chick peas rolled into balls and fried in oil) sandwiches. I had the falafel sandwich and some veggies this time:</div>
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After lunch, we headed farther west to the Mediterranean Sea. This is looking back east from the coastal plain to the hills:</div>
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Our destination here was Caesarea where we visited the ancient city built during the time of Herod the Great. The first part of the city we saw was the theater which now looks out onto the Mediterranean. The weather was perfect for us:</div>
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Caesarea plays an important role in the New Testament because apart from Jerusalem it was the most important Roman city in Judea at the time. As we sat in the theater I read part of the story in Acts 10-11 where Peter preaches to the household of Cornelius in Caesarea and he becomes the first Gentile baptized into faith in Jesus. It's one of my favorite stories in the Bible and one I recommend reading if you aren't familiar with it. As we finished our reading and were about to get up, a group of Koreans took the stage and began to sing. We immediately recognized it as "How Great Thou Art." It was a really beautiful moment as our group started to sing along with them and exchanged applause afterward. Interestingly enough, we'll encounter this same group again the next day in Bethlehem, complete with more singing:</div>
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We walked down to the front of the theater so we could see the seats up close. The lowest seats are original and everything above them has been reconstructed. Apparently they still hold concerts and events here during the summer months.</div>
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Leaving the theater, we entered the area of Pontius Pilate's palace and the hippodrome (chariot racing stadium). The columns mark where the palace stood on a jetty extending out into the Sea. This is where Paul was most likely brought when he was under house arrest here in Caesarea for several years, although where he would have been held is just out of frame to the right. Interestingly, this is the only location where they have found Pilate's name carved in stone.</div>
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We thought it looked like a nice place for a group picture:</div>
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Then we went down into the hippodrome, passing something that will be familiar to you if you saw my post about Beth She'an. On the wall to the left are some public toilets. Through the gate you can see the track of the hippodrome with the sea wall on the left.</div>
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Turn 4 at the hippodrome. Apparently, they've found a slight hill in the track here, meaning this was probably the most exciting place to sit because this is where the most crashes would take place. I guess some people have always watched just for the crashes. </div>
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We sat for a bit near the hippodrome so I could read part of the passage from Acts where Paul makes his defense before Herod Agrippa and Governor Festus in Caesarea before being sent to Rome. I made sure to include one of my favorite verses in scripture and my seminary class' unofficial motto: "While (Paul) was making his defense, Festus exclaimed, 'You are out of your mind, Paul! Too much learning is driving you insane!'" (Acts 26:24) After finishing that short devotion time, we walked on toward the north end of the ruins along the sea wall:</div>
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Beyond some more of the city, we came to the old port of Caesarea. This is most likely where Paul was put on the ship to Rome:</div>
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Before leaving the ruins at Caesarea, we used the restroom in a place where they have some shops and a cafe. While waiting there, someone shared the news with us that Ariel Sharon had passed away. On our way out of the ruins, we walked through another old Crusader fortress that was built here in the 12th century. Another moat was here, similar to what we saw at Belvoir, although this one was always dry:</div>
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Before leaving Caesarea, we stopped at the site of the ancient aqueduct that brought water to the city. At this location it sits right on the beach, so this was also our chance to dip our toes in the Mediterranean Sea. A view through one of the aqueduct arches to the Sea:</div>
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Looking back toward the bus, we see Pastor Art the Conqueror, this time accompanied by his lovely bride:</div>
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A wider view of the aqueduct:</div>
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Another "foot shot." For once, I probably had the most sensible shoes in the group. After long days of walking on rocky ground and through ancient ruins, the sand felt wonderful!</div>
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A picture looking north along the coast with some goofy pastor in the way:</div>
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From Caesarea, we headed south along the coast to Tel Aviv, then turned east toward Jerusalem. I tried to get a few pictures of Tel Aviv as we drove right through the heart of the city. Unfortunately, the sun was in a difficult place to get much, but this one turned out halfway decent:</div>
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I also was able to take my first picture of an Israeli train (if you don't know, I like trains). Because we were traveling on Saturday, the Sabbath, I was surprised to see anything moving, but this locomotive was going somewhere as we passed the airport (you can see an El Al hangar in the background). </div>
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We arrived in Jerusalem as the sun set. Our guide took us up to the Mount of Olives to get our first look at the Old City of Jerusalem before we went to our hotel. It was amazing to stand and look over the Kidron Valley at dusk, anticipating what the next days would bring for us. </div>
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That was it for our fourth day of touring. It's now past 11:00 PM here, so I need to get some sleep before our big day in the Old City and along the Via Dolorosa tomorrow. Peace to you all!</div>
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+PBK</div>
<br />Bryanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00732421572673163979noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15477660219167793.post-26861453457058015412014-01-12T19:51:00.002-08:002014-01-12T20:09:31.143-08:00Day 3, Part 2: Capernaum to Tiberius<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Our first day in Jerusalem went very well, although, if the days in Galilee were overwhelming, I think Jerusalem was doubly so at first. There is just so much to see and take in, from the ancient history to the modern day city. Also, perhaps I'm a bit of a country boy at heart, so being in Galilee was nice and pastoral. The pace of Jerusalem is a bit more hectic. So far, the death of Ariel Sharon has had little impact on our trip, at least that we can tell. So, to go back a few days, here is where we were late Friday morning, descending the hills on the northwestern side of the Sea of Galilee toward Capernaum:</div>
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At Capernaum, we saw the ruins of Peter's mother in-law's house. A church was built over the site in the 5th century AD, and a modern church has been built over all of it in the 1980s. In this picture, you can see two walls of cut stone that would be from the early church. The larger basalt stones (something we've become really good at recognizing by now) are from the house that would have been standing during the time of Jesus. This house is where you have stories like the man being lowered through the roof to be healed by Jesus, as well as several other healings:</div>
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Here is a wider view showing the modern church that has been built above the site. To the left are the ruins of the synagogue, so it would have been a short walk for Jesus to come here after teaching in the synagogue:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD5jnEThSCrBDdV6YYmuzhyphenhyphenuob7apa5fsaT3OHPt75yePFhBFRZdXjYXbPPbvwtJm5o03o0uFnIsGQTGfTZ6Fw83leF_gUM0Rh_IQ-2fYmX87KV3BWwRGdt-RKFYsk9k1jxDtFj3kMZpM/s1600/DSC_0140.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="217" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD5jnEThSCrBDdV6YYmuzhyphenhyphenuob7apa5fsaT3OHPt75yePFhBFRZdXjYXbPPbvwtJm5o03o0uFnIsGQTGfTZ6Fw83leF_gUM0Rh_IQ-2fYmX87KV3BWwRGdt-RKFYsk9k1jxDtFj3kMZpM/s1600/DSC_0140.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Here is a closer look at the synagogue. Again, the darker basalt stone on the bottom is from the synagogue that would have been here during the time of Jesus. The limestone above it is from when the synagogue was rebuilt in the 4th century. This is one of the reasons why they're sure that this is Capernaum. In the 4th century, Christianity had become the official religion of the Roman Empire, so it would make little sense for the state to sponsor the construction of a synagogue in this place, except that they wanted a place to show pilgrims what the synagogue may have looked like in Jesus' time. </div>
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Here we are on the seats inside the synagogue. Again, this is not the synagogue Jesus would have been in, but it's on the exact same site and looks very similar:</div>
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There are some other pieces of the synagogue on display that we looked at as well. This shot shows the Roman Catholic church that's been built here. The Franciscans are the protectors of many of the holy sites that we are visiting. </div>
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A picture next to the mosaic welcoming you to Capernaum, the town of Jesus:</div>
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From there, we went to lunch at a restaurant just down the road by the Sea of Galilee where we had the chance to try St Peter's fish, so named because of the story in Matthew where Peter catches a fish with a coin in its mouth. </div>
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So here is our lunch of St Peter's fish (Tilapia), deep fried. Many of us had it served with the head on, but none of us found a coin:</div>
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After lunch, we drove to the top of the Mount of Beatitudes, a hill just south of Capernaum overlooking the Sea where we remember Jesus' preaching the Sermon on the Mount. There were only 25 of us gathered to listen to Pastor Art read the Beatitudes from Matthew, but in Jesus' day there were great crowds of thousands who had gathered to hear him in this place (minus the trees and steps and shrubbery, of course):</div>
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The church that has been built on the site, looking toward the Sea of Galilee. The inside is eight-sided to remember the eight Beatitudes:</div>
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The altar inside, also eight-sided:</div>
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The view from the church back down the hillside to Capernaum, showing you how close this site was to the town. Capernaum they believe would have had around 5000 people living in it during Jesus' time.</div>
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Our next stop was a few more miles to the south at Tabgha, where it is believed Jesus fed 5000 people with just a few loaves of bread and two fish. This site was chosen because it is not near any ancient town, and the Gospels say that the people were hungry and didn't have anywhere nearby to get food. Here is one of the doors into the church:</div>
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The altar built over the stone where Jesus may have blessed the loaves and fishes. The present church is more modern, but some of the mosaic floors are from an earlier ancient church. You can see the mosaic that this church is famous for with the two fish and basket of bread between them:</div>
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A close up of some of the ancient mosaic tiles:</div>
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Again, we traveled a bit farther south to a site called the Jesus Boat where they have uncovered the remains of an ancient boat that would be similar to the boats in Jesus' day. This is where we got on our own boat for an evening ride down to Tiberias to end our day. The boat we rode, a modern boat made to look a little more like the boats of Jesus' time:</div>
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In the middle of the ride, Pastor Art read the story of Jesus walking on water and inviting Peter out onto the Sea. It was a pleasant evening with very calm seas, so no calming of the wind and waves was required for us. We had a nice ride and a good view of Tiberias where our travels for the day ended and we headed back to the southern end of the Sea to our hotel at Maagan. Tiberias was a city in Jesus' day, but not a place that he visited because it was a Gentile city. Here it is from the Sea:</div>
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So that gets us through Day 3. I'm now two days behind, but hopefully I'll be able to catch up a little bit during part of our free day on Wednesday. Today we're traveling from Jerusalem to the Dead Sea, including a tour of Qumran where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered, and we'll also stop in Jericho to see that ancient city where Joshua and the Israelites fought their famous battle of Jericho. Keep praying for us and feel free to leave more comments. Peace to you from Jerusalem.</div>
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+PBK</div>
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<br />Bryanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00732421572673163979noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15477660219167793.post-40922238984576026502014-01-11T20:45:00.002-08:002014-01-11T20:45:51.023-08:00Day 3, Part 1: Golan Heights, Caesarea Philippi, DanGreetings from Jerusalem! We arrived here yesterday evening after another full day of touring where we traveled from Maagan on the Sea of Galilee up to the top of Mt Carmel, then down to the Mediterranean Sea at Caesarea, before finally driving through Tel Aviv and on here to Jerusalem. I finally caught up on some sleep last night, so I'm feeling refreshed as I try to catch you up on our travels. Our third day of touring began in Maagan where we had to wake up plenty early and get on the road by 6:30 to avoid a marathon that was going to be happening on the highway around the southern end of the Sea of Galilee. We drove along the eastern shore of the Sea, up to an area called the Golan Heights. Our first stop was at the location where they believe the story of Jesus casting out a Legion of demons into a herd of pigs took place. I realized I hadn't shown you a picture of our guide, Gila, so here she is telling us about the pigs charging down the hillside and drowning in the water, and that the geography of the place makes this the only likely spot that this could happen. Gila has been wonderful. She's a Jewish ex-pat from Connecticut who has been living in Israel since 1973 and guiding tours for over 30 of those years. <br />
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Here's a view from the site looking across the Sea of Galilee to Tiberias with a sign that would become familiar during our journey this morning. This area was mined during the conflict with Syria.</div>
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From there we traveled a bit farther north before turning east away from the Sea and up into the Golan Heights themselves. Here's a view looking back to the northern end of the Sea.</div>
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It was a bleak and cold morning to drive through a desolate place like this where so many battles have been fought, including modern tank battles between Syria and Israel. Many wondered why there would be so much fighting over land like this, but with the commanding view of the Sea of Galilee and the Jordan River valley, it has been vital to Israel's well being to keep Syria out of Golan. And a reminder that even in dark places and times, the light can still break through:</div>
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An Israeli war memorial at a particular intersection:</div>
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After some more driving, we came to this overlook where you can view the Syrian border. The small white buildings in the middle are at the border. The larger white buildings off to the right is the UN compound in the narrow demilitarized zone between the two countries. In the foreground are some of the many orchards and vineyards we saw in this area, and we saw some people at work in them as well. I'm sure the view looks much more beautiful in the spring and summer, but on this day we got a bleak picture into a place where there is a lot of violence and suffering right now.</div>
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As we traveled away from the Syrian border to our next stop, we passed this road that our guide told us is the old road to Damascus, the road on which Paul had his conversion, although that was probably closer to Damascus, about 50 miles from this spot:</div>
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We drove through the town of Buq'ata and encountered this shepherd with his herd of sheep and goats:</div>
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Then we stopped at cafe near Mt Hermon for coffee and some delicious baklava:</div>
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Mt Hermon was visible when we went into the cafe but clouds moved in by the time we came out. On our way back down out of the hills, they parted just enough to get a glimpse of the highest mountain in Israel in the distance:</div>
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Our next stop was Caesarea Philippi, where Jesus brought his disciples before beginning their journey to Jerusalem. It's the site of some springs that form part of the headwaters of the Jordan River as well as an ancient Greek temple to the god Pan. I thought you might want to see this little guy, who doesn't have a name, but is sort of the new mascot for the Israeli National Park service, like Smokey the Bear for us.</div>
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Our group as Pastor Art reads for us the passage where Jesus gives Peter his name and says "On this rock I will build my church." Pastor Art told us that it was significant that he said that in this place because there are the rocks of the mountain, the rocks of the temple, and the stone idols that would be placed in niches in the wall of the temple. So Jesus was saying the church would be established, not on this rock or this rock or that rock, but on the rock of Peter's faith, and Art reminded us that the church continues to be built on faith.</div>
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A view across the water coming out of the spring called Banias, and looking toward the cave or grotto that is the oldest shrine on the site:</div>
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Another view of Pastor Art reading for us from the Psalms after we spotted some wildlife that are referred to in several places. I tried to get a decent picture of them, but they were too far away and in some bushes, but they kind of looked like small ground hogs or large guinea pigs to me:</div>
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Then we walked up to the grotto itself:</div>
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One of the niches in the cliff where a stone idol would have been placed:</div>
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An overview of the site from another location:</div>
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Our next stop was at Dan at a nature preserve where we could walk and see another set of springs and a river that are more of the headwaters for the Jordan River, as well as an ancient temple on the site.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf2c64jgCk5m6ngmDz9E3ssuIzxHPihhg34jrZh4jLe050c1dyUR1sKXKpzMsgXGuPmKliH2OCxOOizKrzs55W_owNgC_sww7frxOPR2fBcleiLMhZgR7iympCLDd2EHgl-Ql8F8T-kiA/s1600/DSC_0084.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf2c64jgCk5m6ngmDz9E3ssuIzxHPihhg34jrZh4jLe050c1dyUR1sKXKpzMsgXGuPmKliH2OCxOOizKrzs55W_owNgC_sww7frxOPR2fBcleiLMhZgR7iympCLDd2EHgl-Ql8F8T-kiA/s1600/DSC_0084.jpg" height="225" width="320" /></a></div>
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Here is our group on the trail, looking at some of the water rushing down toward the Jordan River:</div>
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They were looking at the Dan River, one of the three sources for the Jordan River:</div>
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After a while we stopped at this reflecting pool:</div>
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Pastor Art read for us the story of how, after the kingdom of David and Solomon was divided in two (Israel in the north, Judah in the south), King Jeroboam (one of Solomon's sons and ruler in the north) set up shrines complete with golden calves in Bethel and Dan so that people in the northern kingdom would not return to the temple in Jerusalem in the south to worship. This was sort of the beginning of the end for the northern kingdom as they turned to idolatry.</div>
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After another short walk up the trail, we came to this large pistachio tree:</div>
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From there, we could look to the north and see the northern border of Israel with Lebanon, marked by the hills in the distance:</div>
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Here, our guide took the time to answer many questions about Israel, both in the distant past and in more recent history. I wish I could tell you all of it, but you'll just have to be content with this picture for now:</div>
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Finally, the last thing we saw on the site was the ruins of the temple at Dan, built around 1700 BC.</div>
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From Dan we traveled back toward the Sea of Galilee to go to Capernaum, the town at the center of Jesus' ministry in the Galilee region. As we made our way there, still north of the Sea, we drove past this site, called Hazor. It was the largest fortified city in the area during the Canaanite period, so contemporary to the fortress at Megiddo that we saw the previous day:</div>
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As we made our way down toward the Sea of Galilee and Capernaum, we also drove by the city of Chorazin, listed in the gospels along with Capernaum and Bethsaida as places where Jesus performed miracles. It's also one of the places that Jesus denounces when he says "Woe to you Bethsaida, woe to you Chorazin."</div>
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That's all the time I have for now. We have another big day ahead of us as we travel to Bethlehem and begin our explorations of Jerusalem. Stay tuned and peace to you.</div>
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+PBK</div>
<br />Bryanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00732421572673163979noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15477660219167793.post-13171749905067468432014-01-10T12:00:00.000-08:002014-01-10T12:07:55.743-08:00Day 2, Part 2: Megiddo and BelvoirIt's almost 8:30 PM here by the shores of the Sea of Galilee on our last night at Maagan. Today was the longest day of touring that we've had so far. Because of a marathon being run around the southern end of the Sea of Galilee, we had to be up and on the road by 6:30. We ended our day with a nice boat ride on the Sea and didn't arrive back to the resort until after 5:30. I'll try to get us caught up through the rest of yesterday (Thursday) this evening before I crash into bed. Tomorrow we aren't leaving as early, so I should have time to do some more in the morning. I'm trying not to get too far behind, but there's so much I want to share with you all!<br />
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So, picking up where we left off in Nazareth, we left the site of Mary's well and drove out of Nazareth toward the ruins of Megiddo. This took us south out of Nazareth and into the Jezreel valley, through the town of Afula and then west to the site of Tel Megiddo. (In Hebrew, Tel means "mound," particularly a mound with ruins on it.) Here is a view coming down from Nazareth into the Jezreel valley. Here we're looking to the south-southeast, toward the town of Nain where Jesus raised the widow's son. </div>
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After a 20 minute drive or so, we arrived at Tel Megiddo:</div>
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Megiddo is an ancient fortress built on top of a hill overlooking the intersection of two roads. There are several layers of history here that are too much to share with you in such a short time, but I will do my best. The oldest evidence of some kind of habitation at the site dates back to almost 7000 BC, so we're talking very very old. The site was occupied in some form until 586 BC, the time of the conquest by the Babylonians. This makes the site a rich archaeological site because later construction has not disturbed anything since that time. It's believed that the site functioned not only as a garrison and fortress, but that later construction during the time of Solomon included stables for some of his famed horses. This may have been a place where the horses were trained to work in pairs to pull chariots. Another main feature of the site we would get to experience is the tunnel that was dug to allow access to fresh spring water from inside the walls of the fortress. This is the inspiration for the fictional account of a well that is discovered in a tel in James Michener's famous novel "The Source." As we began our tour of the site, we gathered around this model of what the city may have looked like during the time of Solomon. The gates are out of frame to the left, some of the stables are in the upper left, the main fortress and palace is on the right with more stables in the right foreground, and the hole going down to the water tunnel is in the foreground. In front of the hole you can see a small crack in the wall that was first opened to allow quicker access to the spring before the hole and tunnel were dug. Before this, the women would have to leave through the front gates and walk around the walls of the fortress to get to the spring and draw the water, then carry it all the way back in through the gate. </div>
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Hopefully that gives you enough orientation, although we got a lot more detail than what I've given you here. As we entered the site itself, we passed by some of the original stairs leading up to the fortress. Remember, we're talking about things that are over 3000 years old!</div>
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As we walked through the ruins of the gates, our guide told us that we were now walking on the original stones from the 15th century, BC. I had to stop to take a picture of my foot on one of the stones, also to show you my shoes that everyone has been so interested in. I've got a separate blog about running and why I like these shoes, so I won't bore you with that now. Anyway, this is my foot on a stone that was placed here and walked on by ancient people at least 3500 years ago:</div>
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This is the view from the front gate of Megiddo looking back to the north across the Jezreel valley to Nazareth. </div>
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Here is Pastor Art charging through the gates of this impregnable fortress (this is what happens when the pastors are the last ones in the group):</div>
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Here is the rest of the group exploring the site as we make our way from the gates up to the first stables:</div>
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Here are the remains of the stables, again looking across the Jezreel valley toward Nazareth. Note that some of the stones are newer and were placed here to give you a more complete picture of the site. I included this picture mostly so you could see both Nazareth on the hillside in the distance on the middle left, but also Mount Tabor standing alone just to the right. This is most likely the Mount of Transfiguration. We won't travel there as it's a long journey by taxi to the top, but I thought it was nice to see. This also gives you an idea of why this fortress was so important with a commanding view of the entire valley. This is a good time to share with you the other reason this site is significant to us. In Revelation 16, when John says there will be a great massing of the armies of good and evil, he says it will take place at "Armageddon." This comes from the Hebrew "Har Megiddo" or "hill of Megiddo," so if you're wondering where the final battle between good and evil will occur, according to John it's going to take place right here in this valley. </div>
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As we left the stable area, we passed this strange round stone at the bottom of one of the more recent excavations. Our guide told us that it's solid basalt, and they're not sure what it's for, but it dates to the Bronze Age, or somewhere around 7000 BC, so it's evidence that there was a settlement here even then. They're doing more research about it before digging any deeper, so we're just kind of in awe of this strange ancient stone:</div>
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This area of the fortress was the cultic or ritual center, with the large circle of stones most likely being part of an altar for sacrifices, in Canaanite times (before they were conquered by the Israelites) perhaps even child sacrifice. </div>
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In the middle of the ruins, we were able to look inside the largest ancient grain silo that's been found in the Middle East. One farmer among us wondered if it was made by Sukup:</div>
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After seeing the other stables, it was time to descend into the well and walk through the ancient water tunnel to the spring on the outside of the fortress. As we decended the many stairs into the well, we saw the ancient stairs along the walls. These would have only gone down so far to a place where there would have been buckets to draw the water up, so the women would not have gone all the way down to the tunnel like we did. The tunnel simply brought the water from the spring outside the wall inside the fortress so they could draw it up. Our guide said that while this certainly saved the women many steps and protected them from attack, it was probably built more as a protection for the water source itself rather than out of concern for the women, although I'm sure they were glad for the "convenience" of it.</div>
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Like all tunnels, this one was of course rather dark, so the best I could manage picture-wise without using the flash was this closeup of the tunnel wall, hand dug of course:</div>
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After we emerged at the spring, we walked up more stairs (thankfully less on that side going up than we walked down from the inside of the fortress) to a parking area where our bus was waiting for us. We drove back to the main entrance and had our lunch at the cafeteria in the park. After lunch, we left Megiddo and went back east toward the Jordan River valley to Beth She'an, then north along the same road we took the evening before to Belvoir Fortress. </div>
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The name Belvoir is French meaning "good view" and it's appropriate, because to get there we drove up a winding road to the top of the hills overlooking the Jordan River valley. Belvoir is a Crusader fortress that was built in the 12th century AD as the Crusaders fortified themselves to defend against Muslim invaders. The fortress only lasted about 50 years until it was dismantled after coming under Muslim control. I decided I'd try to be a Crusader defender, too, if only for a moment. I don't think I would have fared any better than they did:<br />
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To get to the ruins, we first crossed the moat:</div>
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The architecture was exactly like what you'd expect from a typical Medieval castle with an outer wall, an inner wall, and then a fortified keep in the middle. Here is one of the arched entrances to the keep area:</div>
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This is looking east through the outer wall toward the hills of Gilead in modern day Jordan on the opposite side of the Jordan River.</div>
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Here is part of the view from the eastern wall of the fortress (without the wall, of course), giving you an idea of how commanding the vantage point was and why it was named "good view." This is looking northeast, with the Sea of Galilee on the far left and the hills of Jordan beyond the river valley to the right.</div>
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Crusad....I mean, Pastor Art, surveys the valley from his most recently conquered fortress of the day:</div>
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One final look across the valley from inside the fortress</div>
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On our way out of the fortress we stopped in the keep and took some more pictures, but we had to be somewhat quick about it because we were the last group of the day and the person at the gate said they were leaving at 4 whether we were gone or not :) That was the end of our touring for the day. We returned to Maagan and stopped at a shopping center along the way to buy some beverages, something our guide said she had never done with a group before. It was fun to go into an Israeli supermarket, and I bought some Israeli chocolate to bring home for Lindy and the boys. After that, it was time to head back to our resort to relax, enjoy supper, and get some rest before our big day around the Sea of Galilee that we had today. If I can get the pictures ready this evening I'll post about that in the morning before we leave Maagan and the Sea of Galilee and head toward Mt Carmel and the Mediterranean Sea at Caesarea before ending our day in Jerusalem, and since it's Friday evening here, I'll say farewell with the appropriate Jewish greeting: Shabbat shalom or "Peaceful Sabbath."</div>
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+PBK </div>
Bryanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00732421572673163979noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15477660219167793.post-26386954782251603032014-01-09T19:48:00.000-08:002014-01-09T19:48:37.530-08:00Day 2, Part 1: River Jordan, Cana, and NazarethWell don't worry, I am getting some sleep, but it's in fits and starts. My body is still adjusting to the time difference, I think, so we'll see how today goes. I have just a few moments before I head to breakfast to begin day 3 of our tour days here in the Holy Land, so let me tell you a bit about what we saw yesterday morning. After breakfast, we drove just a few minutes down the road from the resort we are staying at to the place where the Sea of Galilee empties into the Jordan River. Near this spot, they have built a "baptismal site." It's not the place where Jesus was baptized, that's farther south, closer to Jericho where we entered the country. This is a place built specifically for people today to be baptized in the Jordan River. Jesus' baptismal site is inaccessible because it's in the disputed West Bank area where the border is more heavily guarded. We stopped at the baptismal site to see the Jordan River up close. Pastor Art and I are taking turns leading the devotions each day, so this day was my turn. We read the story of Jesus' baptism from Mark's Gospel and had a brief service of thanksgiving for our own baptisms:<div>
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We then had the chance to collect some water from the river into bottles to take home with us. I also blessed each person individually and prayed with them. All of you were in our prayers as we remembered our friends and family. </div>
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Pastor Art also blessed me. This picture also shows you how wide the Jordan River is here, and this is not far from where it comes out of the Sea of Galilee. I told you it's not very wide (or deep for that matter):</div>
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Back on the bus, we drove up out of the valley toward Cana. This is looking south down the valley of the Jordan River:</div>
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Some of you may be curious what the country of Israel is like today. I can't give you lots of detail now, but it is very modern and feels quite western. Here is a view from the bus of the main highway we took toward Nazareth and Cana:</div>
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In Cana, we visited this church built on top of the site of a 6th century church:</div>
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Being a Roman Catholic church, there was mass being said inside, but there was a nice courtyard beside the church where we were able to gather. We read the story from John 2 of Jesus attending the wedding at Cana and performing his first miracle of turning water into wine. We also celebrated a renewal of wedding vows service for all of the couples on the trip. I think it was a surprise to some and meant a lot, because there were a few misty eyes during the service. Of course, Lindy was far away from me, but I'm thankful for my own wife and the vows we share. We prayed for the blessing of all families and marriages as well.</div>
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Then we went into the basement of the church to see some of the ruins of the ancient church below it. I suppose we take them at their word that this is the old church:</div>
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This is the inside of the church with another renewal of vows service and mass being said:</div>
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Walking back to the bus, we passed by this church, an Orthodox church dedicated to Nathanael, one of Jesus' disciples who was from Cana and famously stated "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" At the time, Cana was the big city and Nazareth was the small town. Now, the roles are reversed with Nazareth being quite a bit larger than the current city of Cana.</div>
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Here we are walking through the streets of Cana. We passed by a school where children were outside playing at recess, a few of them coming up to the fence to say hello and have their picture taken. I wonder how many of them are in photo albums around the world?</div>
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Another view from the bus of some of the busy city streets we navigated in Cana on our way to Nazareth:</div>
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In Nazareth, we stopped at this Orthodox church located at Mary's Well. It's supposedly the spring of Nazareth where people would have gathered water in the time of Jesus. You can see part of the nativity scene and large Christmas tree to the right that were set up for the Orthodox celebration of Christmas which was on January 6:</div>
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Inside, we stood by Mary's well and read the story of the annunciation from Luke's Gospel where the angel Gabriel visits Mary in Nazareth. Here is the well, again, you take them at their word that this is actually the spring:</div>
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Yours truly by the altar they have set up by the well for prayer:</div>
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Just as interesting was the church itself, since many had never been inside an Orthodox church before. The Orthodox tradition uses icons to tell the story of our faith and the artwork is beautiful. A prominent theme in this church was of course the angel Gabriel:</div>
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Here is another scene of Mary holding a young Jesus:</div>
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That's all the time I have for now. After Nazareth we will travel to the ancient fortress of Megiddo, then to a crusader fort at Belvoir. Stay tuned! We're off for more adventures around the Sea of Galilee today!</div>
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Bryanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00732421572673163979noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15477660219167793.post-19279565630812087222014-01-09T12:59:00.000-08:002014-01-09T12:59:12.510-08:00Day 1, Part 2: Jordan to Israel, Beth She'anToday was another great day in Israel that I can't wait to share with you. As I feared this morning when I wrote the last blog post, it's difficult to put it all into words. Even worse, it's difficult to sort through all of the pictures and choose which ones to share with you in the limited amount of time and energy I have at the end of the day. I surely am missing lots of details and things we've seen along the way, but I hope you're getting at least a little glimpse of our travels. Also, before I forget, I want to thank those of you who have left comments here. The group has really enjoyed hearing from you, so keep it up! A note about the weather since my good friend Sarah asked about it, we are certainly enjoying warmer weather than what we left in Minnesota, but the high temperature each day is still typically "only" 50 degrees or so. Combined with a stiff breeze at many of the sites that are high up and in pretty exposed areas, we all are wearing jackets most of the day. We had plenty of sun our first day, but today the weather was more cloudy with a few light rain showers mixed in, although we only experienced a few drops on us while we were out of the bus. <br /><br />Anyway, to pick up where I left off this morning, after Mt Nebo, we stopped at a museum and shop just down the road to see some mosaic work. The guide told us that this area of Jordan in particular was famous for its mosaics. In addition to seeing the museum that was made up of scenes from Biblical times as well as more recent life in Jordan, we were able to see a few local artists working on some mosaics:<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The person in charge also showed us an example of how they applied a mosaic to ostrich eggs:</div>
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We then had a chance to look around the shop where many pieces from local artists were for sale as well as many other items. Then it was time to head down the western slopes of Mt Nebo toward the Israeli border to make our crossing. On our way down, we saw many Bedouin tents belonging to sheep and goat herders in the area. Most of the farmers were wondering what there was out there for the sheep to eat, but they must find something.</div>
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We also saw many of the sheep and goats themselves along the road. I think in this picture there's also a donkey thrown in for good measure:</div>
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The border crossing was an interesting experience. Of course, we were unable to take any photographs in that area. Suffice it to say, we and our luggage were thoroughly checked, similar to what we're now accustomed to at airports. Two of us were singled out for additional inspection, myself included, and I took a good deal of abuse, not from the Israelis, but from the other members of the group who thought it was pretty funny that the pastor had to wait longer and go through extra screening. In the end, all they did was ask me to empty my pockets, swabbed my passport with something and tested the swab. For what, I don't know, but it must have been ok because I got my passport back and was sent on my way with everyone else. According to our Israeli guide, they typically choose one or two people for these sorts of things from every group, so I guess I looked most suspicious. I told everyone it's because I'm so young traveling with so many old fogeys!<br /><br />After being reunited with our luggage, we found our bus and Israeli guide and were on our way north through the West Bank area of Israel, so named because it's on the west bank of the Jordan River. We found out that "river" is a generous term for the Jordan in most places, and our guide says it's the river with the best PR in the world. It meanders along and in many places is narrower than the North Fork of the Crow River. As we made our way north, we learned more about agriculture in the area and many other things I wish I had time to share with you right now. We headed for the town of Beth She'an, about halfway between Jericho, where we crossed the border, and the Sea of Galilee. When we got there, we stopped at little mom and pop cafe for lunch, consisting of either a chicken pita or falafel. Here we are getting our food:</div>
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After lunch, it was a very short ride to Beth She'an National Park. Beth She'an is the site of several ancient cities that have been excavated in the same area. The oldest dates to the Egyptians in the 15th century BC. A later Canaanite city was built on the same site as the Egyptian village, and it's here that King Saul's remains were hung on a wall by the Philistines, as told in 1 Samuel 31. Eventually, in 732 BC when the Assyrians conquered the northern kingdom of Israel, Beth She'an was destroyed by fire. Later, in about the 3rd century BC, the Greeks occupied the site and built a city named Scythopolis. This city, too, was destroyed by fire in the 2nd century BC. Finally, the Romans rebuilt the city of Scythopolis beginning when Pompey claimed Judea in 63 BC, but instead of on the hill where the original city stood, they built on its southern slopes. The city became one of the cities of the Decapolis (ten cities) that were centers of culture and commerce in the area at the time of Jesus and the early church until it too was devastated, this time by an earthquake in 749 AD. It was the ruins of this version of the city that we were able to explore:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJpsVzgUloU3f-2SQ9wsgqGwU0s0juzlY9MUN8EniTzn7vxfrud1sHpnI83TdNwFZpPdUDCeX_3g2cEAU-Lg2pEEGXf-KBnImm8x9ywuz4UcAEpAZJIYqpttqN5qRMFywfRhsi4m8F3pM/s1600/DSC_0164.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJpsVzgUloU3f-2SQ9wsgqGwU0s0juzlY9MUN8EniTzn7vxfrud1sHpnI83TdNwFZpPdUDCeX_3g2cEAU-Lg2pEEGXf-KBnImm8x9ywuz4UcAEpAZJIYqpttqN5qRMFywfRhsi4m8F3pM/s1600/DSC_0164.jpg" height="228" width="320" /></a></div>
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Here we are seated in the theater as Pastor Art reads the passage from 1 Samuel about Saul's remains being brought to Beth She'an. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc9WYl5x6uIstLg1zLP7hiho7IS3IDEBymYY_ZOisNLZZ_1zAD3MlqoKl01uuxNEk2A91KaCscDycLZS3y4IKbK5lTRZ9sMSFdwYMfbRGFLbOmL-LCrJ5K2AuDbXwlY5yptrToOaDQ4EI/s1600/DSC_0166.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc9WYl5x6uIstLg1zLP7hiho7IS3IDEBymYY_ZOisNLZZ_1zAD3MlqoKl01uuxNEk2A91KaCscDycLZS3y4IKbK5lTRZ9sMSFdwYMfbRGFLbOmL-LCrJ5K2AuDbXwlY5yptrToOaDQ4EI/s1600/DSC_0166.jpg" height="220" width="320" /></a></div>
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This is the view from the theater seats today. The hill in the distance is the site of the original city ruins which you can see on top. Between the ruins of the theater and the hill, you can see some of the columns of the Palladium, or main street. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicuHHdYKLOoJv3MPR1eCpYTxMQJR1SM-NsUuNfOibtJ7RncAKW1JbezT6jMPQmZlAepQfsxd1UDUulCe280y-PSkh43Wxd33Szggz6pK1JOnxR-dMrnBq64k3goYrxJHuYFlMoEPwHoW8/s1600/DSC_0168.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicuHHdYKLOoJv3MPR1eCpYTxMQJR1SM-NsUuNfOibtJ7RncAKW1JbezT6jMPQmZlAepQfsxd1UDUulCe280y-PSkh43Wxd33Szggz6pK1JOnxR-dMrnBq64k3goYrxJHuYFlMoEPwHoW8/s1600/DSC_0168.jpg" height="217" width="320" /></a></div>
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I took this picture after realizing I was sitting on stone seats that were over 2000 years old:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhheJNzb9hTXg_lDBV_cilktDnprJW8buew1mEkYTs9fq6_uF3u4EbJzOlolvdWY8ajzg5njVcnp7qdLc1NjwH14L2-R5HMng6fUUYicAPNAc5gfGbynMAKLvQE1sjMjkgbTT5GX0X4ygI/s1600/DSC_0169.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhheJNzb9hTXg_lDBV_cilktDnprJW8buew1mEkYTs9fq6_uF3u4EbJzOlolvdWY8ajzg5njVcnp7qdLc1NjwH14L2-R5HMng6fUUYicAPNAc5gfGbynMAKLvQE1sjMjkgbTT5GX0X4ygI/s1600/DSC_0169.jpg" height="225" width="320" /></a></div>
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This gives you an idea of what they think the theater may have originally looked like:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjawAZzf2yM2TgrCibllm-tA7iIa0p4Et_NH905h1b_ORlqVfzSHiuW8EuPUfcrlZLWc5gxVtkj_wjbMETIRsf212rM2IqxdzpSM9spKetY4bsJCeWO-f1hmIB8yH2BGw6MKB-Nqk39H1o/s1600/DSC_0176.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjawAZzf2yM2TgrCibllm-tA7iIa0p4Et_NH905h1b_ORlqVfzSHiuW8EuPUfcrlZLWc5gxVtkj_wjbMETIRsf212rM2IqxdzpSM9spKetY4bsJCeWO-f1hmIB8yH2BGw6MKB-Nqk39H1o/s1600/DSC_0176.jpg" height="220" width="320" /></a></div>
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Upon leaving the theater, we went through a public bath house, or restroom. We got a good laugh as we had a seat on these "toilets." This picture actually isn't the best, though, because the stone in front is by itself where there should be another stone on either side of it. The stones in the distance are the correct width apart for most people. There should be some great pictures on people's cameras from this location, but I won't embarrass anyone with them on the internet...yet...</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkWnLZS7Z1nAhHyLHOgjv5vWuWaJ87P2HI9mezRpwIWxrjdDEPOs9rxMlu-DBGVh8rO-NvOY7-iujZ_73oR2yEf1fhceQHEywz7srzB3Fh9KlkY_NrWDN6rBdrJm1Qp894yMwbslLn1JQ/s1600/DSC_0184.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkWnLZS7Z1nAhHyLHOgjv5vWuWaJ87P2HI9mezRpwIWxrjdDEPOs9rxMlu-DBGVh8rO-NvOY7-iujZ_73oR2yEf1fhceQHEywz7srzB3Fh9KlkY_NrWDN6rBdrJm1Qp894yMwbslLn1JQ/s1600/DSC_0184.jpg" height="320" width="234" /></a></div>
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Another view of more columns. Most of these had fallen over during the earthquake and were in pieces. The fifth one from the front here is the only one they found standing upright in one piece. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkex-f3-ccPawTrjc-WxTdt03YnmDsmAckdQRtXjgb4QRrExeLtYNNwrlJlxJy42uCfu4ymn0WaKL-LGmNDHdguGsLVbJ5saQ8l-GvldXTMoq6bQExdtMetsrsvk5XPu10nFyTnuy73gc/s1600/DSC_0190.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkex-f3-ccPawTrjc-WxTdt03YnmDsmAckdQRtXjgb4QRrExeLtYNNwrlJlxJy42uCfu4ymn0WaKL-LGmNDHdguGsLVbJ5saQ8l-GvldXTMoq6bQExdtMetsrsvk5XPu10nFyTnuy73gc/s1600/DSC_0190.jpg" height="223" width="320" /></a></div>
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Another view of the same columns:</div>
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Here is yours truly standing on the main street of Scythopolis. This street would have been lined with shops on either side.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRN3VyahMnSBQeyYW3RP2Rnf0BsLqYworokzOwWyuLt-7BgxLS8qEytpFX18vIVoryB4zFbe3q-_RkzanhGJ9nihfG4rYJTXv71VinMBo41MWCu9J7dg3a7uRWphyWXo0L3X8tPoDqLjg/s1600/DSC_0216.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRN3VyahMnSBQeyYW3RP2Rnf0BsLqYworokzOwWyuLt-7BgxLS8qEytpFX18vIVoryB4zFbe3q-_RkzanhGJ9nihfG4rYJTXv71VinMBo41MWCu9J7dg3a7uRWphyWXo0L3X8tPoDqLjg/s1600/DSC_0216.jpg" height="232" width="320" /></a></div>
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A view of the entire street:</div>
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Here is a closeup picture of a decorative carving of Dionysus found along the Palladium. Dionysus was the Greek god of wine and frivolity and was apparently quite popular in this area at the time.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitpI18UN0BEgDa9iASOLOOuSBBsdNg4zWwtbAV8qyALYwYX_no8R6XpH2c0qJ38C5aivi3o_lTAtB8PmUnD7hZAB035jmm_iadC8pcLu2GcGaOsdD6bCEmCR0VIz0IGwTcsB25INOvVec/s1600/DSC_0219.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitpI18UN0BEgDa9iASOLOOuSBBsdNg4zWwtbAV8qyALYwYX_no8R6XpH2c0qJ38C5aivi3o_lTAtB8PmUnD7hZAB035jmm_iadC8pcLu2GcGaOsdD6bCEmCR0VIz0IGwTcsB25INOvVec/s1600/DSC_0219.jpg" height="239" width="320" /></a></div>
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We also walked through some of the public bath houses that they found on the site, a popular gathering place where people could enjoy, exercise, a bath, and something equivalent to a sauna. On our way out of the site, the sun was setting and made for a nice picture looking back toward the Jordan River valley and the hills of Gilead. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMQSIxC75MLfbIrBK1NRVcfCDkMbzqZpBLnOCbxvyxVJe5V-LUbGCHs7z61ed7KbuY41ONFlqJNzB0Dcljd8ub54D-4B_x6GPWWNjp6pz4V4MkscjaoL2UiwMFMl_8gutz05BIfV7zFX8/s1600/DSC_0228.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMQSIxC75MLfbIrBK1NRVcfCDkMbzqZpBLnOCbxvyxVJe5V-LUbGCHs7z61ed7KbuY41ONFlqJNzB0Dcljd8ub54D-4B_x6GPWWNjp6pz4V4MkscjaoL2UiwMFMl_8gutz05BIfV7zFX8/s1600/DSC_0228.jpg" height="215" width="320" /></a></div>
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That was basically it for day 1. We continued north from Beth She'an to the resort at Maagan on the southeastern shore of the Sea of Galilee. We had plenty of time to settle into our rooms, take a little nap, and enjoy a drink or two before supper. So, that gets us up to today, which I will have to write about tomorrow because I need some rest. We have to get an earlier start in the morning to avoid a marathon race that's being run in this area tomorrow. I will do my best to write at least a little bit so I don't get too far behind. Keep your prayers and good thoughts coming, and don't be shy about posting comments. Until tomorrow, Shalom!<br /><br />+PBK</div>
Bryanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00732421572673163979noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15477660219167793.post-7543765244661690272014-01-08T20:46:00.002-08:002014-01-08T20:46:48.127-08:00Day 1, Part 1: Amman to Mt Nebo<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
First, to update you on our progress. It is currently 6 am local time along the shores of the Sea of Galilee. I had hoped to post more last evening, but was tired enough to sleep right after supper, so I thought I would add a quick post before breakfast and the start of our second day. I took around 175 pictures on the first day, so I'm only giving you a few highlights. I'm already realizing how impossible it's going to be to put this experience into words in a way that conveys how amazing it is to stand in these places and literally touch things that are so old, but I will do my best.</div>
<br />Wednesday, we awoke in Amman, Jordan bright and early, many of our group saying they were up at 2 in the morning, ready to go. We didn't technically get a wake up call until 6. Personally, I was awake just before 5, just in time to hear the Muslim call to prayer from a local mosque outside; a little surreal to say the least! We enjoyed a nice breakfast buffet at the hotel before meeting our Jordanian guide and boarding our bus for the trip southwest to Mt Nebo. Here is a quick picture of the outside of the hotel we stayed at: The Grand Palace. It was very clean, modern, and comfortable:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMCTudZeLHalcrHulM0v8fcGvrb0sCMKJVNGDyyAKjn_sM85pGysdcY7wDgGGtabzmLONovkRUB-HW3P5y8AXrpQ-xiRBOYfS_TJUmVMcmD3CW6FFaFExjmZESohlclT0tSgzhmYt9_ZY/s1600/DSC_0020.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMCTudZeLHalcrHulM0v8fcGvrb0sCMKJVNGDyyAKjn_sM85pGysdcY7wDgGGtabzmLONovkRUB-HW3P5y8AXrpQ-xiRBOYfS_TJUmVMcmD3CW6FFaFExjmZESohlclT0tSgzhmYt9_ZY/s1600/DSC_0020.jpg" height="320" width="246" /></a></div>
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We were on the road by 7:30 to avoid rush hour traffic, but there were still a lot of people moving around and heading to work, much like in any other city around the world. Amman struck us as a very modern place with lots of new construction going on.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl5bd8LLwuYpUT_yMkU_86uhG0N9vdmSTA1ugxe2LOz7QCkkiAnHJNHPkiesLh75R3knPs56Uifj43D2pMcO8DVxQnTmKZ5ApwduYqAVJNYjG6RVZIiASo7Z4sioEROt3UxP0nmoFTJDY/s1600/DSC_0026.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl5bd8LLwuYpUT_yMkU_86uhG0N9vdmSTA1ugxe2LOz7QCkkiAnHJNHPkiesLh75R3knPs56Uifj43D2pMcO8DVxQnTmKZ5ApwduYqAVJNYjG6RVZIiASo7Z4sioEROt3UxP0nmoFTJDY/s1600/DSC_0026.jpg" height="215" width="320" /></a></div>
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As we left the city proper and moved into the "suburbs," the terrain became more rugged. Our guide shared a lot of information about the city of Amman and the country of Jordan with us. One thing that amazed us all was to find out that there are nearly 1.5 million Syrian refugees in Jordan right now because of all of the fighting in that country, as well as many Iraqi refugees still there. Our guide seemed to take pride in the fact that his country was a safe haven for their neighbors. This view gives you an idea of what we saw along our way out of Amman:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaSRNbLWxy3w_kf7IvhuWrQLBOP-Uo58Ip437D2Y_4KRKEqlJIuoi4q7_N9l9hWg0YOFX3IosavJY4As2OhP_H_7coWtTW0_s2wMcSyf8k1XP1_gsG0XKgy7AvVhVEafxqAAJbJFuayhI/s1600/DSC_0034.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaSRNbLWxy3w_kf7IvhuWrQLBOP-Uo58Ip437D2Y_4KRKEqlJIuoi4q7_N9l9hWg0YOFX3IosavJY4As2OhP_H_7coWtTW0_s2wMcSyf8k1XP1_gsG0XKgy7AvVhVEafxqAAJbJFuayhI/s1600/DSC_0034.jpg" height="221" width="320" /></a></div>
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And speaking of our Jordanian guide, this is Fadi. He was with us only this morning until we were ready to cross into Israel. An Israeli bus and guide met us on the other side. We will see Fadi again at the end of our journey when we cross back into Jordan to return home again through Amman.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFL2RERC164KsY3xofnHcnotScSmuAKCF1L9r7FmvI_Fjq838j2DV8Vf4zReDkpkuhQV2wRyyUHeMseoYkrsHKZojbodufzwYxqWo3dTROkOptggt917JYsPH5IUfBSfMKEiPHIE9S3IE/s1600/DSC_0036.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFL2RERC164KsY3xofnHcnotScSmuAKCF1L9r7FmvI_Fjq838j2DV8Vf4zReDkpkuhQV2wRyyUHeMseoYkrsHKZojbodufzwYxqWo3dTROkOptggt917JYsPH5IUfBSfMKEiPHIE9S3IE/s1600/DSC_0036.jpg" height="215" width="320" /></a></div>
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Along the way, Pastor Art read for us parts of the story of Ruth, reminding us that Ruth was a Moabite who left her home to follow her mother in-law Naomi, then successfully wooed and married Boaz, and eventually would became the great grandmother of King David. In Pastor Art's words, that made her one of the most important Jordanian women in the Bible, and we were following in Ruth's footsteps as we traveled from Moab to Israel.</div>
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As we left Amman behind, we encountered more agriculture. Being the wintertime, most of the fields were fallow and tilled, but there were still lots of greenhouses, olive trees, and other things still being grown and tended to. The farmers in our group really got a kick out of seeing all the rocks and other debris in the fields, wondering how anything could possibly grow in some of these places. It makes the sandy soil of the Bonanza Valley look pretty good, I guess!</div>
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Within an hour, we had arrived at our first destination for the day: Mt Nebo. This is where God showed Moses the Promised Land and where Moses died before Joshua led the Israelites down toward Jericho. There is a church constructed on the site that is undergoing restoration. This statue greets visitors to the site, and it is called "The Book of Love." </div>
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Here is a sign a little farther up the path that alludes to the fact that there is a Franciscan monastery at the site as well. <br />
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Walking around the path, we got a view to the north, back across the plains of Moab toward Amman:</div>
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Looking west from there, this is the church that is undergoing restoration, with Israel visible in the distance. It was very windy and cold, at least by Jordanian standards. It felt like a nice Minnesota spring breeze to me, but a few in our trip ended up with gloves on their hands. We were lucky, though, our guide said, to have such a clear view and we were the only group there at the time, so we had the place pretty much to ourselves.</div>
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From this spot, it was a short walk to a tent to see some large mosaics that have been preserved from another local church. This area of Jordan is known for its mosaic craftsmanship. Leaving that place, we continued around the church to the west side and came to the spot where you can see the same view that Moses had when God showed him the Promised Land. This was the first of many "goosebump" moments for me, and not just because of the cold. Pastor Art read the passage from Deuteronomy for us and pointed at each of the places mentioned that God showed Moses before he died. This is the view, with the Dead Sea on the far left (the lowest place on earth) and the Jordan Valley stretching to the north (right). The building to the left is the Franciscan monastery.</div>
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There is also a sculpture on this side of the church that depicts a serpent around a cross, reminding us of the passage from Paul that, as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness and the people were healed, so Jesus was lifted up that all would be healed from sin through him. </div>
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It was also the first good chance we had to get a picture of the entire group, so here we are with the Promised Land in the distance:</div>
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And I wanted one of just me:</div>
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Here's another picture with the marker they have in place to show you the different places you can see:</div>
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With that, we went back inside to walk through the museum on the site and buy a few postcards and books before getting on our way. Our next stop was a museum and mosaic workshop and that's where we'll pick up the next time I have a chance to post something! For now, I'd better get ready for breakfast, so good morning from Israel and "Shalom" to you this day.<br /><br />+PBK</div>
Bryanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00732421572673163979noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15477660219167793.post-10570466667511508352014-01-07T19:40:00.000-08:002014-01-07T19:40:21.059-08:00Good morning from Amman!I'm having to post this from my phone so it will be rather brief. We arrived in Amman safely last night at around 7 pm local time. Our passage through customs went smoothly and all of our luggage was accounted for. The flight was very nice with wonderful stewards and smooth skies. Upon arrival at our hotel, we were checked into our rooms and had supper, a nice buffet with plenty of new things for us to try as well as some more familiar items. I loved all the fresh cucumber and other veggies and had more baklava for dessert than I probably should have. I went straight to bed after supper and slept well. It's 5:30 am now and we're getting ready to gather for breakfast before departing for Israel. We travel to Tiberias on the Sea of Galilee today. Here are a few pictures from my phone...better quality ones to ckme when I can access the internet with my computer, hopefully this evening. Thanks again for your prayers and messages. We feel very safe and everyone has been quite friendly.<br />
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Bryanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00732421572673163979noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15477660219167793.post-38173327532488279022014-01-06T19:33:00.002-08:002014-01-06T19:33:23.704-08:00To Chicago!...via Eau Claire...Our trip has begun! I'm writing this from gate M13 at the international terminal of Chicago's O'Hare airport, exactly where I expected to be at this time. How we arrived here is another story, however. Just hours before we were scheduled to hop on our charter bus for the trip from Belgrade, MN to the Minneapolis/St Paul airport, we found out that our flight from Minneapolis to Chicago had been cancelled. Our travel company tried to get us on another flight, but to no avail. Plan C became, "What if we rode the bus all the way?" We had about 8 hours to make it and Google maps was saying it would take us 7 and a half. Our brave bus driver barely flinched when she showed up and several members of our group greeted her with, "Can you take us to Chicago?" She is most certainly the hero of our trip so far! <br />
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So instead of finding ourselves at the Minneapolis airport, boarding an American Airlines flight, this was the sight that greeted us in the middle of the afternoon as we made our one stop for food:<br />
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<span style="text-align: start;">That would be the lovely McDonald's in Eau Claire, Wisconsin just off of I-94. We had to laugh when we saw a sign inside that said "All Bus Service Cancelled." Apparently it also serves as a Greyhound bus station. Pastor Wiese joked, "It's a good thing we're not a bus...we're a plane!" </span><br style="text-align: start;" /><br style="text-align: start;" /><span style="text-align: start;">Back on the road, it wasn't long before we were enjoying the rolling hills of Wisconsin and watching the sun set on an absolutely frigid evening:</span></div>
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<br />It also wasn't long before a friendly game of "500" had been set up in the back of the bus:<br />
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I told you these Minnesotans are hardy (and hearty!) Making the best of the situation, keeping a smile on our faces, and all the while trusting that somehow things will work out and we'll get where we need to go. So far, so good! We're relieved to be this far, but our travels have really just begun! We hope to begin boarding soon for our long flight to Jordan. Stay tuned. Thanks for your prayers and thanks be to God for bus drivers!</div>
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+PBK</div>
Bryanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00732421572673163979noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15477660219167793.post-81835242801324671412014-01-01T16:10:00.000-08:002014-01-01T16:10:09.960-08:00Trip Preparations and Happy New Year!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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As 2014 begins, my excitement for the trip to the Holy Land is building. I'm making this post from my work laptop simply to make sure that I know how I want to edit and post pictures from my camera from this computer since it's what I will be bringing on the trip. Here are (hopefully) a few pictures I took in the sanctuary at Trinity in Brooten the other day. <div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg60z64X98e0RSTsJasWwRie3cy3ejS799u6wadWrB6FinW1_NLW2TwVX_einMkcS9um1AcyYgA_ERuHeSSNYp_YigUkPVbj1pmiMQl1yhseKJjc-0QzlXKtTW6S8ye3rEhNeItBetqk3k/s1600/DSC_0018small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg60z64X98e0RSTsJasWwRie3cy3ejS799u6wadWrB6FinW1_NLW2TwVX_einMkcS9um1AcyYgA_ERuHeSSNYp_YigUkPVbj1pmiMQl1yhseKJjc-0QzlXKtTW6S8ye3rEhNeItBetqk3k/s320/DSC_0018small.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtULpWqpwqG3ZFPOcHE5mn2TMpE2cIGIvAFuoCEkKkB_DggTsmOp8YCGC-H69Jx3Qu95_BqpDmvGre_38Ns9k6QhTgYM9nBwyz6RfW6UsmewsFcpWnOkSilL6SWmly_Y9THYiQSnErq7w/s1600/DSC_0012small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtULpWqpwqG3ZFPOcHE5mn2TMpE2cIGIvAFuoCEkKkB_DggTsmOp8YCGC-H69Jx3Qu95_BqpDmvGre_38Ns9k6QhTgYM9nBwyz6RfW6UsmewsFcpWnOkSilL6SWmly_Y9THYiQSnErq7w/s320/DSC_0012small.jpg" width="214" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioOulzG5QwAdKtI4sC4oGMohlGdaYdKWVbcoJNwhgze828cKIVaKPZGTB29ubRQkBrDMlDwguzn5JL1FyPRCMOvVUhKomWacFG5dMVBTtZtdbhOZpvhUzSQ-wA2oJpyUzNHdKwsVPD5GY/s1600/DSC_0010small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioOulzG5QwAdKtI4sC4oGMohlGdaYdKWVbcoJNwhgze828cKIVaKPZGTB29ubRQkBrDMlDwguzn5JL1FyPRCMOvVUhKomWacFG5dMVBTtZtdbhOZpvhUzSQ-wA2oJpyUzNHdKwsVPD5GY/s320/DSC_0010small.jpg" width="212" /></a></div>
<br />I'm looking forward to bringing you highlights from our trip and appreciate having you along for the ride. Feel free to post comments and I'll be sure to share them with the group each day. We leave on Monday! God bless you in this New Year.</div>
Bryanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00732421572673163979noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15477660219167793.post-86633741549240860862013-12-17T15:33:00.000-08:002013-12-17T15:41:15.352-08:00Welcome!<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Welcome to the travel blog for an upcoming trip from Minnesota to the Holy Land. In early January 2014, several dozen hardy souls from west central Minnesota will be spending 11 days traveling from Minneapolis to Palestine and Jerusalem via Jordan. My name is Bryant Kaden, pastor of Trinity and West Lake Johanna Lutheran Parish in rural Brooten, MN. I, along with Pastor Art Wiese of United Lutheran Church in Lake Lillian, MN will be leading this trip where we will explore various Biblical sites from the life of Jesus as well as other cultural sites along the way. I hope to be able to update this blog daily during our trip with photographs as well as reflections on our experiences. This should be a wonderful way to share this trip with our friends and family as well as anyone else interested in tagging along from afar. God's blessings to you this Advent and Christmas season.<br /><br />Peace in Christ,</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Pastor Bryant</span></span>Bryanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00732421572673163979noreply@blogger.com0