As part of the course that Jason is taking, he is seeing lots of exciting and interesting sites all over the country. Here's a few samples.
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Amin. An ancient synagogue. This town was mentioned in the bible as a border (Book of Joshua). The church historian
Esubius mentioned that there was an upper Christian town and a lower Jewish town. This synagogue is in the lower town and in the upper town, they found a church. Later empires conquered the area and built on top of these ruins which were only uncovered a few decades ago. |
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| Tel Arad. This ancient city has a short lifespan. This synagogue was found in a fortress at the site and what's unique about it is that it resembles the temple in every regard. It was also intentionally buried, probably when one of the Kings of Judah started cracking down on people worshipping God outside of the temple in Jerusalem. |
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| Tel Sheva. This was more of a fortress than a city. It was planned from the beginning and has a casement wall. It was destroyed by the Assyrians on their way to Jerusalem during the time of Hezekiah. It was never inhabited again. |
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| Tel Sheva. What's amazing about Tel Sheva is the impressive cistern that the Assyrians intentionally buried to prevent repopulation of the city. Since it was never used again, we can see the finger marks of the people who last plastered the walls of the cisterns so many millennia ago! |
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| Khirbet QeiyafaKhirbet Qeiyafa. We don't actually know the original name of this fortress. We know that it was probably built by either King Saul or King David and was only in use for 70 years. They casement wall had rooms (usually little one room houses) against the wall. When under attack, they would empty the house and fill it will dirt, making the wall nearly impenetrable. In this house in this picture, they found two miniature models of the temple, that very much resemble the actually temple. What's amazing is that these models pre-date the temple. It may be that these models were used to design the temple and were stored here for safe keeping. This site is mentioned in the Bible! 1SAM17:52, "And the men of Israel and Judah rose with a shout and pursued the Philistines as far as Gath and the gates of Ekron, so that the wounded Philistines fell on the way from Shaaraim as far as Gath and Ekron." Shaaraim means two gates in Hebrew. This is the only city or fortress in the entire country that has two city gates. Until about a decade ago, this site was not excavated and they had no idea how old it would turn out to be. |
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| Khirbet Qeiyafa, here's a close up of a casement wall. |
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| Just a pretty picture from the Judean foothills. |
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| Makhtesh Qatan. This is a unique geological feature in Israel, with steep walls and a crater-like hole. It was formed by erosion, not meteors. This is the small one. |
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| Ein Yerukam. This river bed site was a popular stop for beduins because the pool always has water left from the rains and there is also a natural spring here too. |
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| Ein Yerukam. On a hot day, relaxing in at the base of this waterfall is a great way to cool off. It only rains a few times a year, so the risk of being washed away is very low. |
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| Makhtesh Ramon. Like Makhtesh Qatan, this natural crater was made by massive erosion. This one is so large, you cannot see all of it from one location except from space. |
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| Inside Makhtesh Ramon is this hill called HaMinsara. It's made entirely of Quartzite |
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| Ammonite wall. This wall was made entirely by fossils, mostly ammonites . |
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| Kennedy Memorial. Israel is one of the few countries that often remembers american tragedies with memorials. From the assassination of JFK to the shuttle Columbia. When America experiences a tragedy, Israel mourns with her. |
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The Tomb of the Patriarchs. If you've been to the Western Wall and see the stones used to build the temple by Herod, than you will recognize this construction. The building was build by Herod and although additions were added but the Mamluks and Crusaders, it was never destroyed. This structure is used to fill in the blanks on what the temple looked like before it was destroyed by the Romans. In Hebrew it's called Machpela (double) because underneath are two caves. The caves are not open to the public and instead memorial rooms are located in the building with giant caskets that certainly don't contain the bones of our ancestors.
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| The Tomb of the Patriarchs. |
