1st Day Finished

We started at 8AM this morning and the temperature steadily increased to 37 degrees Celsius. That combined with a lot of walking resulted in a 10 minute cold shower. And that wasn't even the desert part of the tour!

We started the day in Jaffa, or Joppa as it is referred to sometimes in the Bible. What happened there? This is the port that Jonah booked passage from to flee from what God wanted him to do, right before being swallowed by a whale. It is also the port into which King David and King Solomon received the "logs from Lebanon" to build the first temple. As well, we saw the house of Simon the Tanner, who house overlooked the harbour and has a rooftop balcony. It was here (Acts chapter 10) that Peter received his vision of the net containing all of the different animals, which meant that he was to bring the Word to the Gentiles as well.

The top picture is Jaffa Harbour looking towards Tel Aviv. The bottom picture is an excavated site. If you look to the left of the archway, you will see lighter coloured rocks. This wall dates back to the Canaanites around 3000BC - before Abraham! Good thing they made
 things out of rocks, or we wouldn't see anything from that date!

Next on to Caesarea.......

This is a picture from the front of Herod's palace. Partially covered with water due to earthquakes, this would have been his front steps...

These foundation stones are for the courthouse in Caesarea. It is thought that this is where Paul was brought before the Roman officials after he informed them that he was a Roman citizen. Afterwards, they sent him by ship to Rome, where he got shipwrecked on Malta on the way... 

This would have been Herod's view of the harbour from his palace - blue waters and white sands and the hippodrome, where the chariot races were held (and later where the gladiators would have fought )

By far the most breath-taking view today. I was on the top of Mount Carmel and this is the Jezreel Valley. I was on the rooftop patio of the church of Elijah, the traditional place of where Elijah had a contest with the prophets of Baal (now the Carmelite Monastery). Did God really send fire down on this very spot? I don't know but it was a pretty good location for a lot of people below to see.... Off in the distance, on the other side of the valley (from left to right), you can see Nazareth (which is in the hilltops), Mount Tabor (or the Mount of Transfiguration) and the mountain on the right is where King Saul died in battle. Towards the bottom of the screen on the right, you can see the top of Tel Megiddo, or more commonly, Armageddon, the fortress dating back to King David and King Solomon. 

This is Tel Megiddo. We walked through the fortress which they have excavated back to the time of King Solomon. Pictured are the eastern horse stables of the King, housing his famous stallions. 

See the round thing centre right? They uncovered this in recent years and found it to be an alter where the Jewish people sacrificed (when they couldn't get to Jerusalem). They also uncovered the 7 large steps up to the alter, of which only the priests were allowed to ascend completely. 

Tonight we're staying right next to the Sea of Galilee. The Golen Heights overshadow the sea on the other side and we are quite close to the Syrian and Lebanese borders here. You would never know it though. There seem to be no safety concerns. Tomorrow we go to Nazareth and have a free afternoon.