Herod the Great built the city of Caesarea and it was the capital of the Judaean Province. Caesar Augusta was happy with the way Herod was controlling the Jewish people, so he gave Herod as much money as he needed for his building projects. Caesarea was a port city and Herod created harbors, markets, wide roads, baths and temples to Rome. His palace had an ocean front view.
Every five years the city would host major sports competitions, gladiator games and theatrical presentations.
This is the stadium for chariot races
The theater. Very often we mistakenly call these amphitheaters, but we learned that an amphitheater is when you have seats all the way around, like the Colosseum.
It was in Caesarea that Paul preached to Herod and he responded, "Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian."
Remnants of a tile floor in the palace
The writing is still unfamiliar, but a different unfamiliar.
The aqueduct. Unfortunately, we wen't able to get out of the bus to see it up close! Next to a good row of columns, I LOVE a row of arches!
Our next stop was Mt Carmel where Elijah challenged the priests of Baal. As drove along, our guide pointed out a roadside cave/tomb.
After the priests of Baal failed to bring fire down from the sky to light their offerings, they were slain. That is what this monument is depicting.
Just a few steps away was a beautiful view of the Jezreel Valley. Supposedly the battle Armageddon will take place here. We learned that the Jezreel Valley was the trade corridor between Egypt and Syria and has always been a place of conflict. Whoever controlled the valley had the advantage. The battle of Armageddon may not be on this battlefield but rather this valley may be a metaphor for the battle between good and evil.
From there we drove to Megiddo where we saw the ancient ruins of that city believed to be from around the time of Solomon or Ahab
(Below) Our typical lunch: Falafel or Schwarma. It got a little tiring.
and then on to Mt. Precipice which is near Nazareth. In Luke we are told that Jesus went to Nazareth to the synagogue and preached. It was not well received and it was then that Jesus said "No prophet is accepted in his own country." The people were angry and tried to throw him off this cliff.
From Mt. Precipice looking toward Mt. Tabor which is thought to be the Mount of Transfiguration:
Modern-day Nazareth:
We then went into Nazareth to the two churches that built side by side over the places that Mary lived and Joseph's carpenter shop was. We saw this sign. And then right after the sign were a ton of shops run by Muslims with Christian kitsch in them -- olive wood nativities, key chains, rosaries, stuff like that.
This is the church built over where they think Mary lived.
From Nazareth we drove on to Tiberius (formerly Galilee). We learned that most of the people who live there don't call it the Sea of Galilee and aren't even aware of that name.
1 comment:
In the top middle of the picture of the Megiddo Valley, one can see at least two runways, but there's little else around them. That's an Israeli Air Force base, and most of the planes and other equipment are underground at the ends of the runways. We were told that if an attack were launched on Israel, huge doors at the ends of the runways would open and Israeli fighters would come flying out within a couple of minutes, which would be critical as that base is just a few minutes by air from the Syrian border.
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