Armageddon, as in the Real Place

My bishop was talking about camels today.  Which made me think back to my trip and how long it has been since I've posted.  Yep, a long, long time.  Don't worry, I am committing to finishing blogging about this trip before I go on another one.

We drove from Tel Aviv (the financial city) to Caesarea which was built by Herod and served as the capital for 600 years.  Herod named the city after Caesar because he gave him so much land.  Phillip, Peter, and Paul all have ties to Caesarera.  Paul was put in prison here for 2 years.  He was probably put in a cistern like this one.

   

Herod's palace extended all the way out to the sea.  The harbor here is about 10 days from Italy and is the fastest route.

This theater could hold up to 6,000 people and the hippodrome, where the chariot races took place could hold up to 12,000 people.  

One of the fascinating things I teach my students about is the Roman aqueducts.  I am always amazed at how they were so advanced in supplying water into their cities and removing sewage.   These aqueducts reached out 7 miles and took 5 years to build.

After a delightful morning in Caesarea, we drove up to Mt. Carmel (the Lord's vineyard or olive grove.) This is the place where the priests of Baal and Elijah have their conflict. We looked down on what is considered the bread basket of Israel, the valley of Armageddon, where the final battle will be fought. Crazy!

We sat on this beautiful mountain and talked about the story of Elijah and the priests of Baal. The priests of Baal built their altar, prayed to Baal but nothing happened. Elijah however, built an altar out of twelve stones, built a trench around it and put water on it.  He prayed to the Lord and the sacrifice and altar were consumed by fire.  Pretty amazing, but what stood out to me was what happened before the sacrifices. In 1 Kings 18:21 Elijah gathers the people together and asks them who they will choose, either God or Baal. He tells them they can't be between two opinions. They say nothing. However, after the miracle (1 Kings 18:39) ". . . they fell on their faces: and they said, The Lord, he is the God: the Lord, he is the God."  We spent a long time up there pondering who we were choosing, the Lord, or the world. It made me reflect about my actions, and if I am silent when it comes to answering the cry of who I will choose.  The remnant, those who followed the Lord were only 7,000.  In my notes I wrote, "they are those that hear and do."  That is who I want to be.

After our visit to Mt. Carmel, we headed to this delightful restaurant where we began our falafel eating.  Now, I've had falafel before, but just wait till you go to the Middle East.  Falafel is everywhere, and I mean everywhere.  If you've never had it, it is this little patty of ground chickpeas and fava beans.  It's pretty good, until you eat it every day.  In the Middle East they have delicious pita bread that the falafel is served in and a crazily delicious salad bar that you load inside.  

After lunch we took a little time to "Consider the lilies of the field."  These beautiful red poppies are those lilies.  For some reason in my mind, I've always pictured the Middle East as a desert, not anymore, gorgeous.

Next we headed to Nazareth.  Back in Christ's time there were 200 to 300 people.  Today about 80,000 people live there.  We started at The Church of the Annunciation. The Church of Annunciation is the oldest church in Nazareth built over the spring to Mary's Well. One of the blessings of the old churches is they preserve these holy sites.

         

 

  Inside you walk down to the ruins where many believe the angel appeared to Mary and told her she would have the son of God.
                                              
The spring and well were the only water source back then, so we know Mary would have gone there to get her water.  It is still a water source for the people in Nazareth today.
                                            

                                              
The doors leading into the church are a beautiful visual reminder of the life of Christ.

As you go upstairs, you are surrounded by amazing mosaics from around the world.  Our tour guide told us before we went in to look for the one that had the first vision in it. Our tour guide is kind of a jokester, so we just laughed until we saw this mosaic.  We all pointed and snapped pictures of what we thought was the prophet Joseph Smith wondering how in the world he made it into Portugal's artwork in the church. As soon as we got on the bus, we all settled down ready to hear our tour guide's explanation.  That is when he started to laugh, and laugh.  Yep, not the first vision but we all agreed it does kind of look like it.

After visiting The Church of Annunciation, we went to Cana to see where the first miracle happened (water being turned into wine).  There are four different churches that claim to be the true site. We may never know which is the exact site, but we can take away Mary's last words which we hear in John 2:5 "Whatsoever he saith unto you, do."  This should be our attitude, whatever the Lord asks of us, we should do.

  This picture is an example of where they would have stored the wine. While we were there, people from around the world were renewing their wedding vows, kind of cool.

After we finished in Cana, we passed by this vendor squeezing fresh pomegranate juice.  Now we had been warned about fruit in Jordan and Egypt, but we were given the green light in Israel.  The juice looked so tempting and yummy.  We decided we were much faster then the rest of our group, and we could get our juice before they ever even knew we were gone.  That is not exactly what happened, but we did get our juice, and we were happy as clams. Well that was until a little later that evening when my stomach was moaning and groaning.  It was then that I swore off all fruits and vegetables until I reached America. :)

  

Moses Supposes. . . .

Sometimes life is crazy and you find yourself where Moses actually might have been supposing.:)

The "traditional" spot where Moses struck the rock and water sprang forth. Water still comes from the spring, pretty cool. "Traditional" is a word often used around the Middle East. It really means they don't know if it's the real spot, but


As we drove away from Wadi Musa, we found ourselves facing one of the first fortresses of the crusades. Fascinating.


The people of Jordan are super nice, and most are super poor. 90% of Jordan is desert and water is priceless. In fact they can only pump water into a cistern at their house for two days, and that is all they get for the week. Almost everything is imported, however, they do make money from phosphate exports used for medicine, explosives, and fertilizer. They also grow olives and tons of tomatoes and potatoes.


Next stop Madaba, where the Greek Orthodox built a church around the famous 1500 year old mosaic map. Random fact, the Greek Orthodox churches don't have any statues in them, only pictures. It is the Roman Catholic churches where you will see the statues.


Move over Google Maps, check out the mosaic map of Jerusalem. You can tell it is Jerusalem by the wall surrounding it.


Remember, no statues, but check out the cool picture. Look at the little boy in the lower right hand corner, see him? Okay.


Now, look at how cool the little kid is now. If I've said it once, I've said it a million times, I love a good mosaic.


Another Moses moment, standing on top of Mt. Nebo where the Lord showed Moses the Promised Land.


Looking out to the Promised Land. They say on a clear day you can see the skyscrapers of Jerusalem. Unfortunately, it wasn't clear, but it was still pretty cool.


Peace is a world you hear, but don't see a lot of in the Middle East. This is a tree planted by the Pope, when he came to pray for the peace of the Middle East.


From Mount Nebo, you take a curving road dropping to 1300 feet below sea level, lowest spot on earth. We then found ourselves at the Israeli border anxiously waiting and waiting by lots of soldiers. I'm not going to lie, it was the most apprehensive moment of the trip, but after a lot of anxiousness we found ourselves on a new bus headed to Tel Aviv, where we took an evening stroll to step into the Mediterranean Sea!!!

Indiana Jones and Petra

We left Amman and headed down the desert highway to one of the wonders of the world, Petra. Along the way, we made a "refreshment stop" where we found ourselves tasting dates surrounded by bottles of sand, bright rugs,and the smell of incense. It was the first of many encounters with Middle Eastern bathrooms, and all I can say is I learned to hold my breath, advert my eyes, and say a silent prayer. :) We ambled around the souvenirs,bought some popcorn, and then headed back on the road with our sights set on Petra. Petra was located at the crossroads of the Ancient East and served as a caravan stop on the trading routes. It was inhabited by the Nabataeans who carved the city into the rock more than 2,000 years ago. When political control changed, it caused a stop in trade and Petra was soon forgotten. It is called the "lost city" because it was completely lost to the the Western World. It was rediscovered in 1812 by a Swiss traveler named Burckhardt who tricked his way into the fiercely guarded site. He pretended to be an Arab from India wishing to make a sacrifice at the tomb of the prophet Aaron.

As you hike down into Petra you see tombs carved into the rock. They are always elaborate on the outside, but very plain on the inside. The person who passed away was rolled in a scarf and buried with simple personal belongings, water, and honey for the afterlife. Many of the tombs have carved steps which point to heaven like the Egyptians.

This is the Siq, it is the canyon leading into Petra. The Nabataens figured out how to harness water allowing the population to reach 20,000.

They used these walls as a natural defense against invaders They could shoot down at them or pour hot oil. This is the way up to the top of the canyon.

The canyon walls are stunning, but then just as you round the bend you are stunned by this sight.

The treasury,seen in Indian Jones, was named because they thought it held all of the treasures of the pharaoh. It is actually a memorial to the king. It has 4 eagles watching the entrance and two goddesses that help the soul get to heaven. It is 12 stories high and is still all of the original carving except for one column missing from an earthquake.

As you walk down into Petra you see many more tombs, bricks from where the houses would have been and even a hand carved amphitheater. So cool!!!

Everywhere in Petra there are children, adults, and animals clamoring for your attention and money.(Okay, maybe the animals don't want your money, but they definitely want your attention) My roommate luckily brought candy that she stuck in their hand anytime they asked for money, which gratefully staved off some of the craziness.

Our tour company paid for us to take mules out, but as we watched the awkwardness and pace of the mules, we elected to walk out. However, they not only have mules coming and going, but camels, and chariots for those who need extra help. It reminded me of hiking down in Havasupi, where the pack mules threatened to run you over, yep, pretty much like that.

After our journey back in time, we strolled the streets of Wadi Musa (Valley of Moses)searching in vain for a bag I had seen earlier. We checked in at our hotel, which was quite old and was in the middle of renovation. It was a little bit eerie and brought out our Scooby Doo senses. After a late night lecture from our guide, Bruce Porter, the best,we found ourselves lost and smelling and hearing alarming sounds in a seemingly deserted part of the hotel. This of course prompted us to book it back to our room and promptly put the fridge in front of our door. I'm sure this would have stopped any bad guys. And so with peace now in our hearts, we rested well ready for our next adventure.

Amman, Jordan

After 17 and a 1/2 hours of flying we were finally able to stretch our legs in Amman, Jordan.

We were greeted at the baggage claim by what I believe to be the mascot of the Middle East-the cat. Wherever you go, a cat is prowling by your side. And although, I like cats, it is a little disconcerting to see them EVERYWHERE.


We started our tour of the city by going up to the Amman, Citadel. Amman is called the white city because all of the buildings are covered with limestone. It was built on 7 hills and has a population of 2 million. (There are 6 million people in the whole country.)


Here is the Jordan flag waving in the breeze. The green, black and white of the flag symbolize different dynasties, the red stands for the royal family, and the 7 sided star stands for the 7 pillars of Islam. 95% of the population is Muslim, which means you hear the call to prayer loud and clear five times a day.


Standing on the old ruins of this fortress and temple we kept hearing a little tune playing down below in the city. The little tune sounded vaguely familiar like the Ice Cream Man's little song. I asked our guide about it and found out it was a little song from a man in a truck, however, instead of ice cream he was selling cooking gas. When you run out, you just listen for the Cooking Gas Man's truck and there you go.


So, I'm a teacher and I teach about ancient civilizations. This means I'm pretty much compelled to take pictures of everything. Which will explain these fascinating photos at the museum at the citadel. These arrowheads=Stone Age, yep 40,000-10,000 years ago. Crazy!!!



Don't think I'm into the whole skull thing, but check this out:Early Bronze Age 3,300-1,900 B.C. They are performing surgery, boring holes into the skull. Seriously, fascinating.



These happen to be Hercules's knuckles, yep his knuckles. Which gives you a pretty good idea of how huge his whole statue would have been. Over 13 meters tall standing by his temple.


The Jordanians sure seem to love their king. These pictures of King Hussein and King Abdullah II, royal descendants from Mohammed are everywhere. The late king is revered for bringing peace to the Middle East. Men show their support of the royal house by wearing headdresses of the royal color red all around.


After leaving Amman, we drove to one of the 10 great Roman cities, Jerash. I'm a sucker for ruins, and they were pretty amazing. This is Hadrian's arch which is a memorial to the Roman Emperor Hadrian. The vastness of Rome's empire always amazes me.


I must say I felt safe the whole time I was in Jordan, Israel, and Egypt. It was just different. We had metal detectors at every hotel we stayed in and people with guns to protect us everywhere we went. In Jordan, they had the Tourist Police. At all of the major tourist sites they had a little force of men in blue, who would try to woo you and keep you safe. We got a picture with one of them, but promised not to post it. I guess that is against the rules.


This theatre would seat 3,000 people and is still used today. The acoustic point is in the middle which allows for amazing acoustics. We even got to hear "Praise to the Man" on the bagpipes, which was crazy until they told us the tune is from Scotland the Brave, the unofficial anthem of Scotland. This still seems a little out of place to me, but I loved it.


Pretty amazing theatre


This is the largest temple to Artemis. You had to go up 7 sets of 7 steps to get there. Regular people could only go to a certain point and then you left your offering to be taken to to altar.


I sure do love a good mosaic. The more you step on the colored rocks the shinier they become with their true color coming out. Like most things I would love to turn this into a metaphor for life, but since I do this to everything. I will stand back and let you take the liberties.


The Hippo (stands for horse) drome where they had their chariot racing. This was pretty cool to see, especially because in Rome the Circus Maximus is long gone. Unfortunately, the actors in the reenactment of the races were on strike, I'm not sure how this happens to me, but all I can say is Louvre, workers, strike, me, sadness.


This is the middle of the city or the Cardo Maximus meaning the heart of the city, pretty cool.


After such a beautiful day in Amman, I couldn't wait to see what else Jordan had in store for us. We packed up the next morning and bid the Amman International goodbye. Then we headed to the lost city Petra!!!!