after waking up to the sea of galilee outside our bedroom window, we were off on another packed day...
bet shean
"house of security"
a well-preserved roman city
one of the new testament decapolis cities
located 20 miles south of the sea of galilee
six temples have been unearthed
amphitheater, colonnaded street, theater, bathhouse, forum (public square and marketplace), temples, and more
3rd AD rabbi said, "if paradise is situated in the land of israel, its entrance is beth shean."
bet shean was a really neat greco-roman site which allowed us to get a better understanding of the culture during new testament times. while there, we also discussed the greco-roman influence on paul's teachings.
biblical history of bet shean:
part of manasseh's inheritance (joshua 17:11)
bodies of saul and his sons were hung on its walls (1 samuel 31:8-13; 2 samuel 21:12-14)
one of the parts we loved most about israel is that you are able to actually be in and touch a lot of these sites. they are almost like a playground. in rome, the remains were really amazing, but they were often out of reach. in israel we noticed that many more sites allowed more interaction and exploring, which was fun for us!
^^^ this was inside the public bathhouse. townspeople would sit in between those bars and relieve themselves! they had two streams of water, one to carry the waste away and the other to rinse your hands.
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| our guide modeling for us ;) |
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| shop on the main street |
^^^we climbed up to the top of a summit to the location of one of the temples to get a better view.
^^^ i mean... i just could not get over the beauty of israel.
^^^ lunch that day. i came to the conclusion that i could eat like this all day every day. some falafels and shawarma were better than others, but i loved almost everything we ate in israel. they serve salad for breakfast! how amazing is that??
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mt. tabor
6 miles east of nazareth
1,843 feet above sea level
^^^ great lookout here too
biblical history of mt. tabor:
possibly the mount of transfiguration (matthew 17:1)
boundary between issachar and zebulon (joshua 19:22-23)
deborah and barak gather to defeat siserain the valley of jezreel (judges 4:6-17)
gideon's brothers were slain (judges 8:18-21)
peter, james, and john receive their endowments (doctrines of salvation 2:165)
calling and election (2 peter 1:16-19)
^^^ inside the church on mt. tabor, depicting christ with moses on the left and elijah on the right, and peter, james and john observing.
^^^ again, fun to be here around christmas time for all the nativities in each of the many churches we visited!
^^^ off to the side of the main chapel they had two mini chapels: one for moses...
^^^ ... and one for elijah. i loved the artwork in this church.
nazareth
located in the hills of galilee
1,230 feet above sea level
about midway between the sea of galilee and the mediterranean sea
hometown of mary and joseph
place of jesus' formative years
^^^ church of the annunciation
this church was established at the site where, according to roman catholic tradition, the annunciation took place. it was constructed in 1969 over the site of an earlier byzantine-era and then crusader-era church. the history of the construction and preservation of holy sites in israel was super interesting to me and i've had fun researching some of the sites a little more since we came home.
^^^ as the church of the annunciation, its focus is mostly on mary. the above picture depicts different scenes in mary's life. countries all over the world submitted murals or depictions of mary to be displayed inside the church or outside in the courtyard. those were some of the most amazing pieces, and so interesting to see all the different cultures depicting the same woman! unfortunately i didn't take any pictures there, but here is a picture of the japanese mosaic i found here:
^^^ ceiling outside
^^^ the lower level of the church contains the grotto of the annunciation, believed to be the remains of the original childhood home of mary.
^^^ 1st century graffiti
biblical history of nazareth:
the annunciation by gabriel to mary and joseph (luke 1:26-38; matthew 1:18-25)
the place of departure of mary and joseph on their way to bethlehem (luke 2:1-7)
resumed residence after a hiatus in egypt (matthew 2:21-23)
first recorded sermon preached here (luke 4:16-30)
close to the church of the annunciation, we also visited the church of st. joseph.
this church was built in 1914 on the site of an earlier 12th-century church. the caves, granaries and wells in the lower level were used by the early dwellers of nazareth. later, christians turned the site into a worship place. travellers who had visited the site in the 7th century pointed out that this had been the location of the "carpentry shop of joseph." later traditions identify the place as being "the house of joseph." below are the remains of an ancient jewish ritual bath.
before leaving nazareth, we stopped by the synagogue church. to my knowledge, it is not used as an actual church today, but was constructed to recreate the typical synagogue jesus would have grown up in. according to tradition, the nazareth synagogue where jesus preached stood in this spot. from the late twelfth century onward, pilgrims reported visiting a church on the site.
^^^ since it was christmas time, it had a lot of decorations which definitely made it feel a lot less like an actual synagogue, but it was still neat to see what it might have looked like. :)
we read about and discussed christ's first recorded sermon preached here (luke 4:16-30). i was particularly struck by verse 24, when he said, "no prophet is accepted in his own country." due to unbelief, only a few miracles were performed here by jesus. that verse just struck me as a little sad while i was sitting there in that recreated synagogue, and made me think about my own life and the lives of others. sometimes it can be hard to grow or break away from your own background or reputation established in your hometown.
okay - one last picture because this was our best meal our entire time in israel (can you tell food is important to me? :)). our bus driver was this amazingly gracious man. turns out, he is the shiekh of the northern bedouin tribes of israel. he invited all of us to his house that night to eat dinner with his family. his wife also owns a catering business, so this meal was amazing. his family was so kind to us and it was so nice to be in someone's home that evening. mahmud, our driver and the shiekh, showed us the room where he has tribal councils when there are conflicts or decisions to be made. as a shiekh over the northern tribes, he is responsible for more than 10,000 people. we loved mahmud and this night! those little footballs on my plate were filled with scrumptious meat and i want to learn how to make it so badly.
props if you made it through this post - it was exhausting for us too!
see if you recognize some of the places now... :)
