En Gedi Hike/Dead Sea--Nahal Parat Hike--Sukkot!

       This post is going to be about a couple of different things...we didn't go to these places with any particular academic purpose (taking notes/having to remember things for a test!), but I figured they were worth sharing :)

En Gedi/Dead Sea
       We went to En Gedi, a city in the Judean Wilderness to go on a hike.  This is where David and some of his followers were hiding from Saul as talked about in 1 Samuel 24.  We hiked up the Ascent of Ziz...and it was so hot!  Fortunately, we came along a couple of springs along the way to take a dip in!  Now, when I read about a spring in the wilderness/longing for water in the wilderness/etc in the Bible, I truly understand!  Since this area of the wilderness is right next to the Dead Sea, we could see it from our hike.  Once we finished the hike and went down to the sea, I didn't get any floating pictures! :( I was too busy being wet and salty and rubbing mud all over my body!  :)

An ibex!

Wilderness at En Gedi

More wilderness!

The spring!

The Dead Sea, and looking across to Jordan.

Nahal Parat

       Nahal Parat is a riverbed/canyon northeast of Jerusalem where Jeremiah 13 says that the prophet Jeremiah left his linen belt.

A cave...where someone probably lived!

A pool we found along the way...if you stick your feet in and be really still...they'll come up and eat the dead skin off your legs and feet!

Wilderness

Wilderness

Sukkot

       We got to experience a real Jewish holiday!  Sukkot, or the Feast of Booths, is a reminder of God's provision to them when they were wandering around in the wilderness.  We went into Jerusalem the day before Sukkot started to see the fair that they have set up, where they have vendors selling all the necessary Sukkot decorations.  We also got to walk through the Orthodox community.  The following Sunday, we got to go into Jerusalem again!  Since we usually go into Jerusalem every Saturday, it was fun to be able to go when all the Jewish people are out and about...and celebrating a holiday, which makes it extra fun!

The Sukkot fair

Taking a stroll through the Orthodox neighborhood!

The hustle and bustle of the Western Wall during a holiday!

I also rode a camel! :)

      

Judah Field Study

A couple of Wednesdays ago (October 1), our field trip was to a few of the high points in the land given to the tribe of Judah.  In the bus, we were told about how Judah really doesn’t have very many stories in the Bible about it!  We were told that for the most part, how Judah looks now is very similar to how it would have looked in ancient times.  In the 1950s, the rest of Israel was reforested with pine trees, so it looks a little bit different!  I didn’t really know what to expect, but I was still excited to be ‘transported in time!’

            Our first stop was in Jerusalem at Ketef Hinnom, near St. Andrew’s Church.  We started off by reading from Joshua 18.  This site is the most important tomb complex associated with Jerusalem.  The tombs are from 7 to 6 BC, and during this time (a range of time following 586 BC) is the most unknown period in Israel’s history.  Archaeologists found a lot of burial gifts that would have been put to ‘help’ the dead in their afterlife.  They also found the silver amulet that has the oldest recorded scripture in it at this location. 

People laying in the tombs at Ketef Hinnom.

            In the bus going to the next location, we learned about how in ancient Judah, a person couldn’t live on just one occupation, like a crop farmer.  An example from the Bible of someone who lived like this was Amos, who was a shepherd/farmer.

            Our next stop was at the monument of Herodium.  It was built as a memorial to the victory that he had in 40 BC at this site.  Surprisingly enough, it was also the only battle he ever fought!   This site is also one of the rare places that Herod ever built from scratch.  Places like Masada were only rebuilt or remodeled.  Herod had aqueducts bring him water from 27 miles away to hold in a 2 million gallon cistern for his baths and gardens.  He definitely lived a lavish lifestyle in spite of the inconvenient location!  He also built himself a grand tomb on top of his theater, which had a special box suite.  The hill was even built up because Herod wanted it higher.  It can be seen from the Mount of Olives!  We could see the route that the magi would have taken to visit Jesus, and to avoid Herod on the way back to their country, which we read about in Matthew 2.  Even though Herod was crazy, I’m kinda grateful that he was so self-obsessed, because we wouldn’t be able to see all these incredible fortresses if he hadn’t been narcissistic enough to build them!

A model of Herodium

Looking down into Herodium...the cylinder/column is the big tower in the model!!

                From Herodium, we drove to Bethlehem.  When we arrived in Bethlehem, we went to one of the fields and read from Luke 2.  Seeing the fields was really fascinating to me because they’re so small!  Also, they’re right in the middle of the city (or parts of the city!), which we don’t see too often in America!  The main attraction in Bethlehem is the Church of the Nativity.  Justinian rebuilt this church in the 5^th century, and it’s where Jerome translated the Vulgate.  It’s also a combination of Catholic, Armenian, and Greek Orthodox influence.  In the Crypt inside the church, there’s a silver 14-point star that’s supposed to be where Jesus first touched the earth when he was born.  The really fun part of Bethlehem was going to see the graffiti!  It’s really interesting to me how intense the messages were on the graffiti…in America, graffiti is just ‘self-expression’ or art or whatever, but here, it’s a big political statement!

Church of the Nativity

Supposedly where Jesus touched the earth for the first time!

Graffiti

            Instead of heading to Hebron, where Abraham bought a cave for Sarah's burial, we waited for the bus driver to get a broken window fixed!After a long wait for the bus driver to get a window fixed, we headed back toward Jerusalem to get a look at the Rephaim Valley. When we got to the valley, we read from 2 Samuel 5 and talked about the difference between David and Saul.  Saul could never access God without Samuel, but David sought God on his own.  And that was it for this day!