So on April 9th we went on a field trip to some way cool places. Let me tell you about them:
Our first stop was Hazor. It was riveting, as you can tell by my classmates' expressions... ;-) Haha--actually it was really cool. Hazor was captured by Joshua remained an important city until it was destroyed by the Assyrians in the 8th century BC (see Joshua 19:36 and 2 Kings 15:29)
Isn't that beautiful? The rocks are part of the watch tower in Hazor, and the view is of the Hula Valley
Sometimes Sarah is funny... ;-)
So it started raining and I can't get my cast wet (it is plaster and would disintegrate if it got wet) so we got a little creatively carried away. I have it wrapped in a trash bag, a towel, and Sarah's rain jacket... But it did the trick and my cast stayed dry all day! ;-)
Our next stop was Tel Dan. If you are familiar with the Biblical Kingdom of Israel, you will know the expression "From Dan to Beersheba." Well, this is Dan--the northern border of the ancient kingdom of Israel. (see 1 Kings 4:25)
This is the source of the Jordan River. Water seeps out of the ground all over the place at Tel Dan and it all forms the river which is the mighty Jordan :-) So that was cool.
After a certain point, I could go no further as it was a hike up to the ruins. Apparently up there you can see where Jeroboam's altar was (see 1 Kings 12:25-33) and some other cool stuff.
Next we went to Caesarea Philippi, which was a big deal during the New Testament
The Seleucids carved niches in the cliff face and worshiped their god Pan here (they would offer human sacrifices in this cave--which was full of water--and if the remains sunk in the water and no blood showed up in the river then the sacrifice had been accepted, but if blood showed up in the river below then the sacrifice had been rejected)...freaky stuff...
Caesarea Philippi
Also, Caesarea Philippi is beautiful. Who knew? ;-)
Rachel and I always joke that we are just like a married couple...
We are so cute together ;-)
Next we went to Nimrod Fortress, which is a Crusader Castle at the foothill of Mount Hermon
I stayed at the base of the castle and chatted with Brother Schade while the class explored the fortress, as it was not accessible to my broken leg
I believe Mt. Hermon is under those clouds... oh well...
One of my favorite parts of the day was our final stop at Har Bental, which was an overlook where we saw the Road to Damascus (the site of Saul's conversion) and also Syria!
Behind my wonderful cousin and me is Syria :-)
We talked about the tension between Syria and Israel and had a devotional about peace. It was really neat.
sign post that basically told me that I'm in a really cool place right now.
So basically I saw Syria today, and that was grand.
-E
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