Homework for the Holy Land: Day 3: My Head is Exploding

My head is exploding and I am tired, so this may be short and sweet, although we had a day jam packed full of historical and maybe/sorta Biblical sites.

The weather was just perfect today--sunny, blue skies, light wind, temperatures moderate.  We began at 686 feet below sea level and climbed to 1174 feet above sea level, enjoying amazing views on the way up and down.  Our first stop was Caesarea, built by Herod the Great (yes, THAT King Herod) in 22 B.C.  Caesarea was quite the enclave; it included a harbor, Roman theater and a Hippodrome where chariots were raced.  The Hippodrome was also used to torture Christians before Christianity was legalized by Emperor Constantine in 313 AD (remember him?  I'm telling you, my head is exploding trying to first remember what I learned and then, attempting to tie it all together with the current new learning).  

All signs are in Hebrew, Arabic and English.  Approximately 80% of Israelis are Jewish; 20 % are Arabs.  Arabs are Muslim, Druze or Christian.  Road signs are primarily in Hebrew and Arabic.

Bill Smith listening to our guide Lorne's explanation about how the Roman Theatre was built and then excavated.  In the background you can see further excavation underway.  Not all sites that are discovered are completely excavated; that depends on what archeologists determine are the site's potential value to furthering understanding of past history.  Today dirt from digs are put into large bags that are then sent to be washed and sifted through in hopes of discovering significant artifacts.

Here we have Episcopal Deacon My Friend Jeanie and Catholic deacon Mike McCarthy standing next to a tomb that, by notation on its lid, was intended for use by deacons.  

Herod built this break wall in order to develop a port for Caesarea.  The beach was the Hippodrome referenced above.

Here we have an outdoor latrine.  You placed one butt cheek on each stone, along with your friends.  Men and women used the latrines at different times (or so the story goes).

Herod had a series of aquaducts built in order to bring fresh water to Caesarea from the mountains to the east.  Below you can see a long section that remains, along side the Mediterranean Sea.

The Bible mentions that Peter came to Caesarea at the request of Roman Centurian Cornelius, who wanted to be baptized a Christian.  It also mentions that Paul was brought to Caesarea.  Click the links to read more about it.

We next stopped at Muchraka, site of Elijah's battle with Jezebel and her wanting to convert subjects to worship the god Bal.  To tell you the truth, I was only familiar with the name Jezebel and not the story.  If you want to know more, you'll have to look it up yourself: https://www.biblestudytools.com/bible-stories/bible-story-of-jezebel.html.

Israel 's agricultural valleys mean that people live in the hills.  Terraces are built to support housing.  The photo below is typical of what we saw as we drove through the Valley of Armageddon to Tel Meggido.

There have been 26 layers of settlements unearthed at Tel Megiddo, dating back to 4500 BCE.  One path we walked on has been dated back to the 13th century before Christ.  That still feels mind boggling to me.  Below are photos from the site:

Dates back to 1300 BCE

An excavated altar table from at least 1300 BCE

On to Nazareth, where we visited two side by side churches: the Basilica of the Annunciation, commemorating the visit from the Angel Gabriel to Mary where he told her she would be the Mother of God and the Church of St. Joseph, commemorating where the Holy Family lived.  There is no documentation to support that the well where Mary was approached by the angel is the exact one the church is built over nor is there documentation to indicate that the mikvah (ritual bath) the church of St. Joseph is built over is the precise one used by the Holy Family.  Could they have been?  Of course.  Let's go with that tonight.

There are a line of Mary and Josephs on both my parents' sides of the family and I am named after the Blessed Virgin Mary.  Visiting both sites proved to be powerfully emotional for me.

The Church of the Annunciation

The church is built over and around the grotto where it is believed the angel appeared to Mary.

The dome of the Basilica, designed to look like a lily unfolding. The lily, a symbol of purity, is closely associated with Mary.

Bronze statue of St. Joseph outside his church.  You can see where people pat him on the knees. 

I did, too.

Many countries have donated pictures of Mary to the Basilica.  Each is beautiful in its own way.  We remarked on the many cultural differences in the interpretation of Mary.  Below are a couple I particularly liked.

Modern Nazareth is a city filled with people, stores, traffic.  I'm rather surprised at how dirty the cities seem to be.  Even as you drive past the apartment buildings, yards and balconies are overflowing with the detritus of life.  What is very curious to me is how in any one apartment building, you can see two floors that appear fully occupied, then the top floor or two that almost looked as if they have been abandoned or were never completed.  We've seen that repeatedly in the cities we've driven through.  The juxtaposition of the old and new can be mind boggling as well.  For example, today, along the road, our guide pointed out a number of burial tombs from the ancient days, carved into the rocks.  A couple blocks later, there's the bus stop.

Speaking of driving through, we did a drive by of the Greek Orthodox and Catholic churches in Cana, blocks apart, both claiming to be the authentic site of the wedding feast at Cana.  What do they say--the truth lies somewhere in between?  We did see more than a couple stores selling Cana Wedding Wine.

Final stop of the day was at the Caprice Diamond Center.  Israel cuts and polishes 12% of all the world's diamonds and constitute 28% of Israels exports.  Lots of beautiful jewelry there.  No purchases here.

Ok, done.  We leave the Galilee area for the Jerusalem area tomorrow.  Many people told me this would be a life changing trip and so far I can feel that they are right.