March 8, 2013 Friday Day 3

Bokertov 

(good morning)

Leaving the Kibbuts to be on the bus at 8 am. 

Driving North through the Hula valley.  Our first stop is Tel Dan

The Dan Stream

Wild Cyclamen are lovely between the weeds.

A short walk around one of the rivers feeding the Jordan. 

Lebanon & Syria in the distance. Very near the border. 

Contemplate the meaning of "Living Waters".

On our walk, we followed the Dan River. 

Amazing beauty

Great walking trail.  Especially over the stones.

Dale and Maryann snuggling under a tree.

  The Dan River is the largest and most important source of the Jordan. It is fed by rain and snow that trickles down through the rock of Mount Hermon and emerges at its foot in hundreds of springs, creating the most plentiful karstic spring in the Middle East with an annual 240 million cubic meters of water.
Obviously a very significant source of water.  Only an average of 60 mm of rain per year in Israel.  Soon they will have 70% of de-salted water from the Mediterranean Sea.  

 The trail passes along streams, the river, and through a shady tangle of trees, mainly laurel, Italian buckthorn and Syrian ash. 

An alter 

Inside the city are traces of ruins, in which the archaeologists excavated residential houses of the city dated to the Canaanite period. 

Porcupine Den

We...Walk

Abraham's Gate to the city

 An illustration of the design of the triple-arch gate. The gate house is based on a series of 3 sequential arches which support the tower above the entryway. The entire height of the gate is 7m high. 

  It is remarkable that the gate was preserved for so long - 3,800 years. Sections of the original structure, with 47 courses of the brick layers, are preserved. This was due to the great design, a novelty at those times, and since it was eventually covered by the Israelites and buried under the new defense walls.

City gate from the time of Abraham.  Most ancient gate in Israel.
A very special place to be standing.  Wow.

"Gate of the Three Arches"  The Canaanite Gate.Bricks were prepared using the ancient techniques of placing the mud into a mold, then baking it in the sun.

The external arch is better seen in this photo.
According to the Bible, this was the gate where Abraham passed during his pursuit against the North Kings (Genesis 14:14): "And when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his trained servants, born in his own house, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued them unto Dan".

Avocado tree.
Continuing our walk to where Rami is waiting for us. 
We were followed by a jeep with guards to make sure we were leaving.
They closed the gates behind us.
Back on the bus, Psalm 42 and  Matthew 16: 13--  was read.

Caesarea Philippi

Situated 25 miles north of the Sea of Galilee and at the base of Mt. Hermon, Caesarea Philippi is the location of one of the largest springs feeding the Jordan River. This abundant water supply has made the area very fertile and attractive for religious worship.  Numerous temples were built at this city in the Hellenistic and Roman periods.

.Biblical History

Apparently known as Baal Hermon and Baal Gad in the Old Testament period, this site later was named Panias after the Greek god Pan who was worshiped here.  There is no record of Jesus entering the city, but the great confession and the transfiguration both occurred in the vicinity of the city (Matt 16:13), then known as Caesarea Philippi.

This cave is called Panium, where is a top of a mountain that is raised to an immense height, and at its side, beneath, or at its bottom, a dark cave opens itself; within which there is a horrible precipice, that descends abruptly to a vast depth; it contains a mighty quantity of water, which is immovable; and when any body lets down any thing to measure the depth of the earth beneath the water, no length of cord is sufficient to reach it ...".

Adjacent to the sacred cave is a rocky escarpment with a series of hewn niches.  We know that statues of the deity were placed in these niches by depictions of such on coins of the city. One niche housed a sculpture of Echo, the mountain nymph and Pan’s consort.  Another niche housed a statue of Pan’s father, Hermes, son of nymph 

Another view of the Corinthian capital and the temple. The temple was depicted on the coins of the city, with four columns and the status of Zeus in the center.

At the eastern side of the sanctuary are two temples, associated with the unique cult of "dancing goats". 

  The upper structure is the "Tomb temple of the dancing goats", while the lower structure is the "Temple of "Pan and the dancing goats". 

   Pan, according to Greek Mythological, has the appearance of  half goat (lower body) and half human. His pipe-playing entertained dancing goats, hence the source of the "dancing goats" temples.

Doron showing us a what druze pita bread looks like.
Very tasty smeared with olive oil, and filled with anything you like. 

Views from restaurant.  The only mountain I saw with some snow. 

Surroundings from the restaurant.  

Most East side of Israel near the Syrian border. 

Bunkers on hill tops is a common sight.
It was in this area that Paul was struck down with blindness for 3 days. 

Avocado trees still in bloom farther north. 
Acts 9 was read. 

Olive Tree

Lime Tree

Visiting an Ancient Talmudic Village and Synagogue.

Homes after an earthquake.

This two-story single family home boasts a large master suite, family room (that doubles as a bedroom for the kids) eat-in kitchen with wood burning stove, and a lovely courtyard for your chickens and goats. Sorry folks, but there are no bathrooms and no running water. And it’s not for sale.

The synagogue had two rows of four columns each. The building was two stories tall with rows of windows at the top of the walls. The roof was built of wooden beams covered with ceramic tiles. In the southern wall, which faces Jerusalem, two massive stone steps lead to a raised stone platform. 

After a brief talk and video, we learned there are 23000 olive trees in Israel.  11 varieties.
The olive fruit produces 20% oil.  80% residue.
None of the residue is wasted today.   Some of the uses:  facial scrubs, cosmetics, pharmaceutical and  food additives.  Olive oil is an anti-oxidant.

We all had the opportunity to wash our hands in the olive oil residue.
 John decided to clean his face as well.  He sure glowed after his treatment. 

800 year old olive tree.
Olive oil is mentioned in the Bible 37 times, and olive trees 13  times.
Plus the story of Noah and the olive branch.

Old olive press.

Ruth and Alida 

Citrus trees.

We got back to our kibbutz early, so a little extra time to catch up on blogging and dinner.

Shabbat is the Jewish Sabbath, celebrated every week from sundown on Friday to nightfall of Saturday.   On Shabbat, the day of rest, cooking is prohibited.   The laws of food preparation on Shabbat are complex; they dictate what can be reheated and what cannot, what tools can be used, how vegetables may be sliced, even the proper way to make tea—first by pouring the water from the water heater into a pot and then pouring water from the pot over the teabag itself. 
Dinner was delicious, we did not know what to expect. 

Tomorrow we are off to the Sea of Galilee boat ride.  Doron, our tour guide said "half the time on the boat  and the other time walking on the water because we're believers.  If we all behave he will even part the sea for us".  Doron is quite the joker.  Makes for a lot of entertainment on our travels, with an ocean of knowledge in Bible and world history.  When he's done talking he sings a few songs for us.  His own versions.