March 12 - Jordan River - Rift Valley

Our day started with a sunrise service at the Sea of Galilee.  People read favorite scriptures - my favorite from this morning was when Arlene read Psalm 19.

Something interesting we found out today.  Before anyone is allowed to build in Israel they need to check with the Department of Antiquity and they will verify whether or not there are any ancient buildings below.  If there is, you are not allowed to build. That was the case in Magdela where they believe Mary Magdeline lived. Magdela is a very new dig and the most amazing thing they found was a synagogue built during the time of Jesus (there are not many of them).  Our guide (who grew up in Boulder) told us there are no signs that Jesus was there - but there are also no signs that he wasn't - and we know that he preached in synagogues.

The people in the photo above are standing in the synagogue 

Archeologists sorting through clay

Our next stop was Bet She'an, a Roman Polis from 749AD. Not sure what to say about Bet She'an. It was quite an amazing place and I'm not sure I can do it any just by explaining so I will just post some pictures.

We made a quick stop at a more traditional place where Jesus may have been baptized in the Jordan.  The interesting thing is that the Jordan River acts as the border between Jordan and Israel - so the monasteries on the other side of the river are in Jordan.

Here is a close-up picture of the Jordanian soldier on the other side of the river. He seemed very relaxed talking on his phone.

We continued south along the Jordan River, through the West Bank. Our next stop was Qumran where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found. Seven scrolls were found by a Beduin shepherd in caves in the Judean Desert like the one below.  Three of the scrolls were sold to a professor for 50 English pounds on the same day as the UN Partitian - November 29, 1947.  The other four scrolls were purchased in New York by a Jewish family for a half million dollars and given back to Israel. They are the oldest copies of some of the books of the Old Testament and date back over 2,000 years.  We will have the opportunity to see the Dead Sea Scrolls when we are in Jerusalem.

John and Arlene like to pack as much as possible in a day - and sometimes things come up that we get to see that are not on the itinerary (like Magdela and T'svat) and sometimes things need to be skipped because we've run out of time.  En Gedi was closed when we arrived.  It is an oasis in the desert and an hour hike in would have brought us to beautiful waterfalls.  It is the place where David hid from Saul in the caves (1 Samuel 23).

We got a sneak-peak of Masada as we passed it on the way to our hotel on the Dead Sea. Tomorrow morning we will tour Masada and the afternoon will be a time to relax on the Dead Sea.  

Hotel on the Dead Sea