Mt. Gilboa was located on the tel at Beit Sha’an

Scytopolis at the foot of Tel Beit Sha’an

Earthquake distruction

Looking down from the tel

Lunch

Brief look at the ruins of Jericho

Road from Jericho to Jerusalem

End of Shavout

Day 11 Wednesday

Last night at sundown, the Feast of Weeks or Pentecost began. Originally an agricultural festival, since the destruction of the Temple it has become more a celebration of the giving of the law of Moses. They celebrate it by closing all the stores, going to synagogue, and eating lots of dairy. Not sure why the dairy, but at breakfast today we had lots of varieties of cheeses and things made with cheese or cream and even squares of cheesecake!

It was with a sad heart that we left the Sea of Galilee today. Aaron told us that the area of the Galilee has often been the place where rebellions, zealots, and “messiahs” have come from, but now it is just such a pretty gentle area.

We began our day on the other side (as in went to the other side) of the Galilee at the Tel of Beit Sha’an (Mt. Gilboa from the Old Testament) and the roman city of Scytopolis built at the base of the tel. Such an interesting place!! David and I read Mitchener’s book The Source before coming here. It is a story about an archaeological dig on a fictional tel in the upper Galilee area. To see the height of the tel and the layers going down as they were excavating it was so interesting for us. From the tel we looked down on the roman city of Scytopolis which was a HUGE city at one point with magnificent columned main street, temples, 2 story bathhouses, and more. The whole city was destroyed by an earthquake about 749 AD. They have begun some restoration of the columns, in other areas they have left the columns as they fell. Fascinating.

Today the car registered 40C, which is about 110F. There was no where to escape the heat. Still Aaron pressed on and got us to Jericho … the oldest city in the world with Elisha’s spring. We had a passable picnic lunch grouped around Elisha’s fountain, but then Aaron took us up onto the ruins of the old Jericho. HOT! HOT! HOT! Our friend Ezer, one of the two youngest of the group has had untouchable energy this whole trip … he runs up stairs, down paths, over fences and obstacles doing twice as much as anyone else. Today, after about 15 min. the poor guy was back down off the ruins looking very wilted! We finally found a city that conquered Ezer instead of the other way around.

We scrapped the rest of the day! Just too too hot. The road from Jericho to Jerusalem is desolate wilderness. No water, no vegetation, no shelter. It was sobering to think of the story of the Good Samaritan taking place along this road.

We are back in the Old City. So many Russian Jews walking the streets in their large fur hats and long black coats on their way home from synagogue as sundown marked the end of the holiday. As I write this the loud blasts of the Muslim call to prayer overwhelms the night air.

A city, certainly like none other.