May 27

more than being behind, i hate not being able to finish something. a little over a week later... here are the finishing touches to the galilee trip on which jenni has already posted pictures.


Sunday--May 27

while today wasn't the hottest on the schedule it definitely was one of the more uncomfortable with humidity, bugs, and several with a stomach sickness. today we spent more time near the jordan river and different springs which feed the bugs that wanted to feed on us. the first stop was hazor--one of the 3 sites with a solomonic gate. while explaining about the site, dr. c told us about some excavators that want to deny the existence of solomon and the tribe of israel instead dating things back to ahab. i don't really understand how they can deny israel and not ahab both are in the bible.

our next site, dan, produced solid extra-biblical evidence to the existence of israel. after a brief nature walk, we listened to a lecture on a tabernacle and alter built in the days of Jeroboam and looked across the border into Lebanon. continuing on the nature walk along the jordan, we came to the gate area where dr. c told us of 3 significant finds. the most important was the stele tablet with references to israel and the house of david. i am not sure how the excavators are trying to deny these writing?

at caesarea philippi, we picnicked next to the springs with our hummus and pita after reflecting on the site of peter's confession of who christ was--the son of the living God. jenni wanted to go hiking to the top of a hill she found (which later turned out to be nimrod's fortress), but there wasn't enough time. we loaded back onto the bus for our last stop at qasrin.

qasrin is a basalt village used to allow visitors to see what life might have been like back in the late BC. personally, i would never paint my walls black and with the limited lighting i think that the black basalt buildings would have eventually gotten to me, especially with all of my family and animals packed into the same house.

we wandered for a bit more and then headed back to en gev for more swimming in the sea of galilee and a late dinner.