Nimrod Fortress in the Golan Heights

 There are LOTS of mediaeval castles scattered around Israel.  This is a Muslim castle that belonged to the nephew of Saladin.  Begun about 1229, it was built to withstand a Christian onslaught against Damascus when the Muslims were anticipating trouble about the time of the 6th crusade.  It was in use only a little over 175 years, when the Muslims kicked the Crusaders out of Acco at the end of the 13th century.  It started out as a smallish castle and eventually encompassed the entire mountain top and is many acres in size.

 Hmmm... where's waldork?
How did they get those small stones to stay up in the upper arch, for almost a 1,000 years?  It is easy to see the structure in the doorway of the shaped stones and the keystone.  It is not so easy to see in the upper arch.

 This is standing at one end of the complex and looking towards the other end.  Probably a 1/2 mile walk!  By the way this complex is just south of Mt. Hermon.

 Another view looking back at where the last photo was shot.

 One of the big cisterns.  Water is always an issue in the Middle East.

This is over the main gate.  

The Hyraxes LOVE abandoned medieval castles

 Aren't they CUTE!?!?!
The Hyraxes are about the size of a cat.

 They look so snugly, but they are shy and scamper away if you try to approach them.

They apparently live in large communities... like prairie dogs.  Thankfully they seem to prefer rocky embankments and abandoned castles, instead of rolling prairies.   They are herbivores although I am not sure what they eat.

They seemed to be as interested in us, as we were of them.  The dictionary says that they are related to otters and are fully aquatic if found around rivers and lakes.  Instead of the long skinny bodies of otters however, Hyraxes are round and furry.  We saw lots of them from basically Bet She'an to Lebanon.  

The Mighty Jordan River

 The land of Israel is mainly of a limestone "karst" landscape.  Karst is very porous and full of holes and channels.  Nowhere is this more dramatically shown than at the headwaters of the Jordan River.   The day we visited northern Israel, it was very foggy and we did not get a good photo of Mt. Hermon.  We walked through a heavily wooded area to the headwaters.  The River Jordan is fed by snow melt from Mt. Hermon.  It comes bubbling up from the ground.  It comes oozing out from under tree roots, from between stones of ancient walls.  Soon, within 2-3 hundred feet the little trickles start converging.

 Maybe if you enlarge to photo you can see the small stream next to the stone walk way.  For a mile, tiny stream after tiny stream jaunt downhill and.....

 becomes a wildly dangerous rushing river.

 This is not a river you would want to put your toe in.  I did get close enough to taste the water (in a calmer place than here).  It was very sweet and cold.

Within 2-3 miles when it gets to Caesarea Philippi, it has widened out and calmed down.  It flows pretty regularly to the Sea of Galilee, but is then is largely diverted throughout Israel.  The portion of the "mighty Jordan River"heading south of the Sea of Galilee is just a tiny stream to the Dead Sea.  

The Palace of Herod Agrippa II

Near Caesarea Philippi  is the exotic palace of Herod Agrippa.  The renditions are helpful to visualize how it would have looked at the time of Christ.  An interesting feature of this palace... actually fairly common was having an aqueduct routed through the middle of the house.  No doubt bathroom and kitchen facilities were conveniently placed to take care of business.   In many towns with good water sources, bath houses were also placed over aqueducts.

 Here is a better view of the palace complex.  The little hole in the escarpment in the background is the temple complex of Augustus and the Roman god Pan of the previous post.

 And here we can see the remain of the palace.  The caves dug into the side of the hill on the right side of the photo were granaries and other storage facilities.  The palace was 2 and 3 stories high.

 Above: is the hall where you can see the aqueduct running under the floor of this hall.  They did not have flushing toilets at that time but constantly running water flowed under the seats.



To the right are the remnants of another arched hallway.

King Herod Agrippa was the one who was called to judge Paul in Caesarea, a Roman port city on the Mediterranean coast, not 30 miles from this palace.  After hearing Paul's impassioned defense, his visions, his testimony, king Agrippa replied "Almost, thou persuadest me to be a Christian".
Here was a man who stood, as it were, on top of the world, yet all he gained in glory, power and wealth lie in ruins for all the world to look upon.  It is impossible that true success lies in the accumulation of such transient treasures.  Paul, who gave up everything to follow Christ, even into death has had a far more enduring legacy than Herod Agrippa.

Caesarea Philippi

 This is a long shot looking towards the Temples dedicated to the Roman Emperor Augustus and to the Roman God Pan.  Mt Hermon would be on the left side of the photo.  We are perhaps 2 miles from the head waters of the Jordan River.   The Jordan River gets it's waters from snow melt from Mt. Hermon.  Snow melt dribbles down through numerous channels and bubbles up near Tel Dan.  By Caesarea Philipe it is a very large river. Caesarea Philippi was a very pagan city and also the home of Herod Agrippa.  It was the northern most city, recorded in scripture, visited by Jesus Christ.

 a short explanation about the temple of Augustus with a rendition of how the temple originally looked.

s

 a view opposite the temple to the remains of some of the city buildings.  The remains of Herod Agrippa's home is perhaps 2-3 blocks further west.

 The big hole was once the apse of the Temple of Augustus.  The small hole was a smaller temple to Pan.

In perspective.  You can see that they were quite large. multiple engravings are chiseled into the rock.  If you do not remember, Pan was half goat, half man and played a flute.

 Matthew 16:

 13 ¶When Jesus came into the coasts of Cæsarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?
14 And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some,^aElias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets.
15 He saith unto them, But whom say ^aye that I am?
16 And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the ^aChrist, the^bSon of the ^cliving God.17 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon ^aBar-jona: for flesh and blood hath not ^brevealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.
 18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this^arock I will build my ^bchurch; and the gates of ^chell shall not^dprevail against it.
19 And I will ^agive unto thee the ^bkeys of the ^ckingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt ^dbind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

      I find it amazing that in one of the most pagan places in the Holy Land that Christ would challenge and question his disciples concerning who he is and that His Church is built upon the principle of revelation and the promise that He will always guide his Church. 

The main attraction on the north side of the Sea of Galilee is the remains of the town of Capernaum, where Jesus labored for the better part of 3 years.  It is enchanting.  In the early morning the lake is usually covered with a heavy mist.  The breeze blows most consistently in the early morning and late evenings.  When you wake one of the first sounds you hear, are the cooing of doves.  It never freezes and is temperate even in the dead of winter.  Only July and August are very hot.

Here is a good view of the remains of the town and the synagogue.  I expect the town had a "smoky" look... almost like the Slums in England, where the buildings were blackened by the smoke from the industrial smoke stacks.  With everything so close together, it seems like it would have had a rather somber look. There are actually a number of cities in the area that were built of black basalt, a form of volcanic rock that cooled too quickly.  The remains of the white synagogue, contrasts remarkably with the rest of the dark colored buildings.

The white synagogue was not built until about 400 a.d., but it was built on the same foundation of the synagogue of Jesus' time.  It is amazing to think about all that happened here.  The healing of the paralytic, the woman who was healed by touching the hem of his garment, the raising of Jarius' daughter from the dead.  Many who were blind were restored to sight, deaf made to hear, lame to walk.  It was in this synagogue that he healed the man with the withered hand, in the presence of the rulers of the synagogue, who then started to plot how they might kill him.    

Here you can see the white limestone built over the black basalt foundations of the original synagogue.

The most intact house... and the house closest to the sea, has been nominated, by the Catholic Church, as the house of Peter the apostle.  Like the early settlers and pioneers, most of the houses of Jesus' time were very small 2-3 rooms, 12x12- 10x20 in size.  Unlike the pioneers, they had a nice roof for sleeping and entertaining

Here you can see the doorway into a room/house perhaps 12x12ft in size.   The walls come up close to 4 feet high.   St. Peter's house.  

Time to Explore the Galilee - The Main Attraction - The Sea of Galilee

 The Galilee is a wonderful place.  You have probably read the statistics... 33 miles around, 13 miles long, 8 miles wide and about 140 feet deep at it's deepest.  It has the lowest elevation of any fresh water lake on earth at about 700 ft. below sea level.  Beyond the dry statistics it is one of the lovely places on earth and a place beloved of the Savior and the focus of much of his missionary labors.  The ancient highway of nations, the Via Maris, put the Galilee in the crosshairs of ancient human civilization.  By working in the Galilee, Jesus had access to the melting pot of his time.  This view is from Boat Museum, looking east towards Capernaum and Jordan/Syria.

One thing that has bugged me since my first visits in 2000, are all the paintings that show Jesus walking on a sandy shore.  The photo at left is typical of all the shoreline around the sea.  #1.  The Sea of Galilee is part of the Great Rift Valley. #2. Notice the dark rock.... black Basalt.  When we get to Capernaum and other ruins you will see most of the buildings are of black basalt.  The towns have a dark, rather gloomy appearance.  I much prefer the white limestone of Jerusalem for building material.  Main point.... lots of rock!  no sand (unless they have started trucking it in).

Here is another section of shore line.  Mustard grows everywhere.  The view across the Sea was actually fairly clear that day.

This is looking west towards Tiberius.  Tiberius was a Roman city at the time of Christ, but He seems to have spent little time there.  The faint, almost shadow hills on the other side are the hills of Jordan.  I should talk about water... Water is such a huge issue in this area.  The 1967 war was at least in part fought because Syria tried to divert water from Galilee.  Angst is had by Jordanians and Syrians because Israel pipes water to all the major cities of Israel from Galilee, but will not share with them.  Jordan has diverted the Yarmouk River, because Israel will not share.  The Sea of Galilee has lost water.  The Jordan River, which used to be mighty is barely a stream. 

Time to Explore the Galilee

Zedekiah's Cave/ Solomon's Quarries

 It took us a while, but we finally found the entrance to Zedekiah's Cave/ Solomon's Quarries.  It is on the north side of the old city, a few hundred feet east of the Damascus Gate.  It was absolutely fascinating, monstrously huge and full of intriguing possibilities.   This is what you see when you enter from the street.

If you click on the photo, it should enlarge so that you can read it.  The legends concerning this cave are numerous.  It is not known, as far as I could find out, the exact extent of the cave.  The portion we were allowed to explore went many city blocks under the Old City.

 Here you can see one of the massive stone pillars that was left to support the city, that rests over the top, while stone was excavated for the first temple and for other buildings in Jerusalem, at the time of King Solomon and later.

 On our second visit this "room" was set up for a Masonic meeting, with a table that appeared to be straight out of one of Dickens novels.
One of the legends connected with these caves, is that the cave runs almost to the Jordan River Valley, about 15 miles eastward.  The legend says King Zedekiah followed the cave from Jerusalem down to near Jericho, but the invading army anticipated his escape and caught him as he emerged in Jericho and that is when he witnessed the killing of all his sons (except the infant Mulek who was spirited away by his nurses and eventually ended up in the New World).

 This is a continually running fountain, near the south end of what we were allowed to see... probably close to the north side of the temple mount, I would guesstimate.  It is called Zedekiah's Tears.  Another legend connected with this system of caves is that King Zedekiah hid out here, shedding many tears for the capture of his people.  It is also believed that the prophet Jeremiah hid in these caves and was incarcerated in another portion.

One of the most intriguing rumors, is that the Ark of the Covenant, commissioned by Moses during the Exodus, and the implements of the ancient temple are buried somewhere in this system of caves.  Legend says that King Josiah, the last righteous king of Judah was prompted to hide up the Ark before his death in a war against Egypt.   There are those who believe that the Ark ended up under the crucifixion site.  Giving credence to this idea is the Mosaic practice of the High Priest, each Passover, entering the Holy of Holies to sprinkle blood on the Mercy Seat.  It would not surprise me one bit, that when the Ark of the Covenant is found, that the actual blood of Christ is on the Mercy Seat, as the Priests in token sprinkled it for generations before Christ's death by Crucifixion.  Perhaps the earthquake after Christ's death opened up the path, that the blood could drip down onto the Ark, after the soldier pierced His side.  Just a thought.....

The Hinnom Valley

 I thought a little tutorial on the 2 most famous valleys of Jerusalem might be helpful.  In the artists rendering at right, you see the City of David as it might have appeared during the reigns of Kings David and Solomon.  The temple would eventually have been built on the north or near the top of the rendering. King David's castle was was about where the little brown blob is, on the north end.  To the right of the city, you can see the foot of the Mt of Olives.  Mt Scopus is the next hill.  The deep valley between the city and the mountains is the Kidron Valley.  To the left of the city is another valley called the Hinnom Valley.  In the early years you can see that both valleys were farmed.  The Gihon Spring is near the tip of the city on the right or east side and provided water for farming and for the city.  The city was perhaps a mile to a mile and a half long, and less than a mile wide.   Eventually in Old Testament times, the Kidron Valley became a cemetery and the Hinnom Valley became "cinema row" and the "red light" district of Jerusalem.

 In this photo we are standing on the north end of David's city.  The white looking hill is the south end of the Mt. of Olives.  It looks white, because it is covered with Jewish graves.  That whole area is grave almost on grave.  The brown is the bottom of the Kidron Valley.  The path is in and by now it will be landscaped and planted with Rosemary, shrubs and trees.  On the left side of the photo, you can see the south/east corner of the temple/old city wall.

 This is the Hinnom Valley.  It is mostly used as a garden, now.  There is only a music conservatory and one large outdoor amphitheater set up on the north/west end, where the ruins of Suleman's pool are.   Here it was in ancient times that Jews sacrificed their children to Molech, by burning them alive, as described in Jeremiah 32:35.  Baal and Ashtoroth plays of violence and sex often preceded the immolation of children.  The valley was populated by prostitutes, actors and false gods in ancient times.  For this idolatry and the murder of children, the Lord first lead out some of the righteous, such as Lehi and then allowed Babylon to overthrow and carry the Jews off captive to Babylon.

     It was also through this valley that the soldiers compelled Christ to go to be judged before Caiaphas.
    Tradition also says that it was in this valley that Judas Iscariot hung himself after betraying the Lord and then trying to buy Christ back, unsuccessfully, by throwing back the 30 pieces of silver that had given him to to betray Jesus .
    As you can tell there is a depressing spirit that seems to linger in this valley.  

St Peter in Gallicantu - Where the Cock Crowed

     After his terrible ordeal in Gethsemane, Jesus was arrested, taken from Gethsemane on the east side of the city, down into the Kidron Valley and on into the Hinnom Valley on the south side of the city and was very likely brought up these steps to the Government buildings of the 2nd temple period... a distance of about a mile of treacherous ups and downs.

      It is, no doubt hard to judge distance from this small photo, but Jesus was compelled to climb up hundreds of feet of stairs up to the dungeons, judgement halls, other government buildings and Caiaphas' palace.

     He was surely flanked by Jewish or Roman soldiers assigned to carry out the orders of  the Sanhedrin of Jerusalem.  I can imagine a small group of his disciples huddled at the bottom of the stairs, keeping a good distance behind the soldiers, to avoid drawing attention to themselves... but also afraid to let the Savior out of their sight.

      They had to have felt it their duty to stick close to their Master, possibly defend Him, if opportunity arose.
     Here you can see some restoration work of what much have been imposing government buildings of Jesus' day.  Impressive sized foundation/ building stones are littered all over this area.
     I gained a little insight and sympathy for Peter, while I was here.  Government buildings, particularly of oppressive regimes, tend to be far more imposing than is needful, for the very purpose of inspiring awe and fear in their subjects.

 Here are more ruins and foundations, with their littering of stones.  I enjoyed trying to visualize what the buildings must have looked like.   Everything in Jerusalem is built on hills.  The compounding effect of what appears to be building on building, with porches, connecting walkways, must have been both beautiful and terrifying, depending on the situation.   I tried to imagine the apostles trying to "fit in".  They must have felt terribly out of place.

 This is looking down the hall into the dungeon area.  Rings and chains are hooked to the walls.  It is dark and musty.  I wish I had taken photo's of the faithful hearted who here were worshipping and singing.  I remembered that all through that night, whether in a garden, a dungeon, a courtroom or Caiaphas' judgement hall, that not only was Jesus calmly answering the rude, inconsiderate inquiries of his captors, looking past their snide, victorious, obscene comments of conquest and perceived victory; He was also continuing with the extreme pain of the atonement. Humbly submitting as face after face, appeared for repentance and healing.  

This is actually where you enter.  See the stones in the foreground, evidence of more buildings, palaces, etc.  The little church, with the gray roof, to the right covers the dungeons and partial floor of one of the judgement halls.   The pavilion, covers models of crusader era Jerusalem.  The city section beyond the Church is the Palestinian town of Silwan.

This vacant area is thought to have been the former site of Caiphus' palace.  Foundation stones cover the area, but you can not see them because the grass is too high.