Our third day in Israel began again from our hotel in Tiberias on the southern shore of the Sea of Galilee. We headed southwesterly, with Nazareth as our destination. On the way to Nazareth the road lead through Cana. You remember Jesus’ first miracle? Sure you do. At a wedding, He turned water into wine. And guess what! As we passed through Cana, there to our left was a store named “Cana Wedding Wine, The First Miracle Sovner Store” - a fine example of using an event that took place nearly 2000 years ago, to sell souvenirs. (Sovner is how it was spelled.)
Nazareth is a hilly, bustling city today. Roughly seventy thousand people live there, and the streets are crowded. The population is mostly Palestinian Arab, with a breakdown of about 69% Muslim, nearly 31% Christian, and a tiny Jewish contingent.
Historical evidence suggests that Nazareth, in Jesus day, was a tiny hamlet of perhaps 30 to 50 families, tucked away in a valley between the Galilean hills. They were a rugged and poor people, who spoke with an accent different than their fellow Jews only 63 miles to the south in Jerusalem. It seems that the hamlet had a reputation of sorts, which would explain why Nathaniel wondered out loud how anything good could come from Nazareth. But isn’t that just the way God works? He’s done it so many times in history - making an improbable or impossible situation turn into something amazing. Think about Noah, Moses, Joseph, David, Daniel, and so many more, and now Jesus, born into poverty and growing up in the “West-Virginia” of Israel.
The purpose for our visit was to participate in a guided tour of an open air museum depicting life in Nazareth in the time of Jesus. This was one of the places that Dad wanted to visit, but never had the opportunity. It was developed in the 1990’s, several years after he and Mom had lived there.
Nazareth Village sits on a hillside surrounded by the city. Stepping into it instantly takes a person back about 2000 years. Dressed in clothes of the period, a little smiling boy clings to a swing, while behind him a man tends his sheep. Further along the path a wine press is carved into the rock. There is a vineyard, olive grove, small fields that had been harvested, a lookout tower, and a small settlement. Included in the settlement were a carpenter shop with a man plying his trade, and then a home where a woman sat spinning yarn from wool that had been dyed in many natural colors. One large stone building that would have been shared by the community, housed a donkey-powered turnstile for crushing olives, and a press for squeezing the oil. A bit further, we gathered together in the synagogue for additional explanations of community life. There were other stone buildings and dwellings to walk through, before the tour ended in a store where all the money-laden tourists could peruse a large array of books, olive wood products, and souvenirs of every description.
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| Donkey pushing the turnstile, crushing olives. |
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| Shepherd |
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| Women spinning yarn |
Leaving Nazareth we wound our way right back past Mt Tabor. Once again, I could not take my eyes from it. It rises so distinctly from the plains, and stands nearly alone like a monument. Passing by it, we continued to the southern tip of the Sea of Galilee where the Jordan River leaves the sea to continue its winding path south to the Dead Sea. The Jordan itself was our destination, because there were a number of people in our group who wanted to be baptized.
For several months I thought I would be in that number. Not that I felt a need to be baptized again, but I may never be here again, and it just seemed like it would be awesome to experience baptism in the Jordan - the river where John-the-Baptist had baptized so many people, including Jesus.
I didn’t do it though. First, there was a requirement to rent a white robe for 10 dollars (a minor stumbling block), but then the location was so commercialized. I should have expected that. Above the baptism site there was a plaza for purchasing food and souvenirs, a public restroom that required payment to use, and people everywhere. The surroundings simply squelched the desire I had for an experience that I had hoped might be meaningful. Bless the hearts of the many people who had the fortitude to ignore all the distractions, and go for the plunge.
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| Baptismal area of the Jordan River |
We traveled south then, to Bet She’an where lies the ruins of the first century Roman city of Scythopolis, located at the juncture of the Jezreel Valley and the Jordan River Valley. If I were an archaeologist or historian, this would be the mother of all digs - the quintessential dream come true.
I am neither. However, the massive amounts of history and ruins in this place is amazing even to the novice. Certainly one could spend many days combing through the ruins of what was once a bustling city.
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| The Tel is in the background - once the site of a fortified city. |
Scythopolis was the capital of ten cities known as Decapolis, and the only one on the west side of the Jordan River. The most striking thing about this location is the hill. It is shaped conically, like a volcano, and flat on top, making it the perfect location for a fortress city. This hill is referred to as Tel Bet She’an, and many layers of civilization have been uncovered on the top.
In the days of King Saul, this land was controlled by the Philistines. It was on Mt Gilboa, just to the west of Bet She’an, where Saul and his sons lost the battle to the Philistines, and Saul took his own life as he was about to be killed. Read about it in I Samuel 31:1-13. Their bodies were brought here to the Tel of Bet She’an by the Philistines, and hung on the city gates.
Today the modern city of Bet She’an lies just to the south of the ruins, and is home to around fifteen thousand people. It is surrounded by thousands of acres of excellent crop land. It’s worth going to ‘google images’ to see pictures of the Tel, and to get an aerial view of the city and surrounding land.
So much to see, but it was time to move south to the Dead Sea. This is one place that strikes at the imagination of children and adults alike. The one place in the world where the water is so salty that it is impossible to sink. This was on my bucket list for Israel - Israel being at the top of the list, and floating in the Dead Sea in the sub-list. That, and riding a camel.
I’d like to include here a few lines I sent to my brothers as we made plans for the Israel trip. It describes my interest in the Dead Sea.
Dear Family,
There is one Dead Sea. On this great earth, there is only one. Having already described my desire to ride a camel, I now wish to describe my yearnings to float in the Dead Sea.
Some of you are not sure you want to go into the water of the Dead Sea. I can scarcely comprehend this. Think of it. Nearly everything on earth comes in multiples, and nearly everything is repeated over and over all over the world. Just look at McDonald's and Walmart. But there is only one Dead Sea. We can find a pool almost anywhere to go for a refreshing swim. We can go east or west and ride the waves of the amazing oceans. But there is only. one. Dead. Sea. So for something to think about, here is a very incomplete list of things unique about the Dead Sea.
1) The salt content in this one-of-a-kind sea is nine to ten times greater than that of the oceans.
2) The salt content is so great that the human body cannot sink in this body of water. In other words, even if you can't swim, you cannot drown in this sea - unless someone is "helping" you. Based on experiences of my young childhood, I will keep a distance between myself and my older brothers.
3) The surface of the water is 1388 feet below sea level, making it the lowest spot on earth. If we want to get lower than that, we have to actually get in the water.
4) It is one of the oldest recorded locations for a health resort. Herod the Great was known to visit this place for the health benefits, but don't get your hopes up, he died anyway.
5) The benefits of this water to one's largest organ, namely the skin, are amazing. Do you know that salt water tightens the skin? And the saltier the better? At our advanced ages, going for a dip in the Dead Sea seems like a no-brainer. The only catch though, is that they don't recommend putting your head under water, and that's where most of the wrinkles seem to be. There are however, healing lotions that are derived from the Dead Sea, that can be used on any part of the body.
So, will I be going for a dip in the Dead Sea? ARE YOU KIDDING? OF COURSE I WILL! I've heard from someone who put his wee little fingers in the water, that it is "slimy". Really? That's the salt and minerals going to work on the skin. Soap is slimy too, but we use it every day, and enjoy it. I can think of other examples, but it's not necessary to waste any more time mentioning them. This may be our one chance to experience the Dead Sea, and I for one am going in.
From the other brother.
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And now here we were, driving along the coast of the Dead Sea. Darkness was approaching as we pulled into the parking lot of the hotel, after driving through many miles of dry desert wilderness. The float would have to wait until the morning. But wait! The hotel had a pool room. Lo and behold, it had an indoor pool of Dead Sea water. So some of us went in. It was almost scary. One thing for sure you don’t want to do is get this water into your eyes. It is so potent, that your eyes will melt and slide right down your face. No, just kidding!! But they say it does give a very painful burning sensation. I’ll take their word for it. There is a technique to relaxing in the water without splashing. You just slowly sit down and let your legs bob to the surface. Now straighten out your body and lay your head back, and you are suspended on a soft bed of water. What an amazing feeling! But in the morning we would experience the sea itself. Can hardly wait. Off to bed. See you in the morning.
We’ll pick it up right here next week, friends, and we’ll go for a dip in the Dead Sea. So long.
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