Days 4 and 5

Day 4 was at Beit Shean, a location I knew nothing about before we visited. I was not expecting more than a few crumbling ruins, but as far as ancient cities, this was the most well preserved one that we visited on our whole trip, and I was so amazed!

The Roman city:

Below, the Roman Theatre:

Below is a Roman bathroom, with toilets on the right

Our group walking up to the top if Bet Shean 

Ran into a goat herd...

We also found little artifacts on the way up. Dillon found lots of Roman glass (a pale blue), and I found a broken piece of pottery, likely from the Byzantine era (around 400 A.D)

At the top, we saw where the Egyptian Governor lived, 12 B.C.E... my mind can't even grasp how long ago this was!

View of the City from the top of the hill/mountain:

Walking the ancient streets...

We had lunch here (falafel), and then drove to the ancient town of Sephori/Zippori. This was where Jospeh and Jesus likely would have walked to work everyday from Nazareth. The picture below is a view of Nazareth from Zippori:

The Crusadors, as well as the Romans, also inhabited Zippori at various times. Below, old Roman roads, and mosaics:

Day5 began at Hatzor, where we saw more ancient waterworks. 

Here is the account of the forced labor King Solomon conscripted to build the LORD’s temple, his own palace, the terraces,^[a] the wall of Jerusalem, and Hazor, Megiddo and Gezer.1 Kings 9:15

From there we drove North to Tel Dan. When we first arrived I saw someone familiar, asked if she had a blog, and turns out she did- I met Caroline In Texas! She was so nice and didn't seem to mind that I am a blog stalker~

Tel Dan is a nature reserve in North Israel. We hiked through a forest and came to the Israelite Kingdom, as well as the Sacred Precinct,

"After seeking advice, the king made two golden calves. He said to the people, “It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Here are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.” ²⁹ One he set up in Bethel, and the other in Dan" I Kings 12:28-29

At Tel Dan, we also saw the Canaanite gate, dating from before 1200 B.C.E. It's possible that Abraham and Sarah could have passed through here:

We then drove to Cesarea Philippi, where Peter confessed to Jesus, "You are the Messiah"

After, we drove to a Druze village (the Druze are a branch off of Islam, a very private people group). We had lunch here then drove through the Golan Heights. There are still dangerous land minds located in the region from the 6 Day War. We made a quick stop at Gamal ( a mountain where Jews lived, known for its shape like a camels back).

I am tired just re-capping these days! We saw so much history, biblical and non, it was all amazing!