Israel - Part 2
I previously forgot to mention that we had gone hiking up Mt. Sodom. This is a huge mountain of salt that is basically the only hunk of salt in a range of limestone mountains. Our guide thinks this is about the area that the city of Sodom would have been located, so he thinks it is under this mountain somewhere. Who knows?? But it was really neat to climb up that big chalky mountain & stand on top & look all around at the other desert mountains & the Dead Sea. While we were driving through the desert areas, we saw many flocks of sheep & goats with their shepherds. It still looked today just like I would imagine David looking so many years ago. We also saw some wildlife - including several fox & a jackle.
Back to Jerusalem - -
Our first full day in Jerusalem started with a visit to what may have been the tomb of David. It is unsure if it was or not. Then we went up to Temple Mount. This is the location where the original Temple was that Jesus would have gone to. There was also a basilica building up there where the moneychangers & merchants were located. Now, of course, both buildings are gone & have been replaced to mosques. One of the mosques is called the Dome of the Rock & it has a huge gold covered dome & sits on the site of the original Temple. The Muslims believe this is the spot that Mohammed ascended to heaven from so it is a sacred spot to them. The Muslims control the whole Temple Mount area & are very strict in allowing visitation only a short time up there & not into the mosques at all. Security was very tight on entering this area.
We walked down into the city by the Western Wall - also known as the Wailing Wall. It was an interesting area - full of a lot of things going on. There were people standing at the wall praying & some people write out prayers & leave them in cracks in the wall. Here, the men & women are separated. There were also a lot of Bar Mitzvah’s going on & the women would stand on chairs & look over the barrier at the celebration of their friend or family member & would throw candy at the young man. This was on a Monday, so there were many Bar Mitzvahs going on. The Families would enter with singing & beating drums, & playing music. It is a very big deal!!
Next stop was at the Davidson Center where we saw a computer simulation of what the Temple area would have been like for a person visiting the city during Jesus’ time. We were able to see the steps where Jesus would have entered the temple area (that entrance is now closed) & saw where shops were attached to the city wall & Robinson’s arch. We visited the city of David where it is believed David’s palace would have been although it has not been excavated. There were remains of several homes here as well as a visit through a tunnel which was the ancient water system for the city. There are 2 different routes you can take. One requires you to walk through knee deep water for 45 minutes in the dark (or with flashlights) & the other is a dry route. Since it was really cold & windy this day, only 1 person opted for the wet route!!
Our last stop was at the tombs that line the Kidron Valley just outside of the city walls. This is the valley that runs between Jerusalem & the mount of Olives & there are several caves in the sides of the hills that served as tombs. It is believed Jesus may have stayed in these at times as that is where the poorer people visiting the city would often stay. There were also a couple of other nicer tombs that we visited, but they were locked up!! Since it was so cold, we opted to call it a day & head back to the hotel for a nice dinner.
After dinner, our tour guide, Yoni, had commented how much he enjoyed our singing, so we all met in the hall of our floor (we had most of the 6th floor) & sang & prayed for a couple of hours. It was so nice to have him join in the singing & praying with us!
Next day, Tuesday, we got up early as it was going to be a busy day! First we went into the old city & walked around to the area of the pools of Bethesda where the crippled man would lie all day waiting for someone to help him into the healing waters. Jesus healed him without even using the waters! There had been church buildings built on this site, but they had since been destroyed & never completely restored, so it was easier to see the actual site. Next, we followed the Via Dolorosa which is the path traditionally believed to be taken by Jesus on his way through the city to the cross. We walked the narrow streets of the city & there are plaques commemorating events that traditionally happened at each of the sites along the way. Of course, so much of this is just speculation, but some of it does have some basis in history. It ends at the church of the Holy Sepulcher in which is supposed to be the sites where Jesus’ clothes were taken off of him, where he was nailed to the cross, where the cross stood, & where Jesus was removed from the cross & buried - all in one building. There is also a large flat stone that is supposed to be where Jesus was laid to prepare him for burial. It is hard to know how much of this is actually where it happened, but archeologists do believe it was right in this area. It’ just so hard to see it as those sites since they had to build a building over it. We also visited an area outside of town called the Garden Tomb that some believe may have been Jesus’ tomb & there is an area in the garden that the side of the mountain resembles a skull - thus the idea that could be Golgotha (place of the skull). Who knows?? I’m just glad my faith doesn’t require me to know these things. I don’t need to see where it happened to believe it or to worship the one who did it!! We ended the garden visit with a short devotional. Many groups that go there arrange to have a communion service while there. We had some from another group comment to us that they were taking communion while we were singing & what an inspiration it was for them. I’m really proud of this group of students we have with us. They are a great group that have made a positive impression everywhere they’ve gone!! It sure makes being the faculty for them a more pleasant experience!!
We had wanted to do some shopping while in the city market, but there just wasn’t time, so our guide let us spend about 30 minutes at a souvenir shop before heading to the Israel Museum. This is the location of the scrolls that were found at Qumran as well as a huge scale-model of the city of Jerusalem in Bible days. It really helped put perspective on what the city must have looked like. We had very limited time here, so those were the only two things we got to see. It just seems that there is never enough time to see it all!! We get up early & go late & hardly stop at all,, but there is just so much to see here.
We returned to the hotel at 8:30 for a late dinner. After dinner, most of us met in a downstairs room & invited our guide & bus driver, Ya ‘er to join us for a time of worship. Yoni had learned some of our songs, so he made some requests & even joined in a little. After singing for about an hour, we had them get in the middle of the room & surrounded them both & prayed for them. They were quite touched that we would do such a thing & with tears in his eyes, Ya ‘er told us that he had never in his life felt like this before. We just hope we were able to help them see Jesus a little in us. It was a very emotional time of goodbyes as we would be leaving out quite early the next morning.
Since we would be getting up at 2:15 to make it to the airport at 4:00 for our 7:00 flight, some of the students opted to stay up all night. Vann & I decided to try to get a little sleep, but it wasn’t easy with all the laughing & giggling going on down the hall! 2:15 came early & we made it to the airport, although it did take almost 3 hours to go through the security checks required. We landed safely in Athens at 10:30 & went straight back “home” to the Artemis to crash for a while. Traveling is fun, but it always feels good to get back!
This trip to Israel was grueling, but a lot of fun. I felt like I learned a lot about Judaism & got a much greater feel for what life was like in New Testament times. It was great to walk where Jesus walked & see some of the same things he would have seen 2,000 years ago!!
Some things I loved about Israel--
-Our guide & bus driver
-Friendly people
-Finding Root Beer & Reeces cups (not to be found in Greece!)
-Walking where Jesus walked
-The Bedowin camp
-Our informal devotional times
-Almost everyone speaks English!!
Thursday, March 29, 2007
We’re off to Israel!!
We left on an 11 pm flight on Monday night after a thorough grilling from the El Al (Israel’s airline) security. We had been warned that their security was very tight & we were grateful & understand why, but it was still a pain. They questioned every member of our group before taking our tickets for the flight. We had an uneventful flight & arrived in Tel Aviv at 1:00 am on Tues. We each proceeded through the passport checks until the next to last person in our group. The security pulled her aside (for no particular reason we could figure) & took her to question her about herself & her family, etc. Not what you want to put up with at 1:30 am!! Finally, after about 20 minutes, they released her & we were on our way to our hotel. Check in at 3:00 am & fall in bed!!
Wake up Tues. at 8:30 to a nice breakfast. First we headed to Cesarea Maritima which is on the Mediterranean Sea. This is an ancient seaport city that Paul visited & it has been partially reconstructed but most of it is now under water. We saw the remains of Herod’s palace which was built right on the sea (including his swimming pool & gardens) & the ancient theatre, hippodrome, the remains of the harbor that was used to house hundreds of war ships, & the remains of several homes w/ beautiful mosaic floors! There is an old cistern there which is believed to be what was used to imprison Paul while he was there for 2 years & a stone w/ Pontius Pilates name engraved in it. (which is the only evidence outside of the Bible of Pilates name).
Next we were off to Megiddo which was an ancient city that was constantly inhabited for several hundred years & as the city was destroyed several times by various groups, it would be buried & rebuilt on, leaving the remains in layers. It included city gates built by Solomon & multiple stables for all his horses. There was a very sophisticated water system which included a tunnel that you can usually walk through, but it was closed on this day. Megiddo is high up on a tel (hill) & looks down on the beautiful, fertile Jezreel valley.
Our next stop was Nazareth, which was very exciting to our whole group. This was, of course, the childhood home of Jesus & it was so inspiring to be there. Nazareth was only a tiny village at the time of Jesus - probably less than 400 people - & very small in size. There is very little of the original left. We visited a tiny church building which was built by the Ottomans on top of the site of the original synagogue & also the very modern Church of the Annunciation which was built in the 40’s over the area believed to be where Mary received her visit from Gabriel. That is one interesting thing we’ve learned. In the 4th century, I believe, Helen, the mother of Constantine, Visited the holy lands & had visions of where, specifically, many of the important happenings in the Bible occurred. She decided to build a church building to commemorate that over the top of each area, so now there are very ornate church buildings (cathedrals) over or around each of the sites one would want to see when visiting here. I would prefer to see the site as it might have appeared at the time to be more realistic to me, rather than seeing it inside of an ornamental church building, but, unfortunately, that’s the way it is. She felt that many people would want to come worship at those sites, & therefore, would need the church buildings to do so. So - - there is a building over the place (a cave) where tradition says Mary received her visit from Gabriel, where Jesus is believed to be crucified, buried, etc. Just a little history lesson - hope I got it mostly right.
It was getting dark, but we wanted to visit Mt-. Precipice which is the only tall mountain around Nazareth with a sheer cliff. Because of this, it is assumed this is the mountain that the crowd dragged Jesus up to to throw him off of, but he ended up walking away right between them!! We got a couple of night photos of Nazareth from here. Also, from here - when it’s light - you can see Mt. Tabor (transfiguration site). This night we drove to stay at a Kibbutz (commune) on the Sea of Galilee!
After my first full day in Israel, I can tell it’s going to be an exciting & inspirational trip. While the sites really hold little meaning, it is very humbling to be able to actually walk in places that we know Jesus & the apostles walked. Our tour guide, Yoni, is relating it well to the Bible & bringing out things he knows will be important to us. It’s also exciting to see so many other people making the Pilgrimage here - we’ve met many people from all different countries - a lot of Americans - including a group of 24 from the churches of Christ in Nebraska!! There are several areas we would like to visit, like Bethlehem, but have been told that is just not safe right now for non-Muslims, so we won’t be going there. So far, we feel very safe here!!
Wednesday -
Didn’t sleep too great last night. Guess we were just too tired from lack of sleep the night before! Today will be an exciting day!!
First stop is at Capernaum, which was the home of Peter. Capernaum was a small fishing village that Jesus spent much of his ministry time in. Much of the ruins from the 1st - 4th centuries are still here as this city is no longer occupied. It is just an archeological site. It was one of 3 cities in the area that was cursed & never recovered!! Here we saw ruins from 1st century homes including one they believe may have been Peter’s home as well as the 4th century synagogue (built over the previous 1st century one). There are also old wheat millstones & olive presses. This is the city where Jesus healed Jairus’ daughter & the lame man who was lowered through the roof. Just a short way down the road, is the site believed to be where Jesus delivered the Beatitudes to the crowd of 5,000. We stopped & sat on the side of the mountain & Vann read Matthew 5 to us. Further down, we saw where the apostles cast their nets on the other side to catch their nets full of fish!! Also here on the Sea of Galilee, is where Jesus walked on water! It’s just unbelievable to be in this beautiful place & know that Jesus & the apostles walked where we are walking. It was a wonderful day spent reliving many of the steps of Jesus & reading scriptures that prove to us over & over how real Jesus is & that history really does back up everything the Bible says. Our day ended with a quick trip up to a lookout at Mt.Arbel that looks over all of the valley by the Sea of Galilee, including Migdol, the home village of Mary of Magdalene. We visited a small museum which houses a 1st century fishing boat discovered in the mud of the Sea in the 1960’s & preserved in the museum. It is just the type of fishing boat Peter, Andrew, James, or John or even Jesus might have used! Our group took a short boat ride on the Sea of Galilee before heading to our hotel for the night up in Northern Israel in the Golon Heights.
Thursday- We started the morning off at the ancient city of Dan. It is one of the sources of the Jordan river & is mentioned in 1 Kings 12 with Jeroboam & the rebellion against Solomon. Here, 2 rocks were found that have the inscriptions of the only mention outside of the Bible, of King David. This was an interesting city that has been largely unexcavated & still has the remains of an alter & the city gates. Next we were on to Cesarea Phillipi which was named to honor Caesar Augustus. This city was built around several streams & was just beautiful! This city is the site where Peter declared “You are the Christ” & Simon Peter was renamed - “You are Peter and on this rock I will build my church.”
Next we stopped at Nimrod’s fortress. Nimrod is a legendary character from the Bible. He bragged that he was so strong, he could beat God, so God beat him with one of the smallest animals - a mosquito. He sent it into his ear & the buzzing drove him insane, so he asked his doctor to cut off his head & replace it with a gold one to get rid of the buzzing. This fortress has mostly remains from the Crusaders period
Friday - We started this day off with a visit to Bet Shean which is the city in the Bible that Saul fled to & was killed. His body was pinned to the city walls after his death. This was a large city, & still has many of the ancient mosaic floors & columns, although many of those were toppled in an earthquake in 749. Here, we saw one of the first Roman Latrines, which were public restrooms used by men & women together. They consisted of a large room with stone slabs sticking out all around the edge of the wall with a 6 or 7” space between them. There was a stream of water running beneath. Not much privacy & not much santization!! There are also roman baths here which were used by everyone & included a hot steam room, warm room, & cool room. It was a pretty neat place, although it is getting tiring looking at ruins of cities.
Next stop was Qumran, where the Dead Sea scrolls were found in 1947. This area had been inhabited by a large group of Essenes, a group of zealot Jews that lived in a commune setting in this area. They performed ritual cleansing multiple times each day & would have scribed the scrolls around 29 CE, around the time John the Baptist died. These scrolls were found in caves in the mountains around this area.
. This evening we stopped at the Jordan river for a swim!! It was very cold, so Vann & I just watched, but the girls & most of the students all braved the cold. Trent Yingling decided this night he wanted to be baptized, so that was really a special time. This evening we headed further south to the Northern Negev desert to our hotel for dinner. The wind is blowing it looks like the beautiful weather may be changing.
Saturday- Yep, the weather is changing!! It is really cold & windy out this morning. We were scheduled to do a sunrise hike up Masada, but changed it to 8:00 (thankfully!). After breakfast, we packed up & headed to Masada. This is a huge flat-top mountain in the middle of the desert & on the edge of the Dead Sea. On the top of this giant mountain is a fortress that Herod had built & included 2 palaces, huge storehouses for food, multiple water cisterns & a water collecting system, a swimming pool, roman baths, & a whole lot more! It would have really been a wonder to see in Herod’s time! The story is that he built it to have as a place for escape if someone came after him. (Herod was getting really paranoid at the time). He brought his wife & mother-in-law here for 3 years & then Herod died shortly after & it was basically uninhabited until Jerusalem was burned in 70 AD & then a group of Jews fled there for protection against the Romans. When the Romans were conquering all that land, they tried to force them off of Masada, but since it was such a great refuge, they could not. The Romans had no way they could ever get to the top of it as they would be shot if they tried climbing up to the top, so they built a steep ramp (or their slaves did, that is) & built a large tower with a battering ram on it. Anyway, if you want the rest of the story, which is quite interesting, you can research it or watch the movie, Masada, to find out the rest of the story!! It is a fascinating story. We walked down the 800 some steps to the base & went shopping in the shops at the base. One thing about this trip, we’re getting plenty of exercise walking up & down steps!!
Our next stops were at a Nature Reserve, Ein Gedi, where we hiked (again!) up to some water falls & the girls got in & swam (again, it was freezing!) Thankfully, the day was clearing up & the sun shining by now!! We saw a few wildlife creatures including a hyrex & an ibex. Next stop was at the Dead Sea where we all decided to take a dip! Yes, it was really cold too, although I’m sure not as bad as the river. The Dead Sea has so much salt in it, you can’t sink if you want to! There is salt crystallized on the rocks all along the shore & it is very dangerous to get any in your eyes, so we just floated a bit & then walked down to one shore where there is lots of black mud & you can put it all over your body & get a little free spa treatment!! It has an oily feel, so it felt great on my dry skin, but didn’t do much for my swim suit!!
After a quick shower off, we headed to our “hotel” for the night. It was a Bedowin (nomads) tent - just like you’d see in the movies!! It was in a small oasis in the desert & they served us a delicious dinner of beef skish-kabobs, pita bread, rice, grilled veggies, & various types of sauces & salads. We ate sitting on the floor on cushions & ate with our hands. Afterward, they entertained us with singing & stories of Bedowin life. That night after settling in & checking out the camel corral, we had a bon-fire & devotional. It is so neat to be able to sing praises, out here under the stars & in the middle of the desert!
Our tour guide is named Yoni & he really likes to listen to us sing. He has come with us any time we have devotionals & joined in where he could. He is an Israeli Jew who considers himself secular - non religious- so this has been really different for him. Most people here have never experienced religion even similar to ours. He has been enlightening us about Judaism & many of the traditions & laws.
This night the kids all slept in a huge tent made of wool carpets & slept on padded cushions in sleeping bags. It got pretty cold, but there were heaters in the tent to keep them relatively warm. Vann & I & the rest of the faculty slept in cottages which were what I would say “simple” at best! Not much different than the tent except our mattresses were a little thicker!! It was a fun experience - the students loved it!
Sunday - The Lord’s Day. This morning we rose early to set out toward Jerusalem. Our first stop was at a place called Bet Guvrin or “the house of the Lord”. This is a really neat city built on land that is mostly a soft chalkstone land. The people hollowed out the stones from the land making very large cellars that served as water cisterns, storerooms, rooms for grinding grain or olive oil, or dove houses. Then they would use the stone to build their houses on top of the land! It was a really fascinating area!!
Next stop was for a very quick lunch at the mountain where the Israelites were camped out when David slew Goliath. We saw the beautiful valley where Goliath taunted the Israelites. We made it the rest of the way into Jerusalem around 1:30.
Our first stop was at the Garden of Gethsemane where we had arranged to have a communion service. It was a very touching time to be celebrating the death & resurrection of Jesus in the same place he had pleaded with God to spare him of this pain. The Garden is full of olive trees & you can sit in it & look up to see the walls of Jerusalem. I tried to imagine Jesus being in the city up there & the path he might have taken to come down to Gethsemane.
Our last stop was very briefly at the Yad Vashem Holocaust museum. We could have spent a whole day there & still not seen it all, but it was very interesting & nicely done. We headed out to check into our hotel, the Jerusalem Gold, which will be our home for the next 3 nights!! Whew! Stay tuned for more to come!
We left on an 11 pm flight on Monday night after a thorough grilling from the El Al (Israel’s airline) security. We had been warned that their security was very tight & we were grateful & understand why, but it was still a pain. They questioned every member of our group before taking our tickets for the flight. We had an uneventful flight & arrived in Tel Aviv at 1:00 am on Tues. We each proceeded through the passport checks until the next to last person in our group. The security pulled her aside (for no particular reason we could figure) & took her to question her about herself & her family, etc. Not what you want to put up with at 1:30 am!! Finally, after about 20 minutes, they released her & we were on our way to our hotel. Check in at 3:00 am & fall in bed!!
Wake up Tues. at 8:30 to a nice breakfast. First we headed to Cesarea Maritima which is on the Mediterranean Sea. This is an ancient seaport city that Paul visited & it has been partially reconstructed but most of it is now under water. We saw the remains of Herod’s palace which was built right on the sea (including his swimming pool & gardens) & the ancient theatre, hippodrome, the remains of the harbor that was used to house hundreds of war ships, & the remains of several homes w/ beautiful mosaic floors! There is an old cistern there which is believed to be what was used to imprison Paul while he was there for 2 years & a stone w/ Pontius Pilates name engraved in it. (which is the only evidence outside of the Bible of Pilates name).
Next we were off to Megiddo which was an ancient city that was constantly inhabited for several hundred years & as the city was destroyed several times by various groups, it would be buried & rebuilt on, leaving the remains in layers. It included city gates built by Solomon & multiple stables for all his horses. There was a very sophisticated water system which included a tunnel that you can usually walk through, but it was closed on this day. Megiddo is high up on a tel (hill) & looks down on the beautiful, fertile Jezreel valley.
Our next stop was Nazareth, which was very exciting to our whole group. This was, of course, the childhood home of Jesus & it was so inspiring to be there. Nazareth was only a tiny village at the time of Jesus - probably less than 400 people - & very small in size. There is very little of the original left. We visited a tiny church building which was built by the Ottomans on top of the site of the original synagogue & also the very modern Church of the Annunciation which was built in the 40’s over the area believed to be where Mary received her visit from Gabriel. That is one interesting thing we’ve learned. In the 4th century, I believe, Helen, the mother of Constantine, Visited the holy lands & had visions of where, specifically, many of the important happenings in the Bible occurred. She decided to build a church building to commemorate that over the top of each area, so now there are very ornate church buildings (cathedrals) over or around each of the sites one would want to see when visiting here. I would prefer to see the site as it might have appeared at the time to be more realistic to me, rather than seeing it inside of an ornamental church building, but, unfortunately, that’s the way it is. She felt that many people would want to come worship at those sites, & therefore, would need the church buildings to do so. So - - there is a building over the place (a cave) where tradition says Mary received her visit from Gabriel, where Jesus is believed to be crucified, buried, etc. Just a little history lesson - hope I got it mostly right.
It was getting dark, but we wanted to visit Mt-. Precipice which is the only tall mountain around Nazareth with a sheer cliff. Because of this, it is assumed this is the mountain that the crowd dragged Jesus up to to throw him off of, but he ended up walking away right between them!! We got a couple of night photos of Nazareth from here. Also, from here - when it’s light - you can see Mt. Tabor (transfiguration site). This night we drove to stay at a Kibbutz (commune) on the Sea of Galilee!
After my first full day in Israel, I can tell it’s going to be an exciting & inspirational trip. While the sites really hold little meaning, it is very humbling to be able to actually walk in places that we know Jesus & the apostles walked. Our tour guide, Yoni, is relating it well to the Bible & bringing out things he knows will be important to us. It’s also exciting to see so many other people making the Pilgrimage here - we’ve met many people from all different countries - a lot of Americans - including a group of 24 from the churches of Christ in Nebraska!! There are several areas we would like to visit, like Bethlehem, but have been told that is just not safe right now for non-Muslims, so we won’t be going there. So far, we feel very safe here!!
Wednesday -
Didn’t sleep too great last night. Guess we were just too tired from lack of sleep the night before! Today will be an exciting day!!
First stop is at Capernaum, which was the home of Peter. Capernaum was a small fishing village that Jesus spent much of his ministry time in. Much of the ruins from the 1st - 4th centuries are still here as this city is no longer occupied. It is just an archeological site. It was one of 3 cities in the area that was cursed & never recovered!! Here we saw ruins from 1st century homes including one they believe may have been Peter’s home as well as the 4th century synagogue (built over the previous 1st century one). There are also old wheat millstones & olive presses. This is the city where Jesus healed Jairus’ daughter & the lame man who was lowered through the roof. Just a short way down the road, is the site believed to be where Jesus delivered the Beatitudes to the crowd of 5,000. We stopped & sat on the side of the mountain & Vann read Matthew 5 to us. Further down, we saw where the apostles cast their nets on the other side to catch their nets full of fish!! Also here on the Sea of Galilee, is where Jesus walked on water! It’s just unbelievable to be in this beautiful place & know that Jesus & the apostles walked where we are walking. It was a wonderful day spent reliving many of the steps of Jesus & reading scriptures that prove to us over & over how real Jesus is & that history really does back up everything the Bible says. Our day ended with a quick trip up to a lookout at Mt.Arbel that looks over all of the valley by the Sea of Galilee, including Migdol, the home village of Mary of Magdalene. We visited a small museum which houses a 1st century fishing boat discovered in the mud of the Sea in the 1960’s & preserved in the museum. It is just the type of fishing boat Peter, Andrew, James, or John or even Jesus might have used! Our group took a short boat ride on the Sea of Galilee before heading to our hotel for the night up in Northern Israel in the Golon Heights.
Thursday- We started the morning off at the ancient city of Dan. It is one of the sources of the Jordan river & is mentioned in 1 Kings 12 with Jeroboam & the rebellion against Solomon. Here, 2 rocks were found that have the inscriptions of the only mention outside of the Bible, of King David. This was an interesting city that has been largely unexcavated & still has the remains of an alter & the city gates. Next we were on to Cesarea Phillipi which was named to honor Caesar Augustus. This city was built around several streams & was just beautiful! This city is the site where Peter declared “You are the Christ” & Simon Peter was renamed - “You are Peter and on this rock I will build my church.”
Next we stopped at Nimrod’s fortress. Nimrod is a legendary character from the Bible. He bragged that he was so strong, he could beat God, so God beat him with one of the smallest animals - a mosquito. He sent it into his ear & the buzzing drove him insane, so he asked his doctor to cut off his head & replace it with a gold one to get rid of the buzzing. This fortress has mostly remains from the Crusaders period
Friday - We started this day off with a visit to Bet Shean which is the city in the Bible that Saul fled to & was killed. His body was pinned to the city walls after his death. This was a large city, & still has many of the ancient mosaic floors & columns, although many of those were toppled in an earthquake in 749. Here, we saw one of the first Roman Latrines, which were public restrooms used by men & women together. They consisted of a large room with stone slabs sticking out all around the edge of the wall with a 6 or 7” space between them. There was a stream of water running beneath. Not much privacy & not much santization!! There are also roman baths here which were used by everyone & included a hot steam room, warm room, & cool room. It was a pretty neat place, although it is getting tiring looking at ruins of cities.
Next stop was Qumran, where the Dead Sea scrolls were found in 1947. This area had been inhabited by a large group of Essenes, a group of zealot Jews that lived in a commune setting in this area. They performed ritual cleansing multiple times each day & would have scribed the scrolls around 29 CE, around the time John the Baptist died. These scrolls were found in caves in the mountains around this area.
. This evening we stopped at the Jordan river for a swim!! It was very cold, so Vann & I just watched, but the girls & most of the students all braved the cold. Trent Yingling decided this night he wanted to be baptized, so that was really a special time. This evening we headed further south to the Northern Negev desert to our hotel for dinner. The wind is blowing it looks like the beautiful weather may be changing.
Saturday- Yep, the weather is changing!! It is really cold & windy out this morning. We were scheduled to do a sunrise hike up Masada, but changed it to 8:00 (thankfully!). After breakfast, we packed up & headed to Masada. This is a huge flat-top mountain in the middle of the desert & on the edge of the Dead Sea. On the top of this giant mountain is a fortress that Herod had built & included 2 palaces, huge storehouses for food, multiple water cisterns & a water collecting system, a swimming pool, roman baths, & a whole lot more! It would have really been a wonder to see in Herod’s time! The story is that he built it to have as a place for escape if someone came after him. (Herod was getting really paranoid at the time). He brought his wife & mother-in-law here for 3 years & then Herod died shortly after & it was basically uninhabited until Jerusalem was burned in 70 AD & then a group of Jews fled there for protection against the Romans. When the Romans were conquering all that land, they tried to force them off of Masada, but since it was such a great refuge, they could not. The Romans had no way they could ever get to the top of it as they would be shot if they tried climbing up to the top, so they built a steep ramp (or their slaves did, that is) & built a large tower with a battering ram on it. Anyway, if you want the rest of the story, which is quite interesting, you can research it or watch the movie, Masada, to find out the rest of the story!! It is a fascinating story. We walked down the 800 some steps to the base & went shopping in the shops at the base. One thing about this trip, we’re getting plenty of exercise walking up & down steps!!
Our next stops were at a Nature Reserve, Ein Gedi, where we hiked (again!) up to some water falls & the girls got in & swam (again, it was freezing!) Thankfully, the day was clearing up & the sun shining by now!! We saw a few wildlife creatures including a hyrex & an ibex. Next stop was at the Dead Sea where we all decided to take a dip! Yes, it was really cold too, although I’m sure not as bad as the river. The Dead Sea has so much salt in it, you can’t sink if you want to! There is salt crystallized on the rocks all along the shore & it is very dangerous to get any in your eyes, so we just floated a bit & then walked down to one shore where there is lots of black mud & you can put it all over your body & get a little free spa treatment!! It has an oily feel, so it felt great on my dry skin, but didn’t do much for my swim suit!!
After a quick shower off, we headed to our “hotel” for the night. It was a Bedowin (nomads) tent - just like you’d see in the movies!! It was in a small oasis in the desert & they served us a delicious dinner of beef skish-kabobs, pita bread, rice, grilled veggies, & various types of sauces & salads. We ate sitting on the floor on cushions & ate with our hands. Afterward, they entertained us with singing & stories of Bedowin life. That night after settling in & checking out the camel corral, we had a bon-fire & devotional. It is so neat to be able to sing praises, out here under the stars & in the middle of the desert!
Our tour guide is named Yoni & he really likes to listen to us sing. He has come with us any time we have devotionals & joined in where he could. He is an Israeli Jew who considers himself secular - non religious- so this has been really different for him. Most people here have never experienced religion even similar to ours. He has been enlightening us about Judaism & many of the traditions & laws.
This night the kids all slept in a huge tent made of wool carpets & slept on padded cushions in sleeping bags. It got pretty cold, but there were heaters in the tent to keep them relatively warm. Vann & I & the rest of the faculty slept in cottages which were what I would say “simple” at best! Not much different than the tent except our mattresses were a little thicker!! It was a fun experience - the students loved it!
Sunday - The Lord’s Day. This morning we rose early to set out toward Jerusalem. Our first stop was at a place called Bet Guvrin or “the house of the Lord”. This is a really neat city built on land that is mostly a soft chalkstone land. The people hollowed out the stones from the land making very large cellars that served as water cisterns, storerooms, rooms for grinding grain or olive oil, or dove houses. Then they would use the stone to build their houses on top of the land! It was a really fascinating area!!
Next stop was for a very quick lunch at the mountain where the Israelites were camped out when David slew Goliath. We saw the beautiful valley where Goliath taunted the Israelites. We made it the rest of the way into Jerusalem around 1:30.
Our first stop was at the Garden of Gethsemane where we had arranged to have a communion service. It was a very touching time to be celebrating the death & resurrection of Jesus in the same place he had pleaded with God to spare him of this pain. The Garden is full of olive trees & you can sit in it & look up to see the walls of Jerusalem. I tried to imagine Jesus being in the city up there & the path he might have taken to come down to Gethsemane.
Our last stop was very briefly at the Yad Vashem Holocaust museum. We could have spent a whole day there & still not seen it all, but it was very interesting & nicely done. We headed out to check into our hotel, the Jerusalem Gold, which will be our home for the next 3 nights!! Whew! Stay tuned for more to come!
Puttin on the GREEN
March 17~Happy St. Patrick's Day
Despite the fact that Greeks have no reason to celebrate St. Patrick's Day, we did here at the Artemis!! We had a party down on the Beach that included a fun video scavenger hunt that led us down to the beach area & then had Pizza, Coke, & a great bonfire. We ended the evening with singing & devotional time. Great way to celebrate!!
Monday, March 12, 2007
Northern Greece
We just returned from a 4 day trip to northern Greece. It was a little more relaxing trip, so it was nice to be able to enjoy seeing things without being out from sunrise to sunset every day. We left Monday, March 5th by bus & drove through the plain of Boeotia, through Thebes (remember King Oedipus??) & into Delphi. We toured the archiological ruins of Delphi, including the naval rock & the famous bronze Charioteer statue. The next day, we were in Kalambaka which has huge, mountainous boulders all around the city which rise straight up from the ground. On the top of many of these, there are monasteries built in the 14th century by monks who were seeking isolation. They found it!! Most of those places were accessible only by ropes thrown from above for many years. Thankfully, now there is a nice, albeit windy, road all the way up! We were only able to tour certain portions of 1 monastery, but it included a beautifully painted Byzantine chapel with paintings of christian martyrs all around it. We even spotted a couple of monks there!! One of these were used at the beginning of the latest James Bond movie - I think "Die Another Day". We also saw some caves in these huge boulders where Hermits live & they have a bucket that they lower everyday & the monks or other people put food in it for them. They say they will never know when the hermit dies, until they don't take the food any more!
Next, it was on for a short stop in Berea, where the apostle Paul visited in the synagogue & we visited the very small Jewish quarters of that city & saw their present day synagogue. On this night, we went to Thessaloniki where we stayed in a beautiful 5 star hotel, the Grand Hotel Palace.
We left out for a day trip on Wed, driving to Philippi, again where Paul visited & worked. There is quite a lot of ruins left here including some beautiful 4th century mosaics that were the floor of a church building. We saw the river where Lydia was baptized & the ruins of a prison that would be similar to the one Paul & Silas were kept. We stood on part of the Via Egnatia, which was the ancient Roman road that ran from Rome by Byzantium.
Thursday, we left early for Pella, the ancient capital of Macedona & birthplace of Alexander the Great. On to Vergina, which was the first capital of Macedonia & visited the one of the most important tombs ever discovered - that of Phillip II - the father of Alexander the Great. We had lunch at a small restaurant before heading on our 7 hour drive back to Athens. On the way, we stopped in Thermopylae which was where the battle of the 300 spartans against the persian army of Xerxes took place in 480 BC. This is portrayed in the older movie, 300 Spartans & a new movie just out "300".
The last couple of days have been spent on classes. This weekend, we are hosting a conference here for the directors of the International Programs sponsored by our sister colleges, ACU, OCU, Cascades University, & Harding.
The girls are getting a little homesick for their friends, but are also having a great time interacting with the college students here! They have been so good to include our kids in everything they do!! We're so grateful - We've just had a great group of students!!
Monday, February 26, 2007
SOUTHERN GREECE - THE PELOPONESSE
Monday, the 19th, we left at 7:30 am via bus for Southern Greece. Our first stop was at the Corinthian Canal which was dug to connect the Aegean with the Mediterranean Sea. We visited ancient Corinth, where Paul went & worked & saw the bema where is the exact spot where Paul stood before Gallio. There is also a stone in the ground with the inscription of Erastus, who was the director of utilities & is named in the Bible. We climbed up the deep ascent to the acropolis of Corinth & walked through the remains of several ancient buildings. About now I'm wishing I was in a lot better shape!! We stopped over next in Epidaurus to see the Sanctuary of Asclepeios, the ancient god of healing. Here is the best preserved theatre in all of Greece & our group stood in the middle of this 12,000 seat theatre & sang. It has such amazing accoustics, that a person can stand in the middle & drop a coin or tear a piece of paper & it can be heard all the way at the top!! Really amazing!!
We overnighted in Epidaurus. The next morning we headed out early to Nafplion, the first capital of modern Greece. We drove (thankfully) to the top of a mountain where the Palamidi Fortress was located & climbed around in many of the ancient ruins. It was really fun exploring this area as it looked like something you might see in the movies! It had a beautiful view of the harbor all around & then we descended the 800 steps back down to the city. We also visited the tomb of Agamemnon which is a well preserved beehive style tomb as well as the ancient city of Mycenae.
The next morning we set out to see ancient Olympia where the first olympic games were held. There is still remains of the huge temple to Zeus, as well as from a large fountain & other buildings. There is also the field where races were held. Of course, several of our students lined up at the starting line & took off!! They reported, though, that it was much further than they thought to the finish line!!
This was a great trip with nice weather 2 of the 3 days & wildflowers are starting to bloom all over!! We did have some of the biggest, juiciest oranges ever & the orchards down there are just loaded with them!!
It's back to school to another week of classes!! We rarely have more than 7 or 8 days of school between trips, so it won't be long & we'll be heading to Northern Greece!!
We overnighted in Epidaurus. The next morning we headed out early to Nafplion, the first capital of modern Greece. We drove (thankfully) to the top of a mountain where the Palamidi Fortress was located & climbed around in many of the ancient ruins. It was really fun exploring this area as it looked like something you might see in the movies! It had a beautiful view of the harbor all around & then we descended the 800 steps back down to the city. We also visited the tomb of Agamemnon which is a well preserved beehive style tomb as well as the ancient city of Mycenae.
The next morning we set out to see ancient Olympia where the first olympic games were held. There is still remains of the huge temple to Zeus, as well as from a large fountain & other buildings. There is also the field where races were held. Of course, several of our students lined up at the starting line & took off!! They reported, though, that it was much further than they thought to the finish line!!
This was a great trip with nice weather 2 of the 3 days & wildflowers are starting to bloom all over!! We did have some of the biggest, juiciest oranges ever & the orchards down there are just loaded with them!!
It's back to school to another week of classes!! We rarely have more than 7 or 8 days of school between trips, so it won't be long & we'll be heading to Northern Greece!!
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Life in Greece - It's a Riot!
Last week was mostly spent doing classes & routine things. Our one day off, Thursday, it rained, so we went to check out an outlet mall for a couple of hours, but it was pretty boring. On Sunday, we went into Athens early to meet for worship with the Bulgarian church group as part of our group was going to a Greek football (soccer) game that evening. We shopped in Athens for a while that afternoon & bought a few things at a jewelry store owned by friends of the Myhans. That evening Vann & the girls & most of the students went to a soccer game. It was a game between 2 inner city rivals & cost 30 Euro for the tickets ($45) so I elected not to go as it wasn't that important to me. I went with Jerry & 4 other girls back to the Artemis. We rode the metro part way back & then got off to drive the rest of the way in the van. When we tried to start the van, the battery was dead & wouldn't start!! We decided to try to push it to see if we could get it to start. Myself & 4 other girls pushed the van (ok, Jerry steered & pushed too) up a little hill. When we were almost to the top, a car with a Greek man & woman (angels??) came along & asked if they could help. They had jumper cables & very helpfully, jumped the van!! Yeah.
The other students & Vann & the girls arrived home from the soccer game around 9:30 that night with exciting stories!! Apparently, it had been a fairly boring night as one of the teams had scored 2 goals in the first 10 minutes. I need to tell you that since there has been a lot of violence at these type games, they have started limiting admission to fans of only 1 team at each game. Tonight was the AEK team fans turn. There was fairly tight security at the gates with any loose change & the tops of water bottles being confiscated as they often throw those things during the games.
Toward the end of the game, the score was 4-0 with the AEK team losing. There were apparently 6 or 8 fans of the other team that had managed to get through the gates & were cheering for their (winning) team. About 30 AEK team fans were being poor loosers & decided to come down & taunt the fans of the other team. It just happened that they moved into the section where our group was sitting!! They were setting off flares, yelling, & throwing things at those fans & their team, the riot police moved in & they started throwing things at them too!! As the police & more angry fans were moving in, our group decided it was time to move out. Fans climbed over the barriers & there was smoke all over the place. There was a man (Greek angel??) sitting a couple of rows behind them who offered to show them a way out around the building as things were pretty chaotic. He lead them around close to the entrance, but as they were walking, they went through tear gas that had drifted into that area from the stadium. It burned their eyes, noses, & throats like crazy & they were just exposed to the remnants of it!!! They soon realized one girl had left her purse in all the chaos & Vann & the man tried to go back in to retreive it, but the tear gas was just too bad. (She did actually get her purse back a couple of days later). Anyway, they were led to safety by their fearless faculty & lived to tell some pretty exciting stories!!!! Almost Every one of them said it would have been a boring game if not for the "riot". We even saw clips of it on the news the next night!! Pretty exciting!!
It was a great opportunity for us to see God's hand protecting us as he sent us two "Greek Angels" to help us when we needed it!!
The other students & Vann & the girls arrived home from the soccer game around 9:30 that night with exciting stories!! Apparently, it had been a fairly boring night as one of the teams had scored 2 goals in the first 10 minutes. I need to tell you that since there has been a lot of violence at these type games, they have started limiting admission to fans of only 1 team at each game. Tonight was the AEK team fans turn. There was fairly tight security at the gates with any loose change & the tops of water bottles being confiscated as they often throw those things during the games.
Toward the end of the game, the score was 4-0 with the AEK team losing. There were apparently 6 or 8 fans of the other team that had managed to get through the gates & were cheering for their (winning) team. About 30 AEK team fans were being poor loosers & decided to come down & taunt the fans of the other team. It just happened that they moved into the section where our group was sitting!! They were setting off flares, yelling, & throwing things at those fans & their team, the riot police moved in & they started throwing things at them too!! As the police & more angry fans were moving in, our group decided it was time to move out. Fans climbed over the barriers & there was smoke all over the place. There was a man (Greek angel??) sitting a couple of rows behind them who offered to show them a way out around the building as things were pretty chaotic. He lead them around close to the entrance, but as they were walking, they went through tear gas that had drifted into that area from the stadium. It burned their eyes, noses, & throats like crazy & they were just exposed to the remnants of it!!! They soon realized one girl had left her purse in all the chaos & Vann & the man tried to go back in to retreive it, but the tear gas was just too bad. (She did actually get her purse back a couple of days later). Anyway, they were led to safety by their fearless faculty & lived to tell some pretty exciting stories!!!! Almost Every one of them said it would have been a boring game if not for the "riot". We even saw clips of it on the news the next night!! Pretty exciting!!
It was a great opportunity for us to see God's hand protecting us as he sent us two "Greek Angels" to help us when we needed it!!
Saturday, February 10, 2007
Egypt - Land of the Pharoahs!
Wow! Where to start about our trip to Egypt! It was a whirlwind- jampacked 9 days & we still didn't see near all of the wonders Egypt has to offer. It was interesting to know that in biblical days, Egypt was just the strip of land on both sides of the Nile river that were fertile. All of the desert that is now included in Egypt was not included at that time - it was just wilderness.
On Wed, we flew from Athens to Cairo. After being met by Sammy from Travel Egypt, we loaded into a bus that took us to our hotel. On the way, we must have gone by some of the lower class neighborhoods as it looked like slums all around. There were row after row of 5-6 story buildings that would have looked abandoned except for the laundry seen hanging from the lines & the satellite dishes all over the tops of them. At the base of each building & between buildings it was common to see huge piles of trash strewn all around as that is how the occupants got rid of their trash! Apparently no landfills here! Happily, our hotel was a nice 4 star resort hotel that was very clean & had delicious food!
Early the next day, we met our tour guide in Egypt who was named Khalid Osman - we called him Osman. He has degrees in Egyptian history, Hieroglyphics, & English & has translated for Colin Powell when he was in Egypt. His knowledge of everything Egyptian was just overwhelming!! We loaded the bus & headed to the Giza pyramids. They were spectacular!! It was truly a feat of engineering to build these pyramids that are hundreds of feet tall & absolutely huge!! They can be seen from miles away on a clear day. Some of the stones used to build them were several tons & it took several million stones to build each one. These were the burial places for the kings of the first period in Egypt when the Kings were seen as gods. Each king was allowed to have 3 wives, & they each also had smaller pyramids around their husbands larger one. To get inside, one would have to walk into a deep tunnel & there would be a small room for the body & the possessions of the king so he would have them to take with him into the next life. There were 2 large & about 5-7 smaller pyramids still standing in this area.
Just a short way from the pyramids stands the Spinx statue. It is standing guard over the pyramids. I have to say I was a little disappointed in the sphinx. I think it always looked so much bigger than life when I've seen it in pictures & it was large, but not nearly as spectacular as I had expected. Next to it is the Rose Temple which was used for mummification of the King. (Each king had his own mummification temple). Mummification takes 40 days for a king & involved removing the brain, heart, liver, & stomach/intestines & placing them in seperate jars & then filling the body & wrapping it with cloth. It is then placed in a human shaped coffin & then placed in a box - like sarcophagus made of stone with a lid.
The afternoon was spent in the Cairo Archeological Museum where we saw many of the items that had been taken from the tombs of kings (including king Tuts treasures & his gold coffin & face shield) & learned about Hieroglyphics & their use in Ancient Egypt.
That night we took a sleeper train down to Aswan which is the southernmost city of any size in Egypt. On arrival in Aswan, we checked into our "hotel" for the next 3 nights which was a riverboat - the Movenpick Ramadis 1. We had a quick lunch before heading out on speedboats to the Temple Philae which was dedicated to Isis. It had been located in a lower place previously, but when the Nile was dammed to build lake Nassar further south, it flooded this temple, so it was taken apart piece by piece & rebuilt here. As in many of the temples here, parts of the hieroglyphics were destroyed by the Christians that took over the temples to use them as churchs. They often would scratch out the faces & bodies of the gods portrayed but would leave everything else. That afternoon, we went for a camel ride which was enjoyed by all (pretty wild when the camel stands up & lies down!) & off to a Nubian village where they gave us a complimentary drink & let us hold their baby crocodiles!! The girls both got henna tatoos & we did a little souvenier shopping with them. One thing that is strange here is that many of the stores we go to offer complimentary drinks - usually tea or soft drinks - as they know when a bus pulls up, they will sell a lot of things, but everywhere you go, you have to pay to go to the bathroom!! They usually have a person in the rest room to hand you toilet paper, turn on the sink, & keep it clean. They expect a little tip (& prefer US dollar bills!!) - Even in some of these same stores - really strange!
This night we enjoyed a delicious dinner on the boat & then hit the sack early as we had a 3:30 wake up call for the next morning.
3:30 am sure came early! We grabbed a boxed breakfast & headed out to Abu Simbal! This was definitely one of the highlights of this trip & we didn't want to miss it! Our bus was part of a caravan that left at 4:00 for the 3 hour trip. Abu Simbal is the famous burial place of Ramses II & his wives. It has the giant sculptures of Ramses & his wife, Nephertari, in the side of a mountain. Inside, there are huge pillars & multiple rooms which at one time held all of his possessions. Unbelieveably, this is also a monument which would have been buried when Lake Nassar was formed, but it was taken apart piece by piece & moved to it's current location which is just by Lake Nassar. This monument & lake is out in the middle of nothing. You drive for miles & miles & see very little except desert & an occasional village. It is amazing as you can see "houses" that are nothing more than mudbrick walls with a thatch roof - but it's got a satellite dish on top!! I guess it's their communication with the rest of the world.
You may wonder if we felt safe while traveling in Egypt. I think I would only want to go with a tour group, but must say I felt extremely safe the whole time. We actually had our own personal gunslinger (armed guard) with us on the bus the whole time & often were also accompanied by an escort car with 3 or 4 armed policemen in it. Egypt relies so heavily on tourism for their livelihood, that it is Egyptian law that all foreign groups must have armed guards with them at all times. American groups are especially well taken care of as America gives approx 25 million dollars yearly in aid to Egypt. I'm sure our guards were totally bored the whole time, but they never complained & were often with us from 7:00 am until 9:oo pm.
That night we visited a Papyrus shop & learned how papyrus was made & did a little shopping before heading back to the boat for a wonderful meal & great nights sleep! The boat sailed to Edfu overnight.
The next day, Sunday, was in Edfu, we headed out early by horse drawn carriages to see the Edfu temple, which is the most intact temple in the world. It had been covered by sand for hundreds of years & includes a replica of what the ark of the covenant would have looked like.
The rest of the day was spent in worship on the boat & relaxing (whew! our one easy day!!) That night was "Egyptian night" on the boat with everyone (except the real Egyptians) dressing up like ancient Egyptians for dinner & then hanging out in the disco for fun & games afterwards! It was a lot of fun!
That night we went through the locks on the Nile heading to Luxor. Luxor id called the cit of a Hundred Gates where the Valley of the Kings is located. Valley of the Kings is basically an area in the desert outside of Luxor where the Kings of the 19th & 20th dynasties (Ramsees, including King Tut) were buried in tombs deep inside the mountains. There are over 60 tombs which have been discovered in this area, although not all of them have been uncovered. We went inside of 3 of them. Of course, the bodies & possessions have been removed, but it was fascinating to see the hieroglyphics which were intended to point the way to eternal life for the king & how huge these tombs were. It was amazing the work that they went to to bury their kings. It was said that it took 70 men to finish the tomb, working in 2 shifts. We tried to imagine what it must have been like for the workers to be in the dark down there with only torches for light. In light of that, the artwork is really fantastic. There is also a valley of the Queens, valley of the workers, & valley of the Noblemen. We went through a couple of tombs of the workers (those who created the tombs) & while theirs were much smaller, the artwork on them was great & they had been very well preserved.
Our next stop was at an Alabaster shop where we saw demonstrations of making alabaster vases. Some did shopping here. Next stop was Karnak Temple, which is in contention for the next great wonder of the world. It is the largest temple ever built (was added onto multiple times over 2,000 years) & covers over 100 acres of land.
We also made our way to the Luxor temple which was built for Ramsees II. It has several huge statues of him & has a large, open courtyard. It is believed this is the place where Moses probably studied when he was growing up in Egypt as the temples were also used as schools. It was dark when we got here & the lighting on the pillars & statues was beautiful. While sitting in the courtyard, our tour-guide encouraged us to sing, so we sang 3 or 4 songs & had a small crowd gathered around.to listen. It was a very inspirational moment to think we were ministering in a place that Moses probably sat in so many years before.
We had a late train that night back to Cairo.
On Wed, we flew from Athens to Cairo. After being met by Sammy from Travel Egypt, we loaded into a bus that took us to our hotel. On the way, we must have gone by some of the lower class neighborhoods as it looked like slums all around. There were row after row of 5-6 story buildings that would have looked abandoned except for the laundry seen hanging from the lines & the satellite dishes all over the tops of them. At the base of each building & between buildings it was common to see huge piles of trash strewn all around as that is how the occupants got rid of their trash! Apparently no landfills here! Happily, our hotel was a nice 4 star resort hotel that was very clean & had delicious food!
Early the next day, we met our tour guide in Egypt who was named Khalid Osman - we called him Osman. He has degrees in Egyptian history, Hieroglyphics, & English & has translated for Colin Powell when he was in Egypt. His knowledge of everything Egyptian was just overwhelming!! We loaded the bus & headed to the Giza pyramids. They were spectacular!! It was truly a feat of engineering to build these pyramids that are hundreds of feet tall & absolutely huge!! They can be seen from miles away on a clear day. Some of the stones used to build them were several tons & it took several million stones to build each one. These were the burial places for the kings of the first period in Egypt when the Kings were seen as gods. Each king was allowed to have 3 wives, & they each also had smaller pyramids around their husbands larger one. To get inside, one would have to walk into a deep tunnel & there would be a small room for the body & the possessions of the king so he would have them to take with him into the next life. There were 2 large & about 5-7 smaller pyramids still standing in this area.
Just a short way from the pyramids stands the Spinx statue. It is standing guard over the pyramids. I have to say I was a little disappointed in the sphinx. I think it always looked so much bigger than life when I've seen it in pictures & it was large, but not nearly as spectacular as I had expected. Next to it is the Rose Temple which was used for mummification of the King. (Each king had his own mummification temple). Mummification takes 40 days for a king & involved removing the brain, heart, liver, & stomach/intestines & placing them in seperate jars & then filling the body & wrapping it with cloth. It is then placed in a human shaped coffin & then placed in a box - like sarcophagus made of stone with a lid.
The afternoon was spent in the Cairo Archeological Museum where we saw many of the items that had been taken from the tombs of kings (including king Tuts treasures & his gold coffin & face shield) & learned about Hieroglyphics & their use in Ancient Egypt.
That night we took a sleeper train down to Aswan which is the southernmost city of any size in Egypt. On arrival in Aswan, we checked into our "hotel" for the next 3 nights which was a riverboat - the Movenpick Ramadis 1. We had a quick lunch before heading out on speedboats to the Temple Philae which was dedicated to Isis. It had been located in a lower place previously, but when the Nile was dammed to build lake Nassar further south, it flooded this temple, so it was taken apart piece by piece & rebuilt here. As in many of the temples here, parts of the hieroglyphics were destroyed by the Christians that took over the temples to use them as churchs. They often would scratch out the faces & bodies of the gods portrayed but would leave everything else. That afternoon, we went for a camel ride which was enjoyed by all (pretty wild when the camel stands up & lies down!) & off to a Nubian village where they gave us a complimentary drink & let us hold their baby crocodiles!! The girls both got henna tatoos & we did a little souvenier shopping with them. One thing that is strange here is that many of the stores we go to offer complimentary drinks - usually tea or soft drinks - as they know when a bus pulls up, they will sell a lot of things, but everywhere you go, you have to pay to go to the bathroom!! They usually have a person in the rest room to hand you toilet paper, turn on the sink, & keep it clean. They expect a little tip (& prefer US dollar bills!!) - Even in some of these same stores - really strange!
This night we enjoyed a delicious dinner on the boat & then hit the sack early as we had a 3:30 wake up call for the next morning.
3:30 am sure came early! We grabbed a boxed breakfast & headed out to Abu Simbal! This was definitely one of the highlights of this trip & we didn't want to miss it! Our bus was part of a caravan that left at 4:00 for the 3 hour trip. Abu Simbal is the famous burial place of Ramses II & his wives. It has the giant sculptures of Ramses & his wife, Nephertari, in the side of a mountain. Inside, there are huge pillars & multiple rooms which at one time held all of his possessions. Unbelieveably, this is also a monument which would have been buried when Lake Nassar was formed, but it was taken apart piece by piece & moved to it's current location which is just by Lake Nassar. This monument & lake is out in the middle of nothing. You drive for miles & miles & see very little except desert & an occasional village. It is amazing as you can see "houses" that are nothing more than mudbrick walls with a thatch roof - but it's got a satellite dish on top!! I guess it's their communication with the rest of the world.
You may wonder if we felt safe while traveling in Egypt. I think I would only want to go with a tour group, but must say I felt extremely safe the whole time. We actually had our own personal gunslinger (armed guard) with us on the bus the whole time & often were also accompanied by an escort car with 3 or 4 armed policemen in it. Egypt relies so heavily on tourism for their livelihood, that it is Egyptian law that all foreign groups must have armed guards with them at all times. American groups are especially well taken care of as America gives approx 25 million dollars yearly in aid to Egypt. I'm sure our guards were totally bored the whole time, but they never complained & were often with us from 7:00 am until 9:oo pm.
That night we visited a Papyrus shop & learned how papyrus was made & did a little shopping before heading back to the boat for a wonderful meal & great nights sleep! The boat sailed to Edfu overnight.
The next day, Sunday, was in Edfu, we headed out early by horse drawn carriages to see the Edfu temple, which is the most intact temple in the world. It had been covered by sand for hundreds of years & includes a replica of what the ark of the covenant would have looked like.
The rest of the day was spent in worship on the boat & relaxing (whew! our one easy day!!) That night was "Egyptian night" on the boat with everyone (except the real Egyptians) dressing up like ancient Egyptians for dinner & then hanging out in the disco for fun & games afterwards! It was a lot of fun!
That night we went through the locks on the Nile heading to Luxor. Luxor id called the cit of a Hundred Gates where the Valley of the Kings is located. Valley of the Kings is basically an area in the desert outside of Luxor where the Kings of the 19th & 20th dynasties (Ramsees, including King Tut) were buried in tombs deep inside the mountains. There are over 60 tombs which have been discovered in this area, although not all of them have been uncovered. We went inside of 3 of them. Of course, the bodies & possessions have been removed, but it was fascinating to see the hieroglyphics which were intended to point the way to eternal life for the king & how huge these tombs were. It was amazing the work that they went to to bury their kings. It was said that it took 70 men to finish the tomb, working in 2 shifts. We tried to imagine what it must have been like for the workers to be in the dark down there with only torches for light. In light of that, the artwork is really fantastic. There is also a valley of the Queens, valley of the workers, & valley of the Noblemen. We went through a couple of tombs of the workers (those who created the tombs) & while theirs were much smaller, the artwork on them was great & they had been very well preserved.
Our next stop was at an Alabaster shop where we saw demonstrations of making alabaster vases. Some did shopping here. Next stop was Karnak Temple, which is in contention for the next great wonder of the world. It is the largest temple ever built (was added onto multiple times over 2,000 years) & covers over 100 acres of land.
We also made our way to the Luxor temple which was built for Ramsees II. It has several huge statues of him & has a large, open courtyard. It is believed this is the place where Moses probably studied when he was growing up in Egypt as the temples were also used as schools. It was dark when we got here & the lighting on the pillars & statues was beautiful. While sitting in the courtyard, our tour-guide encouraged us to sing, so we sang 3 or 4 songs & had a small crowd gathered around.to listen. It was a very inspirational moment to think we were ministering in a place that Moses probably sat in so many years before.
We had a late train that night back to Cairo.
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