Day Four

This morning is the second time that due to bad weather we will have to adjust our trip schedule. I hear that we are supposed to be going to Mount Arbel and that after morning devotions we will head North along the Jordan valley stopping at Chorazin to view the famous oil press and continuing to the City of Dan and it’s ruins. We are then to conclude our morning at the source of the Jordan River in Caesarea Philippi and see where Jesus asked, “Who do men say that I am?”

After our lunch we are scheduled to take our boat ride on the Galilee. As I mentioned earlier in my log the Galilee is a very fertile land and I just learned that they employ crop rotation as a part of their agriculture strategy. After harvesting grains they plant sunflowers, corn and vegetables. Water, which has been saved, and store from winter is used to irrigate their crops. They use an above ground drip system to conserve water and every seven years they allow the land to rest.

The town of Arbel was around at the time of Jesus and diggings have revealed that an ancient Synagogue was also found in the town. During this time King Herod, once governor of the lower Galilee proved himself to the Romans and was appointed King. He proved himself by quelling a rebellion and crushing the resistance. Even though the rebels scaled down the mountain and hide in caves, Herod was able to eliminate them by lowering men in cages over the cliff side. It is also interesting to know that he himself was never a Jew and that his father was a converted Edomite. As a rule to be classified, as a Hebrew ones mother must be Hebrew, and his was an Arabian.

As a side note, our guide Aaron also mentioned that the valley to the southwest was the site of where Saladin defeated the Crusaders in 1187 in the Valley of Ganazereth. From here our trip continued for one hour to the City of Dan and the source of the Jordan River. The Jordan River itself has two sources each of which are springs.

Interesting Note: As we travel on the bus I frequently ask questions about the Israeli people and their land and culture. One nugget I found out is that off the shores of Haifa Israel has discovered the biggest natural gas deposit ever and once it has been harvested their intention is to sell to the European market. The Jordan valley lies between the Golan Heights and the Galilee mountains and it was populated between 1838-1904 by the Romanians and the topography was mainly bogs. With the help of Rothschild it was settled, the bogs were drained and became a fertile breadbasket with many different crops and fruits.

Now back to Jordan River and the springs. The Hermon spring is one of the feeders of the Jordan River and interestingly the Syrians who at the time occupied the Golan Heights were going to divert it, which triggered the 6-day war in 1967.  On Oct 6,1973 the Syrians tried to take it back, this was called the Kippur war because the attack occurred on a holiday hoping to catch the Israeli people unaware. Egypt and Syria were both defeated during this attempt. Mount Hermon rises 2600 feet above Sea level and a great contrast to the Sea of Galilee. It should also be noted that the topography of the land changes drastically in a very short span of distance. The Lebanese currently holds the other side of Mount Hermon.

From here we visited the city of Dan and were told that it was the second city built at that location. Apparently it had been built over an earlier conquered Canaanite City called Leshem and just like the earlier tells this one was near a water source and secured by a steep slope on one side. In 11BC Jorbram Built an upper city here as a replacement to the Jerusalem temple mount and is also where Josiah later came and smash alters both in Dan and Bethel. (2 Kings 23:19-25) Here we also saw the Gate with the carved stone indicating the “House of David.” Outside of the bible this was the first proof and mention of King David. Because tells have many levels exposed we could also see the original Canaanite gate which was made from mud bricks. The gatehouse itself was composed of 3 parallel gates and the dating of these gates of Lashem is 4000 years old and also 1000 years before the City of Dan.

From Dan we continued on to Caesarea Philippi, which is where the second spring is located and is 125,000 m3 in size. Our guide Aaron also mentioned that international law states that you are not allowed changing the direction of the water when it traverses through two countries and when Syria tried to do this it triggered the 6-day war.

He also mentioned that this is also where Alexander the Great built a shrine to Pan. It is also the assumed location that Jesus sent out his disciples from to start their ministry. Here is where we saw an entire wall of idols built be many different cultures.

After our short visit to the spring we continued on our way to Chorazin and the Sea of Galilee in order to catch our boat at 3pm. Where we are going is also considered a national park and many of the Jewish people do ritual cleansings in baths called Mikvas.

We also visited another Synagogue, which is Galilean and was very plain which had no podium for the ark. The beauty of the building was kept only for the outside of the structure, and here we were shown what is called “The Seat of Moses.”

Our boat ride, which was about a little over an hour brought us to the “land of the seven springs” and back to our bus. Everyone was given an option on if they wanted to go directly to the hotel or stop at the Diamond mine. Because it was such a long traveling day we went back to the hotel. Tomorrow our day is starting at the Gideon Spring, followed by a trip to Beschen and then Kumron and the site of the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls.