We said farewell to Jerusalem after yet another delightful breakfast at the Dan Panorama. We headed east to the Jordan valley. The back side of the Judean Mountains is desert. As far as the eye can see is rolling hills of dirt and rock and a small scrub brush here and there. The Bedouin live here in lean-to shanties herding sheep and goats. They are still living much the same as they did over 2000 years ago. Irvin and I spend a small fortune feeding our goats and we wondered how this environment sustains one goat, let alone a herd.
After a two hour drive we came to our first stop which was Beit She’an.
This is an ancient city first settled in the fifth millennium BCE. Saul and his sons’ bodies were displayed on the city walls by the Philistines. The city was ruled by many different empires, including the Romans and has a lot of Roman and Byzantine antiquities. The streets, walkways and buildings had beautiful mosaics. There was an impressive theater that held up to 7000 people.
In 1986 when Walter was at Beit Shean filming a sequence for his TV program he stood at this pillar (which was buried in a eucalyptus forest up to above where his left hand touches it) and said that this would be a great place to dig.
Walter gave us a “lecture” on the development of “theaters”
Loren paid close attention;
as did Fran.
Leslie emerged from the bath house refreshed.
Up on the tel in the distance a group of young (what seemed to be) Orthodox women paid close attention to their lesson:
Much of the city was destroyed in an earthquake in 749 CE.
We had lunch in the town of Beit She’an where everyone ate way too much. We had salads, rice, bread,
fries kebab and ice-cream.
The Sea of Galilee is the lowest point on earth with fresh water. The Dead Sea is the lowest point on earth.
My much needed Dots and Dashes (for reading Hebrew) were invented in the Galilee area.
We arrived at 3:00 and made a quick visit to the Yigal Alon Center. Housed in the center is the ancient Galilee boat. The boat dates to the first centuries BCE-CE. The boat has meaning to Christians as a boat that Jesus may have used, but it also may date to the nautical battle between the Jews and Romans in 67 CE.
We checked into our rooms at Kibbutz Nof Ginosar which is located on the Sea of Galilee in the countryside.
A dairy dinner will be served at 7:00 PM. Irvin walked up to the restaurant/lobby area and returned saying “get your check book out.”
Those of us who are late for the bus tomorrow—look for us in the gift shop.