Israel and Jordan

Here is Mom with Tel Aviv in the background. Tel Aviv has a major university and attracts many tourists to its long, sunny beaches.

This is near the home of Simon the Tanner, mentioned in Acts 9 and 10, in Joppa (now known as Yafo, near downtown Tel Aviv).

We are sitting in the city square at Yafo. Yafo has a history spanning at least 9000 years.

This is the Roman theater at Caesarea maritime, the large port/palace complex built on the coast north of Tel Aviv by Herod the Great.

This is the salad table at the hotel in Nazareth. Food was one of the highlights of the trip.

Here is a 1st century wine press site in Nazareth. Note the notch in the ground (near the foot of the fellow with the white hat), which allows the wine to fall into the hole.

This is Armegeddon, actually the Tel Mediggo archaeological site. There are 26 different layers of civilization here, spanning 4000+ years, all prior to 586 BC, when the Jews were carried off to Babylon, after which the site was never occupied again.

You may have heard of Hezekiah’s tunnel, which was built underground in Jerusalem to provide running water in case of a siege. This is a similar tunnel at Tel Mediggo, which was constructed by King Ahab about 850 BC.

Here are the remains of a Roman cult temple at Caesarea Philippi, which is near the far northern point of Israel. It was mentioned in Mark 8:27-33 and Matt. 16:13-23.

Linda “walks on water” at the Sea of Galilee, near Capernaum.

Here are the ruins of a synagogue at Capernaum, adjacent to the 1st century ruins of a home.

Our group rode a boat on the Sea of Galilee.

While most of our meals were in hotels, this night we enjoyed a delicious spread of local cuisine, served up at the home of our bus driver.

Here is our bus driver. When is not driving buses, he is the Bedouin Sheik of about 8000 persons in the Nazareth area.

This is David Hadlock, our tour director.

This is Bet She’An, one of the largest Greek-Roman settlements during Old Testament times. I hiked to the top of the hill, where there are even more ruins.

This is the Qumran site, near the north end of the Dead Sea. The Dead Sea scrolls were found in caves in the hills above.

One can float in the Dead Sea, which is the lowest point on Earth, roughly 1340 feet below sea level.

This is the Jordan River, at a site reputed to be near where Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist.

This is the Garden of Gethsemane. Note the large gnarly olive trees, which may be roughly as old as the time of Jesus.

Here are Linda and David at the Mt. of Olives, with the walls of Jerusalem behind us.

This is the Via Delarosa in Jerusalem.

This is a typical street scene in Jerusalem. At certain times, it can get VERY crowded.

This is a recently discovered foundations of what may be the original wall of the first temple before the Babylonian captivity.

This is the Western Wall (“Wailing Wall”) in Jerusalem, a remnant of the second temple built by Herod the Great.

These stones, at the base of the western wall, may be remnants of the temple proper, after it was torn down by the Romans in 70 AD.

These steps, approaching the southeastern wall of Jerusalem, likely were used by Jesus and others mentioned in the New Testament.

We walked through Hezekiah’s tunnel, which was constructed or at least expanded during the reign of King Hezekiah to withstand Sennecherib’s siege (2 Kings 20:20).

This is the pool of Bethesda, where Mark 8:22-26 reports Jesus healed a blind man.

This is a 100-year-old photo of a site we visited that is thought by some to be the site “Golgotha” (place of a skull), where Jesus was crucified. Note the two “eyes” just left of center. The feature is not as clear today, due to some damage.

This is the Garden Tomb, thought by many to be a plausible spot for Jesus’ burial.

This is a Greek Orthodox Church at a spot reputed to be near where Jesus was born in Bethlehem.

This cave is on a hill used for centuries by shepherds in the Bethlehem area.

This church in Jerusalem is at a possible site of the Last Supper.

The Israeli military is a common sight in Jerusalem and elsewhere in Israel. All youth 18-20 years old must serve.

This is Ja Ir, our local guide.

This night it was extremely crowded on the streets through Jerusalem.

The BYU Jerusalem Center is a stunning piece of architecture, on a great site on the Mt. of Olives.

This is the cable car that takes one to the top of Masada.

This is the synagogue at Masada, which possibly is the oldest Jewish synagogue in the world.

This is the famous “ramp” constructed by the Romans to permit their war machines and soldiers to breach the wall and conquer Masada.

This is Michael and Kim Miller, with Linda and myself, at the Wadi Run, northeast of Aqaba, Jordan. This particular spot was used in the movie “The Martian”.

This is Linda, Taylor McAvoy, Joe McAvoy, Mike Miller and Kim Miller, as we head off on the Wadi Rum desert on the back of a Toyota truck.

Linda (with most in our group) rides a camel in the Wadi Rum desert.

Here are some 2600-year-old petroglyphs at Wadi Rum.

We stayed at this hotel in Aqaba, Jordan, on the shore of the Red Sea. The food here, as with the other hotels, was spectacularly good.

This is the Red Sea from our hotel, looking out to Aqaba (Jordan), and, further to the right, Saudi Arabia. Looking the other way one can see Israel and also Egypt — all four nations are within a few miles of each other here.

This is the “slot canyon” leading to Petra, a truly remarkable archaeological site. With a history stretching back to 9000 BC, most of the ruins visible today were constructed by the Nabateans, a sophisticated but shadowy nomadic people who lived in Petra from about 300 BC through 300 AD, after which the site was abandoned, and lost to the western world until 1812.

Here are Linda and David in front of the “Treasury”, made famous as a backdrop for the movie Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.

These are the “Royal Tombs” at Petra, chief among the many tombs and “buildings” at the site.

This is Greek-Roman style amphitheater at Petra. At one point, 20,000 to 30,000 Nabateans lived here.

Here is the “Great Temple” at Petra.

Here is a close-up of the “Royal Tomb” at Petra.

This is the interior of the Royal Tomb. The colored rock is natural, not painted.

Here are some camels, with more Petra ruins in the rocks behind them.