Galilee (Part 1)

We stayed in Galilee for 10 days at a kibbutz on the sea called Ein Gev. A kibbutz is a collective community  unique to Israel.  Using Ein Gev as a home base, we explored the surrounding area by bus.  We also had 13 lecture hours, plus homework, so it wasn't all fun and games.  I'll try to give you the highlights of the trip.

We stopped by Bet Shean on the way up to Galilee.  Also known as Scythopolis, this was the chief city of the Decapolis, a region on 10 city-states during Roman times.  Here's the view from the hilltop.

 

Nazareth is a little ways up the road. We stopped at the Church of Annunciation, which commemorates Mary The church is huge because it was built around the remains of existing churches.  It's the largest Christian church in the Middle East.

 

The church of St. Joseph was built over the traditional site for Joseph's carpenter shop and home of the holy family.  The Catholics decided Joseph would make a good patron saint for fathers, carpenters, and social justice.

 

We drove up Mt. Arbel to see the view.  The caves on the face of the mountain were used as hiding places during the Maccabean revolt.  The Romans conquered the Jewish rebels by lowering themselves down the cliff side in baskets.  Here's what we were supposed to see.

 

Here is what we saw.

 

The next day we took a boat ride across the Sea of Galilee.  Because of its shape, the Sea is also known as the Kinneret, which means harp. The weather was still hazy.

 

We talked to the captain of the boat.  He said the worst storm he ever experienced had waves 9 feet high.  It's hard to imagine because the lake only 13 miles at the longest point and 6 miles at the widest point.  The lake is also 700 feet below sea level.

 

The next photo is of a fairly recent discovery. A 1st century book was discovered in the mud after a severe drought in 1985.  The boat marinated in chemicals for nine years for preservation.  This kind of boat would have 5 crewmen and 10 passengers.

 

This is a church on the Mount of Beatitudes.  It's octagonal and the inside has a beatitude on each wall. (See Matthew 5:3-10.)

 

Capernaum became Jesus' hometown after Nazareth rejected him.

 

This funny shaped building was built over the apostle Peter's house, which the early Christians had turned into a church.  Notice how dark the buildings are.  These homes were built out of black basalt instead of the white limestone found all over Jerusalem.

 

If you look closely you can see the ruins of the city of Gamla on the left side of the hill.  Some scholars suggest this was the city set on a hill mentioned in Matthew 5:14, as it would be visible from the Mount of Beatitudes.

 

Galilee had a wet winter. As evidence of this, Emilie and Courtney found a crab in the Gamla synagogue.

 

We also got to see Gamla Falls.

 

Here we have the remains of the city of Hippos.  It was kind of disappointing because we didn't see one hippo.  Maybe it's because "hippo" is Greek for "horse."  I'll have to look for horses the next time I go.