3/18/13
It was a full day
today. We went to a total of six
locations. Our first stop of the day was
at the Gadot Lookout, where we discussed some more modern history. Next we travelled through the Huleh Basin
stopping at Hazor and hiking around tell Dan.
Then we moved on to Caesarea Philippi to do a little more hiking. Finally we ascended in elevation on our way
up to a volcano, Birkat Ram, and further up to Har Ben Tal.
The Gadot Lookout was an unexpected start to the day. It used to be an Syrian military base and was
subsequently taken by Israel in 1967.
There were fence posts that lined either side of the narrow road with
signs that warn of the multitude of remaining land mines. Dr. Wright told us a little bit about the
sites strategic importance and pointed out some geographical landmarks. Then he told us a fun little story about an
Israeli spy who complained about the heat of the sun and requested to build
trees near the Syrian bunkers to provide shade.
When his commander gave in and the trees sprouted up, the spy told the
Israeli military to aim their artillery for the trees. It’s sort of a rumored tale though, so there
is no telling whether it really happened or not. It is, however, interesting how many of the
bunkers on the site were stationed right beneath trees. After story time we got to climb around
inside of the bunkers. That was fun.
Hazor was
huge. There wasn’t a whole lot to look
at that was excavated, but the tell itself was massive. I was very interested to hear about the
caches of texts found at other international sites and how there is a fairly
certain expectation that Hazor will yield a similar early archive for the first
time in the land of Canaan. It seems odd
to think that when the text archive at Hazor is found it will be more
significant than the finds at Qumran as Dr. Wright suggested. It was also interesting to see basalt
(volcanic rock) that was cracked because of burning (cooled lava being hot enough
to crack! Imagine that!). In the lecture
Dr. Wright discussed the destruction layer found here at Hazor and how it fits so
well with a late date of the Exodus. I
have only read about the issues of the early and late dating of Exodus in
general, but this really piques my interest.
If this is the correct interpretation then that would put the Exodus
after the Amarna period. It makes me
think of Jan Assman’s book Moses the Egyptian.
I still don’t buy into his ideas, but it reminds me of what he
suggested.
Tell Dan was such
a rich and interesting site. There was a
great nature hike around the area. All
throughout the area we could hear the sound of water rushing into the Jordan
river. It was tumultuous yet peaceful at
the same time. The Ancient Israel section
of the tell was huge, especially the gate.
The Middle Bronze Canaanite mudbrick arched gate was so unique. I was able to see the Canaanite gate at
Ashkelon but it wasn’t nearly as well preserved as this one was.
Caesarea Philippi was
great. It was fun to climb up to the
niches and take pictures. The cave and
foundation for the Greco-Roman religious center to the deity Pan was
massive. It was nearby that Jesus spoke
to Peter saying, “upon this rock I will build my church” (Matt 16:18). It was a strange juxtaposition thinking of
Jesus’ words and the religious center devoted to worshiping Pan. Afterwards we had a really nice hike around
the area.
Then we went to Birkat
Ram and got to hang out on a volcano!
How cool is that!? I couldn’t help but wonder if it would randomly erupt. It was colder than I thought it would be so
close to a volcano. We also stopped at a
demilitarized base, known as Har Ben Tal, that looks out into Syria. I was reminded of the tragic violence still
taking place in the country. It was,
however, interesting to reflect upon the history of the land of Israel coming
into contact with the Assyrian Empire in antiquity and how vital this
geographic location was then and how it still is today, despite the shift in
the technology of warfare. We also got
to run around in the tunnels the military base with a flashlight and peek out
of the bunkers facing the Israeli/Syrian border.
------
3/19/13
This trip has gone
by so fast. On this last day we started
out by driving to the nearby En Gev Harbor to take a boat out onto the Sea of
Galilee! It was a great surprise. Afterwards we went to Kursi, which is the
most likely spot for the story of the Gospel of Mark chapter five. Next we went to Capernaum, a site I had been
looking forward to from the start, and the nearby Tabgha area. Finally, we ended the day at the cliffs of
Arbel, overlooking much of the Galilee area and the locations we had traveled
to throughout the trip.
As we pulled up to the En Gev harbor early that morning, I began to
imagine how nice it would be to get on a boat and sail around the Sea of
Galilee. Almost immediately after
thinking this, I began to wonder whether or not something like that might be
included in our fieldstudy, and shortly after my suspicion was verified. It was a beautiful morning, having the entire
body of water all to ourselves (without any water-skis or tourists boats
blasting country gospel music). When we
got out into the sea a ways and turned off the engine, there was a moment of
silence that felt almost like travelling back in time. It was quite a unique experience and I was
very glad to have class there as well.
When we arrived at
Kursi, the location that best preserves the memory of the events of Mark 5 and
the location known in the New Testament as Gergesa, there didn’t seem to be
much there. Sometimes being at these
locations that appear in the Bible really helps to adjust one’s concept of the
material culture and the overall physical setting, thus forcing you to deal
with the reality of the event as opposed to an artists’ rendition or pure
imagination. It was nice to see how the
city and the steep hill fit together along with the sea.
Then we went to
Capernaum, where the huge spaceship looking observatory hangs over the
archaeological remains of the traditional spot of St. Peter’s house. I was really excited to see the spot because
there are so many events in Jesus’ ministry that take place in Capernaum, but
the overall focus of the site seemed to be around St. Peter’s house and the
remains of 4th or 5th
century synagogue nearby. I thought it
was really interesting how the synagogue was built on top of the black basalt
foundation of an earlier synagogue, probably dating to the time of the New
Testament. The distinction between the
earlier and the later synagogue foundation was very obvious. That was a good connecting point between the
physical remains at Capernaum and Jesus.
Peter’s house was interesting to look at, but it was clearly set up for
pilgrimage/tourism, which can often be distracting. Tabgha also remembered many events from the
Gospels, and that was a nice little spot to reflect on the ministry and
miracles of Christ.
The last stop was at the Cliffs of Arbel. It was a really fun place to review what we
learned and climb into some interesting caves.
The climb down was so much more adventurous than I anticipated. At one point we were climbing down a very
steep face of the cliff without guard rails.
The footing of that part was so narrow and the descent so steep, but
there were cords and small handles firmly rooted into the rocks that we could
use to safely move along. Jason and I
climbed up to several caves that required a lot of rock climbing and difficult
positioning. I wasn’t so sure about
climbing up to some of the caves, but somehow we didn’t break any bones or take
any nasty falls so it worked out alright.
It was quite an adventurous afternoon and when it was time to finally
climb down and descend, the atmosphere was that of the agricultural lifestyle,
as cows and horses grazed the side of the fertile green hills.
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