10 July: Day 3: Caesarea, Megiddo, and Nazareth

This morning began with a dairy/no meat breakfast and then we traveled to Caesarea while singing a song in Hebrew. Apparently there are three of Caesareas, and this one is the one by the sea. It was originally built by Herod the Great and was conquered and destroyed by earthquakes several times before reaching its peak during the Byzantine Era. The buildings had been rebuilt many times so it was difficult to tell what was ancient and what was modern, but we enjoyed learning about the history and connecting it to the Biblical stories we know. We also took these pictures on the actual track where they did chariot races. Papa did a much better pose than I did.

The history was honestly quite overwhelming and I’ve already forgotten so much of what we learned. I wish I had a guide book to help me remember.

After Caesarea we took a very quick stop at a well-preserved Roman aqueduct.

Our first real hiking took place at the ancient city of Megiddo. We walked up the hill, down 180 steps into a water storage area and then up 80 steps (there was nothing in the pamphlet about preparing for that and some of our tour-mates were struggling!)  Basically, the planes surrounding the hill where this city used to be was the site of a bazillion battles and is called the Jezreel Valley or the Armageddon Battlefield. We talked a lot about the etymology of the name Armageddon, but basically it refers to the city of Megiddo. This is also where, according to Revelation 16, “blood will run as deep as the bits on horses” during the last days (there was no blood today.) Papa had thought that the Bible specifically named the Jezreel Valley as the Armageddon Battlefield, but our guide made it sound like the Bible is more vague and people just inferred that this was the place because of all the battles that had been fought there before. Regardless, this is where our use of the word Armageddon comes from and I bet we will be looking it up soon. After our hike we had a family style lunch at a traditional restaurant. We had pita, hummus, falafel, French fries, avocado and a whole bunch of other saucy vegetables. We also had a tiny glass of coffee spiced with cardamom.

Our last stop of the day was in Nazareth. The city has been occupied by Arabs for a number of years and it was believed that nothing from the time of Jesus still existed. However, some years ago a small number of Christian Arabs wanted to create a site for Pilgrims to visit when they came to Nazareth so they decided to create an open air museum. As they were clearing the areas around the Scottish hospital for the museum (because everyone knows Jesus’ boyhood home now houses a Scottish hospital, right?) they actually discovered some relics. The museum recreates Nazareth in the first century including animals, farming and lots of friendly people in costumes. We got small oil lamps with our admission price and now I need to make sure not to break mine before we get home.

It’s difficult to judge citizens’ reactions to what is going on in Israel at the moment. Our guide Mickey is quick to point out that, unlike North Americans, Israelis are used to violent conflict taking place on their land and he even makes jokes about the rockets, which are usually followed by forced laughter because we are all scared. However, it’s also clear that things are more serious than usual and nearly everyone we meet makes some reference to “the current situation” and how brave/dumb we are to visit at this time. Mickey says that one could argue the danger makes it more of a pilgrimage, since traditionally pilgrimages are not supposed to be easy. To be clear, I understand that everything about this trip is as easy as we could ask for, but I haven’t been able to completely relax mentally yet, and it makes me grateful for how safe I get to feel every day at home.

We thank you and ask for continued prayers for safety as we travel towards Jerusalem, which is currently experiencing occasional riots in the streets as well as the threat of rockets like the rest of Israel. Please also pray for our health and well-being. The days are hot and tiring in a very different way from Arizona, which I guess is called humidity.