Athens Special

How to describe our few hours in Athens! Magical? Enchanted? When we checked into the Athens Hilton (Thank you Merrel and Marie) the receptionist upgraded us to the executive floor, and then changed the room so we would have a view of the Acropolis with the Parthenon on top. From the 10th floor, it is truly an absorbing view of the city. (This is the evening photo of the city.)

One minor problem: when we arrived at the airport, I was paged and informed that my suitcase had been detained in Israel "for security reasons." So far we haven't learned what the fear was - perhaps my 220-110 V transformer? - but sadly, we appear to be leaving Athens and Greece without it. Hopefully it will catch up with us in Rome.

Last night, though, nothing hindered a wonderful evening. We took the subway to the center of town, found an absolutely delightful, roof-top restaurant with a view of the sunset and the Acropolis. The temperature was perfect - velvety, even - and the food delicious. When it was time to leave, the Greek musicians were just getting started.

We walked over the beautiful walkways past the Parthenon and down to a summer theater for traditional Greek dancing. There we enjoyed all the different styles from sedate to flamboyant that each island, each mini-culture has developed over hundreds of years. It was such a delight to be together - and in this instance it seemed more like families of the dancers who surrounded us and cheered on their favorites, instead of several bus-loads of tourists.

When we walked back the way we had come, the pathways were just spectacular, and one rocky viewpoint offered the close-up, night-shot of the Parthenon.

Now as we pack up, we will do one last visit to the top of the Acropolis and I will visit the Parthenon for the second time in my life - showing Vonnie what I so briefly saw in 1964. What an amazing privilege our conference, our two churches and our families have given us.

From Tell es-Safi to Tiberius

Tomorrow, Wednesday, we continue our exploration of northern Israel. However, before we pack up and move on from the Eden Hotel in Tiberias beside Lake Kinneret (Sea of Galilee), Vonnie and I want to share a few photos. (one photo is from our window overlooking Tiberias and the lake.)

There’s another photo of our dig site (Area E) under the awning. Just wanted not to forget our four weeks there. And there are two photos of me having the privilege of slinging a stone over the Elah Valley where David met Goliath.

In review, we enjoyed our Sabbath morning at Advent House, Jerusalem, where I was invited to preach. We visited the Shrine of the Book, dedicated to the Dead Sea Scrolls, that afternoon. And the next morning, we packed our little car with luggage for three and two additional people!

Lotte and Joshua toured with us to modern and ancient Jericho, Qumran, where the Dead Sea Scrolls were used and then hidden, and then up the Jordan River Valley to Lake Kinneret (Sea of Galilee) and the main town there, Tiberias. Both Lotte and Joshua had dug with us at Tell es-Safi, and both went on that same evening: Lotte to Haifa and more education; Joshua back to Jerusalem, and soon on to the USA. Dear, treasured people. We miss them already. (photos will follow later.)

One adventure on the road was when we came to the Israeli checkpoint as we left the West Bank, occupied in 1967, and entered northern Israel, carved out during the war of independence in 1948. Something about this quartet made the guards uneasy, so they had us park the car for inspection, get out ourselves and all our carefully packed luggage. Then everything went through x-ray or metal-detection machines, including us. All this while they looked in every nook and cranny in and under the car. It was a thorough inspection indeed, although I’ve read of far worse. (no photos here!)

On Monday we explored both Cana and Nazareth, neighboring cities. When we finally located the YMCA, we made appointments to return this morning for the Nazareth Village tour. (One of our photos is of modern Nazareth, and four are from the Village recreation.)

This afternoon, we drove completely around Lake Kinneret / Sea of Galilee. Now I’m wondering how closely this sea and Lake Tahoe in California compare in surface area. I’m thinking this is larger.

We stumbled on a wonderful archaeological dig and recreation area near the mouth of the River Jordan as it comes into Lake Kinneret. The site is identified as Bethsaida, where Jesus healed a blind man. And it was also the home of several disciples. John 1:44 “Now Philip was from Bethsaida, of the city of Andrew and Peter.” We truly enjoyed our time, alone on the dig-site with time to meditate and pray. (Several photos are from here.)

Then we went down to the Jordan River and discovered a quiet place to sit and doze off in the shade. It is obviously a favorite spot for hundreds of families. Some holidays or weekends, it must seem like a city of 5,000, hungry for bread and fish! Our time there was extremely slow and therefore delightful. (some photos here, too.)

Our final stop before supper was to a Greek Orthodox church from the 1920s, dedicated to the memory of the paralyzed man let down through the roof to be healed by Jesus. It turned out to be a wonderfully maintained and green few acres on the shore of Galilee, just yards away from ancient Capernaum. The Greek priest spoke good English and welcomed us into his church. He told us of his doubts that the “Bethsaida” we visited was the one Jesus knew. He believes another site, now in private ownership, is much closer to the lake shore and much more likely to have been the real place. So the arguments go! It was a very special stop. (this is the last photo.)

Farewell to Tell es-Safi/Gath

The new gateway spire over West Jerusalem


As I type, it is Saturday night in Jerusalem and Vonnie and I have just had a wonderful Sabbath. It's hard to believe that I had the privilege of sharing a few thoughts at Advent House this morning for the English congregation. The President of the Israel Field, Elder Elofer, was with me on the platform, just hours before he and his wife would fly off to three meetings in both North and South America.

After a lovely luncheon, Vonnie and I drove in our rental car to the Israel Museum and the Shrine of the Book. There we had the great privilege of seeing several chapters of the original scroll of Isaiah found in a cave above Qumran, one of the Dead Sea Scrolls found in 1947. No cameras were allowed, so it will just be stories from us.

Let's go back to Tell es-Safi, however. Friday was the last day for any activity. A large helium balloon provided a platform for the remote control camera and last pictures were taken. It was a blessing from God that everything went as scheduled, for we arrived in Jerusalem earlier than planned, and were able to get our rental car before they closed for Sabbath!

But it was hard to say good-bye to our new friends from around the world. Will we see them again? We had many invitations to return, including from the director, Aren Maeir. It would take some special planning to make that happen, and at this time seems unlikely. But . . .

On the last day of the dig at Area E, our Early Bronze excavations allowed an amazing find to be preserved. The previous week, some bones were discovered to be "articulated", meaning they were connected to other bones in the right places. At first our leader thought it would prove to be a pig, a big wild boar from 4,500 - 5,000 years ago. Then some teeth were discovered that indicated it was a herbivore, so it seemed it might be a big sheep. Only when the zoologist arrived on the last day of excavation did he reveal that it was from the horse family, or the equid family. Microscopic analysis will reveal whether it was really a horse, a wild ass, or a donkey.

Apparently horses were just being domesticated and ridden on the steppes of Russia at this early time. In fact, horses don't show up in Egypt (what? no chariots?) until 200 years later!

One of the curiosities that will be explored and reported is whether this burial has any relationship with other finds of ancient horses/asses/donkeys in the Levant. What does it mean? Why would someone bury this animal? Did they normally eat any such animals, but bury this one whole? Why was it arranged in death as it was?

Archaeology is full of mysteries and hypotheses. It was always fun to listen in on discussions of what this or that means.

For the whole tell, this was an interesting but minor find. Much more within the target of the dig were the finds of wonderful pottery untouched since the buildings were destroyed during the Iron Age, during the time of some of King David's descendents.

2 Kings 12:17 Then Hazael king of Aram went up and fought against Gath and captured it, and Hazael set his face to go up to Jerusalem. 18 And Jehoash king of Judah took all the sacred things that Jehoshaphat and Jehoram and Ahaziah, his fathers, kings of Judah, had dedicated, and his own sacred things and all the gold that was found among the treasuries of the house of the LORD and of the king's house, and sent them to Hazael king of Aram. Then he went away from Jerusalem.

Sunday we drive to Jericho, Qumran, and Lake Kinnerett (Sea of Galilee). And many from Milton and BMV Churches are enjoying the Church Campout at Camp Elkanah. We will all have stories to share!