A Day in History

DAY FOUR - Mon. Jan. Dec. 29, 2008

Today we had to be out of the hostel by 10:00. Because of the recent bombing yesterday (did I just say bombing???), we paid for an internet connection to e-mail our loved ones that we were safe. We had some time to explore our hostel and discovered that in 1878 - 1913 it was owned by the Russian Baron Plato Von Ustinov, who turned it into a Russian palace with extensive gardens. In 1882, destitute Jewish refugees from Russia landing in Jaffa were helped by Ustinov, a Christian. It was visited by Baron Rothschild and the German Emperor Kaiser Wilheim II.

We left and headed north, away from the fighting, and drove to Caesarea, Herod’s city by the sea. Before Herod, the city was owned by Cleopatra, but after her conquest by Rome, Augustus gave it to Herod and he re-built the city and re-named it for Caesar.

Caesarea was the grandest city in Palestine, other than Jerusalem, and became the capitol of Palestine after the fall of Jerusalem in 70 AD. It boasted a large deep sea harbor which utilized concrete in its walls, an aqueduct for a vast water system in the city, an amphitheater with thousands of seats, and an elaborate palace for Herod.

Caesarea played an important role in early Christian history. It was the place where Pontius Pilate governed during the time of Jesus. It was also here where Peter converted and baptized the Roman, Cornelius, the first non-Jew to believe in Jesus. Paul was imprisoned here for two years, and was sent to Rome from trial. Paul also set sail from this famous seaport for his journeys in the eastern Mediterranean.

Throughout the Roman persecution, thousands of Christians were transported here from Jerusalem and all over Israel for execution. During the 3rd century, however, Caesarea was a center of Christian learning. In the 4th century, the site converted to Christianity and became a major center of the Christian Roman Empire.

During the Byzantine period, the Church Father, Origen, founded a Christian academy here, which included a library of 30,000 manuscripts. Also, the theologian Eusebius, who served as Bishop of Caesarea, composed here.

Just north of the ancient city are the ruins of the ancient aqueduct, built to supply water to the city. It runs 9 km to the springs at the foot of Mt. Carmel. What an impressive feature on the Mediterranean beach!

Today, Caesarea boasts the only golf course in Israel - and we drove right by it. Fore!

Soon we turned east and made it through our first armed check point - at a strip mall where we stopped to grab some lunch. We couldn’t figure out why there was a station here, except for maybe the high volume of people. We didn’t find out until later when we found out that we had accidentally driven into a “no-go” Arab zone. This settlement was very close to that one.

After a mesmerizing drive through the countryside, filled with rolling hills and amazing multi-tiered houses built into the sides of these hills, (and our little jaunt through the Arab “no-go” zone), we finally arrived at our next destination, Megiddo. We took the time to explore the ancient ruins and ended up joining a church tour from Texas with a fabulously knowledgeable expert Israeli guide. This would turn out to be, humorously, a meeting orchestrated by God, as we ran into this group several more times at different places, which made an important connection with the guide for Delores who is writing an article on Israel for a magazine in Minnesota. God is good.

What a fascinating place! Megiddo is a tel (hill) made of 26 layers of the ruins of ancient cities dating back to 7000 B.C. It was at a strategic location on the ancient trade route north to south from Assyria, through Jerusalem, to Egypt and east to west from the sea to Damascus and Mesopotamia. Megiddo overlooks the Valley of Jezreel. It is interesting to note that the very first documented battle in recorded history was fought here in the 15th century BC between Egypt and Canaan, and, it is here that the legendary battle of Armageddon, to be the final battle in recorded history, will be fought.

Megiddo was first conquered by the Israelites when Joshua took it from the Canaanites in his conquest of the land. Megiddo became the center of the province and was one of King Solomon’s three treasure cities where he housed hundreds of his chariots and horses, with some of the stone feeding mangers remaining until today. King Ahab built a massive water tunnel rivaling that of King Hezekiah‘s, bringing water from the spring outside the walls into the city. King Josiah fell here in his battle with Egypt after they won it from Assyria. That latest battle was fought here during WWI in 1918.

From the top of the tel the view is magnificent. It is easy to imagine a great army congregating in the valley in force. You can look to the northeast and see Mt. Tabor in the distance where Deborah slew Barak, or turn southeast and see Mt. Moreh where Gideon and his 300 fought and won the battle against the Midianites.

Looking northeast you can also see the Arab-occupied cities of Nazareth, where Christ lived, and southeast across the valley to Jenin, which is where so many suicide bombings originate. As I stood on top of the high place, watching the dark clouds of rain begin to roll in, it was fascinating to see that the sun shone brightly through the clouds highlighting both cities, almost prophetic.

As the rain poured we drove towards Tiberias, where our next housing awaited. Tiberias, on the southwest side of the Sea of Galilee, is a city sitting below sea level and totally built into the sides of a hill. Tiberias was first built in 20 AD as a Roman spa resort because of the prevalent hot springs in the area and became the capitol of Galilee. No Jews lived or visited here because it was considered an unclean place. There is only one wall left from the ancient time period for it was all torn down and “erased” by the Jews in 1948.

We made several “circle tours” of the city and finally found the house where we would be staying for the next few nights. Our hostess was gracious and hospitable and we were settled in no time, ready to begin again the next day.