Today we drove all the way to the top border of Israel where we looked into Lebanon. The village there just recently opened to tour buses. We went to the Tel Dan Nature Reserve and walked the trail there through some beautiful vegetation, along a stream. I remember being here before. The water comes from snow melt on Mt Hermon. This is the source of the Jordan River.

There was a big Canaanite city here 5,000 years ago called Laish or Leshem. We walked through the excavations and the gateway. The stonework was incredible. The earliest inscription of “the House of David” was also found here.

There were interesting altars here where sacrifices were made. They reconstructed the outlines of an alter here to show the size of it. All very interesting.

This is where the sacrifices took place.  The archaeologists are still working here.

This shows the size of the altar as it was in Old Testament times:

Here’s a model of this Canaanite city:

It’s amazing that so much remains from 5000 years ago.  Oh, the stories these stones could tell!