Monthly Archives: January 2023

This trip has been really fun!  We’re with our kids, and now we’ve added our dear friends.  Our next stop after visiting Masada was Qumran.  When I was a student here, the Qumran experience was basically a stop at a … Continue reading →

Most know the story of Masada, the fortress built by Herod the Great between 37 and 31 BCE.  He built two palaces for himself on this mountain fortification.  Josephus wrote about the siege of Masada by Roman troops from 73 to … Continue reading →

This is the Nazareth Village, an open-air museum in Nazareth, that reconstructs and reenacts village life in the Galilee as it was at the time of Jesus.   This village is located 500 meters from the original site of Nazareth and … Continue reading →

We drove on to Nazareth, stopping first at the Mount of Precipice, not far outside of town.  This is the traditional site where Jesus fled after teaching in the synagogue in Nazareth.  Here is the story in Luke 4: 16 ¶ And … Continue reading →

Our next stop was the traditional site of the Mount of Beatitudes and the church there. I don’t remember visiting this place before, but I’ve seen plenty of pictures of it. I’m remembering that my Israel professors tended away from … Continue reading →

We drove the short distance to Capernaum this morning. I remember visiting this place years ago (before Magdala was discovered). There is also a 1st Century Synagogue here where Jesus most likely taught. We explored the excavations. Found the same … Continue reading →

We drove the short distance to Capernaum this morning.  There is also a 1st Century Synagogue here where Jesus most likely taught. We explored the excavations. Found the same carvings in the stone that we saw in the pulpit stone … Continue reading →

Our last stop today was at the Valley of the Doves. This a small valley by a cliff that overlooks the Sea of Galilee and Mt Hermon. There are natural caves in the cliff where the rebels hid during the … Continue reading →

Next we drove to the border where we could look down a ravine/valley to see the fence separating Lebanon from Israel. It was windy and cold.  Here are some fun food trucks from that stop: After a good look at … Continue reading →