As we drove north, the frosted ridge of Mount Hermon looked pasted on the sky as the color of its slopes matched the dusty haze of the horizon, and beyond the summit on the other side, the countries of Syria and Lebanon continued into the northeast. We weren’t going that way, but our destination of the Hermon Stream Nature Reserve was taking us to the northern region of Golan about two hours away from Tiberias. We started out early due to the distance, because we wanted to have plenty of time for hiking and stopping on the way home for groceries before the start of Shabbat. The air was cool, and the sun was bright in a deep blue sky as we pulled into the Hermon Stream parking lot, and we spent a few minutes studying the park map before picking a trail from the many options which included some archaeological sites we wanted to visit.
After Alexander the Great conquered this area in 332 BC, the local population adopted Greek culture, which included the worship of the Greek gods. Pan was the focus of adoration in the settlement by the Hermon Stream. There is a large rock cliff towering over the springs here, and the citizens built intricate temples for Pan worship right into the rock and carved out elaborate niches in which statues of the god were placed. Right next to the rock, the springs flowed into an underground cave which was considered the gateway to the underworld, or Hades, and sacrifices were placed there for hopeful acceptance by the gods. Pan was a god of nature and fertility, so the rituals associated with his worship were exceedingly nasty, and eventually the settlement became known as Paneas, or Banias as the Arabs pronounced it. Herod the Great’s kingdom extended to this northern region of Galilee which his son Philip inherited after his death in 4 BC. Philip fortified the city of Paneas and renamed it Caesarea Philippi.
We started our hike in front of the of the temples of Pan and checked out the ruins of the temple right beside the cliff which was built by Herod the Great and dedicated to Augustus Caesar in order to make sure all the gods were appeased and his allegiance to Rome was substantiated. From that point, we ventured into the woods and walked for several kilometers along the swiftly flowing Hermon Stream, and the leafy terrain reminded us of hiking through the woods of North Carolina. We stopped for a while at the three-hundred-year-old flour mill which was still capable of operating due to its design and excellent construction. A short distance later, the woods opened up to another major archeological site in the reserve, the palace ruins of Agrippa II, who ruled during the second half of the first century and made Caesarea Philippi a city of luxury by adding temples lined with statues as well as his opulent residence. We had full access to the palace ruins and stayed for a long time checking out all the rooms and underground passages which support the modern roads overhead with the ancient arches. After trekking on a dusty trail through an open area surrounded by low scrub, we finished our hike at a tower that showed many centuries of layers with varied building styles before enjoying a picnic lunch in the shady recreation area—thankfully, no feral cats were around to beg for food.
Temple of Pan with cave to the underworld
Herodian blocks, Crusader blocks, Ottoman dwelling
Agrippa's Palace
Indiana Painter and the Palace of Agrippa
Hermon Stream
Ruins of Caesar Augustus Temple
After lunch we drove a couple of kilometers down the road to the second part of Hermon Stream Reserve, which includes a hike to Banias Falls, the largest waterfall in Israel. It’s possible to hike from one section of the park to the other, but with Shabbat approaching we didn’t have the time for another long trek. From the parking lot we took a short, steep trail down the hillside through dense tree cover until we reached the river which rushed noisily over large boulders. Just around the bend of the trail the river opened into a large blue-green pool in which the glorious Banias Falls cascaded like a pearly curtain draped over the top of the rocks. I had no idea places like this existed in Israel and thought the majority of the terrain was arid desert. While I’m sure there’s a lot of desert to the south, the northern region is surprisingly green with plenty of swift streams. We hiked back up to the car, drove back to Tiberias, and somehow made it to the grocery store before it closed for Shabbat. We had an amazing day combining nature, history, and a Bible story, and now I have a lot of questions running around in my head.
Matthew’s Gospel tells of Jesus feeding the four thousand near the Sea of Galilee, and he has a run-in with the Pharisees and Sadducees which leads to a teaching moment with his disciples. From that point they come into the district of Caesarea Philippi and Jesus reveals who he is in the famous passage from chapter sixteen. There’s no record of their journey north to the city, but it’s sixty kilometers away from Capernaum with a lot of mountainous terrain to navigate. Google Maps says it’s a twelve-hour walk, but that’s on paved roads averaging a consistent five kilometers an hour - that’s a hefty pace even for a bunch of dudes who were used to walking long distances in sandals with no shock absorbing insoles and moisture-wicking socks. I’m thinking that it took at least a couple of days to get there, and why would Jesus take them on such a long journey to a place where hedonistic behavior ran rampant? He had to have a specific reason in mind, and perhaps they were standing near the temples devoted to Pan and the water flowing through the gate to the underworld when Jesus proclaimed, “…on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” Just as the drive back to Tiberias was a thoughtful journey for me, the walk back to Capernaum for the disciples must have been completely life changing.
Banias Falls
The next morning, we drove south for the first time since we’ve been in Galilee, and our destination was the Bet She’an National Park about an hour away. After getting used to the commanding northern view of the Sea of Galilee, it was strange seeing the water taper of to a point in the south as it continued into the Jordan River. We drove through a narrow valley with mountains to the east and flat lands full of scrubby vegetation to the west—it looked a lot like driving through Nevada. The site at Beth She’an is considered one of the top five national parks in Israel, and we had done our research on the place, but nothing could have prepared us for the magnitude of the ruins we saw there.
Bet She'an
After we paid our admission fee, we walked through the turnstile, and stared open-mouthed at Ephesus again. While not as large as the ruins on the Turkish coast, this ancient site is every bit as beautiful and rich in history. There is a huge tell at the back of the site which contains twenty layers of archeological evidence of civilizations dating back seven thousand years, and Joseph and I climbed to the top for an amazing view. The ruins are left from the city of Scythopolis, which was devastated by an earthquake in 749 AD, and over the past several thousand years, the city had been ruled by the Canaanites, Israelites, Assyrians, Greeks, and Romans. King Saul of the Israelites and three of his sons including Jonathan, were slain on Mount Gilboa fifteen kilometers away, and the Philistines brought the headless body of Israel’s first king and fastened him to the city wall here at Beth She’an in an act of ultimate humiliation.
The majority of the ruins we toured at the site were from buildings constructed during the first century including a theater, bathhouse, agora, several temples, and streets lined with columns and inscribed monuments. There were floor mosaics in almost every building still rich in detail with depictions of gods, flowers, and animals. Amazingly, visitors here have almost complete access to the ruins allowing for maximum exploration and photography. The park brochure outlined an excellent self-guided tour which we followed for a few hours until we completed an entire circuit of the complex.
View from the top of the tell
Theater stage
pillars beneath the bath floors
Three guesses - what is this place?
Colonnade
Earthquake damage
Mosaic lion
Mosaic zebra
We ended our time here with a picnic overlooking the ruins with the giant tell looming in the background packed with thousands of years of stories. On our way out of town, we stopped at the ruins of the second-century Roman amphitheater so I could find a geocache placed there, and Joseph and I discovered it hidden in one of the rooms that held the lions and bears back in the day. As we crossed back over the Jordan river, there was a big group of men loaded with gear and kayaks preparing for a trip downstream, and we noted how cool it would be to say that you’ve paddled the Jordan.
Picnic at Bet She'an
Our last full day in Galilee was Sunday, and we wanted to attend a worship service, so we boarded the Picanto and drove about thirty minutes to the town of Nazareth and spent the Lord’s day with the believers at the Local Baptist Church—yep, that’s the name. We found two churches in Nazareth, both with services starting at 10:30, and both located near Mary’s well—no other address, just near Mary’s well. We sent email enquiries to see if they had services in English, and the pastor from the Local church responded in the affirmative and extended a warm invitation. Pastor Andrew told us that the services are in Arabic, but they provide headsets and English translation for visitors. Jesus grew up in Nazareth, which is is a predominantly Arab town now, and while I’m sure he wouldn’t recognize the place after two-thousand years of growth, he would certainly appreciate all the free parking near the town square on Sunday.
We figured we would just find Mary’s well and start walking and, Lord willing, hopefully find the Nazareth Baptist School in which the Local Baptist Church worships, and we did! We walked into the courtyard and followed the sound of the worship band rehearsing until we found the school’s auditorium which doubles as the sanctuary on Sunday. The room was bright with white painted walls and a stage at the front with a large wooden cross positioned before a pleated purple curtain. There were a lot of people there, and they welcomed us warmly and outfitted us with transmitters and headsets for the service. The worship band was outstanding, and they led the congregation in singing songs written in Arabic but translated in English as well. Pastor Andrew delivered a stirring sermon from the second chapter of Philippians concerning Christ’s incarnation, and we enjoyed being a part of this group of Arabic believers. After the service, we munched chocolate chip cookies and talked for a while with a pastor’s wife who was from Michigan, and she gave us a good tip for a place to eat lunch near the square so we could view the huge Christmas tree. We drove back into Tiberias one last time with our familiar view of the Sea of Galilee, and it was a bit melancholy knowing that tomorrow morning we have to leave a place that brought us closer together as we gained rich knowledge about the life of our savior in northern Israel.
Local Baptist Church
Christmas tree in Nazareth
Cool place!
ReplyDeleteQuestion: Will you guys be anywhere near a Starbucks for Christmas?