Israel - Mount of Beatitudes, Tabgha, Bethsaida, Magdala

Now that we’ve been exploring the region of Galilee for several days, we’ve often wondered why we haven't seen very many tour buses and just assumed that their absence was due to the offseason.  Yesterday we discovered that they’ve been hiding out on the Mount of Beatitudes waiting to release their passengers the moment we arrived.  Also called Mount Eremos, the Mount of Beatitudes is a green hill which is 60 meters below sea level, but still 150 meters above nearby Capernaum.  No one is completely sure if this is the place where Jesus gave the Sermon on the Mount, but it’s a likely spot, and pilgrims have come to this place for 1600 years to worship and remember.  There is a small compound on the top of the hill centered by a Catholic chapel and surrounded by pavilions, a guest house, and a gift shop where one can buy anything from olive wood figurines to King David cologne, which smells pretty good.  The buildings are tucked into groves of huge palm trees and lush gardens that were brimming with purple and orange flowers even in December.

Mount of Beatitudes gardens

We joined in with the throng of tour groups and began our visit in the chapel, but we bailed out quickly due to the jostling crowd and over-enthusiastic individuals jockeying for the perfect photograph.  I understood their fervor having behaved the same way in other once-in-a-lifetime destinations, but in this case, the gardens were a better location for our visit.  The hilltop was bordered by a perimeter path, and we slowly walked along passing by small shelters where worship services were in progress marked by communion and joyful singing.  We arrived at the area of the gardens that offered the best view of the Sea of Galilee and found a place to sit close together on the rocks.  There were many other people there sitting on boulders that filled the shady slope, and they all had their Bibles open glancing back and forth between the pages and the view.

Mount of Beatitudes

We opened Matthew’s Gospel, and Deena and I took turns reading quietly as birds warbled in the palm branches overhead and and a soothing breeze found its way between the boulders.  We read the Beatitudes and talked about how God expects us to live based on those statements of condition and result.  We read specific passages from the Sermon on the Mount including the ones about storing up treasures in Heaven, serving others for the Father’s sake and not the approval of men, and striving to live without worry.  I tend to worry about almost everything, and as I’ve struggled to overcome that state all my life, I’m desperate to teach my children to trust God daily for their provision.  What better example than Jesus who knew he was heading for the agony of the cross but was still able to sit on a mountain and teach his followers to live each day and not worry about tomorrow.  I’m hoping that when worry comes my way again, I can close my eyes and remember my little family sitting on the Mount of Beatitudes in the soft breeze reading the words of Jesus.

We drove down the mountain back to the shores of the Sea of Galilee and pulled into our second destination of the day, the church and monastery of Tabgha in an area where many believe the miracle of the feeding of the five thousand occurred.  The buildings on the site were constructed in the late twentieth century over the ruins of the fifth-century church, and the floor mosaics from antiquity were incorporated into the design of the new church.  The famous mosaic depicting the loaves and fishes is in front of the altar near a large, protruding rock on which many believe Christ stood as he blessed the food before feeding the multitude.  The monastery was under renovation, so our visit was limited to the sanctuary of the church, but we enjoyed it and moved outside to try find a place to read the story.  The parking lot was filling up with coaches and construction vehicles, so we decided to drive back to Capernaum National Park just down the road for a picnic instead.  

Tabgha mosaics

We walked back to the area of the Greek Orthodox church, which had a covered picnic area near the shore with long stone tables in the shade.  We thought we had found the perfect spot to eat and read until our luncheon was discovered by a large pack of loud, aggressive feral cats, and we had to rush through our meal trying to protect our turkey and hummus pitas from these hungry beasts.  Near the pier area of the park there were two benches by the shore of the Sea, and we had the whole place to ourselves as we sat and read about the feeding of the multitude from Mark’s Gospel, and we talked for a while about the character of God that is evident from the verses.  Deena and I enjoy reading and talking about these passages with the children, and we’re thankful for the insight God has given us concerning the scriptures.  We saw movement in the rocks down by the shore and realized that a large colony of rock rabbits were sunning themselves, so we spent the rest of our time there watching the animals scamper back and forth.  Deena and I walked to the end of the pier and watched a beautiful gray and white heron preen its feathers in the shallows as large silvery clouds periodically blocked the sun and cast shadows on the blue green water.  

Deveny expressed her desire to do some hiking, so the next morning we struck out for the Jordan River National Park located a few kilometers north of Capernaum.  The park website boasted several hiking trails that offered views of the river, so we arrived ready to walk with a backpack full of turkey pitas and bottles of water.  We found a place to park near the trailhead of the Eden trail, and off we went into the wilderness watched by a few lazy cows sunning themselves in the mud.  The trail was flat and mostly open at first as we passed through groves of towering eucalyptus trees, but as we got nearer to the river, the ground became soft, and we walked through close tunnels of willows and tall reeds.  

The sound of rushing water got louder as we hiked, and the willows finally opened up to our first view of the swiftly flowing Jordan River as it foamed over large rocks in the middle of the stream.  We put our hands in the water to see how cold it was, and though we didn’t say it right away, I think we all wanted to somehow be a part of thousands of years of history by letting the water flow through our fingers.  The water views continued as we hiked along, and in some places we could see hills rising up from the plains beyond the banks, and in the larger bends, there were dark green leaf canopies leaning over the water anchored by tree trunks grown thick and sturdy from years of life planted by the river.  Joseph and I lingered in one spot by the bank wondering what looked familiar about the dark green reedy plant by the shore in front of us, and it dawned on me that it was a large papyrus, which was a real treat to see in this setting.

After a few kilometers, the trail curved away from the river and circled back to the recreation area by way of a restored aqueduct.  In ancient times, the aqueduct system provided a forceful flow of water through several channels and powered mills used for grinding grain.  At the end of the trail, there were several of these mills that had been restored, and it was impressive to see how this design helped a community thrive so long ago.  We rested for a while in the shade of the trees around the picnic area and were amazed when Deveny unwrapped a granola bar and seven loudly meowing cats appeared out of thin air.  I wish I knew the proper incantation to produce a double espresso out of thin air instead of mangy cats.

Watermills

We were ready for lunch but decided to drive back toward the park entrance and eat near the other site that drew us to this park, the ruins of the town of Bethsaida.  The ruins are located on a tell, which is a mound formed as a result of civilizations building on top of previous settlements.  This particular tell is one of the largest in Israel and has ruins dating back to 1000 BC and has one of the best preserved chambered city gates from antiquity.  The area around the ancient town was known as Geshur, and King David’s wife, Maacah, the mother of Absalom, was raised there.  The Assyrians conquered the land here in the eighth century BC, and the history gets a little hazy, but eventually the Biblical town of Bethsaida emerged as the hometown of the Apostles Peter, Andrew, and Philip, and it was ultimately cursed by Jesus along with Capernaum and Chorazin for its unbelief.  We were the only ones walking through the ruins on the windy hilltop overlooking the green plain to the Sea of Galilee, which had its shores nearby two-thousand years ago.  The Jordan River National Park is full of treasures current and ancient to enjoy, and we surely got our fifty shekels’ worth from our visit today.

Bethsaida city gate

Bethsaida road

We drove back down from Bethsaida, past Capernaum and Tabgha, until we reached the site of the ancient village of Magdala, hometown of Mary Magdalene.  Since coming to the Galilee region, I’ve become fascinated with the ancient synagogues in the area knowing that Jesus taught in them, and I knew the ruins of another one were in Magdala, so we planned for a brief stop on the way back to Tiberias.  That brief stop turned into an amazing two-hour history lesson that rivaled everything else we had seen in Galilee so far.  Jesus healed Mary of demon possession, and her life completely changed as she became one of his most devoted disciples, and there is evidence that she provided support for the apostles.  Mary witnessed the crucifixion of Jesus, and she was present at his burial.  She returned to the tomb of Jesus for the purpose of anointing his body and was the first to witness his resurrection, and Jesus appointed her to go and tell the other disciples.  The story of Mary Magdalene's discovery is told in the twentieth chapter of John’s Gospel, and it is one of the most moving and meaningful passages in all of the New Testament in my humble opinion.  If you’ve never read it, or if it’s been a while since you have, it’s eighteen verses of time well spent.

We walked through the gate of Magdala another fifty shekels lighter and we realized there was more happening in this location than we thought.  There is an ongoing archaeological dig in the foreground, a beautiful worship center has been completed, and a large guest house is under construction around the border, all in effort to encourage visitors to come to this special place.  In 67 AD, the citizens of Magdala made the fateful decision to fight the Romans during the Jewish Revolt.  As a result, the Romans swept into the area, destroyed the village, and slaughtered everyone there turning the Sea of Galilee red with blood according to ancient historians.  For the next two-thousand years, the remains of Magdala were covered with mud and runoff from the mountains to the north.  Archeologists know this history due to the four-thousand year old Phoenician artifacts found on top of the ruins of Magdala which could have only come from the mountains—fascinating.

The most significant and exciting fact about the site of ancient Magdala is that unlike the majority of other settlements and civilizations in Israel, nothing was ever built on top of it.  There is a complex of ritual baths in the center of town that is incredibly preserved, the fish market is evident with its water channels and stone bowls, and the mosaic floor in the synagogue is the one Jesus walked on when he taught there two-thousand years ago.  Excavations of the synagogue turned up another incredible discovery:  the Magdala Stone, which is a large block carved into the earliest known depiction of the second temple in Jerusalem.  One of the volunteer docents, a lady from Ireland, gave us a thorough tour of the synagogue until her scheduled group arrived; then another volunteer, a lady from England, gave us a tour of the rest of the complex.  Joy was her name, and it fit her well as she excitedly shared the history of Magdala and its archeological riches, and she took the time to make sure Joseph and Deveny fully understood the importance of the site.  We ended our time in Magdala by walking down to the Sea of Galilee and standing for a while watching the thick reeds by the shore bending in the breeze as the water turned glassy blue in the waning sunlight.  As we continue our journey through the Holy Land, I’m so thankful for the powerful associations we’re making to the verses  we’ve studied and loved over the years, and I’m excited that we have much more to explore.

Magdala synagogue fresco

Magdala synagogue floor mosaic

Magdala ritual bath