The Galilee

Hello Everyone! It has been a long time since we updated our blog, as some of you have probably noticed; and to those of you who have checked periodically and have found no new entries, thanks for your patience! Since our last entry we have gone on two more field studies and completed our final exams and papers. We have made it through a semester and have lived in Jerusalem now for four months! It feels at once like the time has flown by and also that we have been here forever. This has been a challenging and amazing four months in which we have had the chance to see much of the land of the Bible. We have been challenged physically, spiritually, and emotionally as we have rigorously studied the geography, toponymy, and archaeology of the land. We have thus reached the close of the initial part of our journey here, but unlike the majority of the students who come to JUC to study for a semester, we are only a quarter of the way through. God has provided for us in ways that we do not deserve and we are grateful for your prayers and support of our education in Israel and we hope to have your continued support as we press on to finish our studies here!

Since we still have two trips that we haven't told you about, we will do three entries and post the corresponding pictures. This entry will cover our first four-day trip that we took to the Galilee. The next entry will cover our Jordan trip and finally we will bring you up to speed on where we are now and what we are up to over the break. So on to the Galilee trip!

Our four-day trip to the northern part of the land was pretty amazing. Our trip took us from Jerusalem north to what used to be the ancient coastal highway into the Jezreel Valley, which is a central location for many of the stories in the Bible, especially the Old Testament. The Jezreel Valley is probably one of the most important areas of the land in terms of ancient politics and international commerce. The main reasons for this are the fertility of the land in the valley and the international road that runs through it via Megiddo. One pharaoh in fact (Thutmose III) has a famous account where he captured Megiddo, long before the land belonged to the Israelites.

The biblical accounts of the area are numerous and striking. The earliest story in the biblical chronology and perhaps one of the earliest texts included in the Hebrew Bible, is the account of Deborah and Barak's war with the Canaanites. Here we have a battle that the author notes was "fought at Taanach, by Megiddo's waters" (Jdgs 5:19). Other stories include Gideon's battle with the Mideonites and Ahab's battles with Damascus. The battles featured in the biblical text as well as the numerous extrabiblical battle accounts have led many to interpret the Greek word Αρμαγεδδον "Armageddon" (in Revelation 16:16) as the name of the site in the Jezreel Valley, Megiddo (more likely this is a cryptic reference to Jerusalem, which makes the most sense in the context of the book). We had the chance to visit Megiddo and see some of its amazing archaeological remains.

On our first day we visited the ancient manmade port at Caesarea, built by none other than Herod the Great, the man responsible for so much of the monumental building in Palestine during the last part of the first millennium BCE. Caesarea is also the location where the Romans brought Paul when the Jews sought to kill him, and where he later appealed to Caesar. We were able to see the remains of Herod’s beach palace, the guard complex next to it where most likely Paul stayed, and even the location where Herod’s man-made cement (yes, cement!) harbor had been. We went to Mt. Carmel, to the monastery that commemorates Elijah's confrontation with the prophets of Baal. A visit to this monastery affords an excellent view of the Jezreel Valley as well as the Mediterranean Sea. Here we reflected on Psalm 29 wherein the author notes that Yahweh's voice "thunders over the waters and flashes forth flames of fire, shaking the wilderness and shattering the cedars of Lebanon." Of course this imagery is that of a storm, precisely the powerful storms that brew over the Mediterranean and blow in via northern European winds. Yahweh here is depicted as a storm, interestingly, the same kind of imagery that the Canaanite authors used to describe their northern deity Baal, the Canaanite storm-god (what did Elijah see when he prayed and Yahweh responded - lightning and not long after, according to the story, the drought in the land ends via a cloud "the size of a man's hand"). All this compiled with the biblical confrontation between the Israelite storm-god and the Canaanite storm-god (an event which took place somewhere near where we stood!) makes for an interesting set of theological reflections that kept our minds occupied on the bus ride to our hotel, which happened to be in a quaint little resort called En-Gev right on the shore of the Sea of Galilee.

Our second day marked a trip northward from the Sea of Galilee to what is commonly called the "Golan Heights.” This is the area that pushes into the Transjordan (on the east side of the Jordan River), a little ways into Syria, and was a site of tension between Israel and Syria some 40 years ago, because Israel wanted the territory and Syria was of course reluctant to give it up. Many inactive military bases dot the landscape (one of which is situated atop an extinct volcano, which we had the chance to visit) standing as silent memorials to the battles fought over the Golan Heights in the late 1960s. Interestingly, this territory is viewed by the United Nations (and most other world organizations) as Israeli "occupied territory" and not part of Israel proper (which is evident in maps that are not from Israel). Also interesting is that there are around 1,000,000 mines that are still live in the Golan left over from the Six Day war in 1967! Roads have been cleared, but where no effort has been made to remove the mines, warning signs are posted.

This section of the land is characterized by basalt, a dark, volcanic rock that is found in just about every field one can see in this area. The basalt is here due to prehistoric volcanic activity in the Golan Area where ancient lava flowed toward the Mediterranean, forming the hilly basalt terrain of the upper part of Galilee and the Golan Heights. It is this volcanic rock that formed the building materials of the towns of the little cities situated on the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee, and the materials that we can logically conclude that ancient "carpenters" built with, but more on this in a bit.

The northern sites such as Dan, were, in the time of Israel's kings, of immense importance to Israel's kingdom. These sites marked the frontlines of Israel's defense against attacks from the north, say from Damascus for example. Numerous military accounts in the biblical text demonstrate the importance of these sites (for example, 2 Kings 15). These sites also demonstrate a cultural connection with the north. The architecture at Hazor, which we had the chance to visit, is more like that of ancient sites in Turkey than sites further south in Israel.

The second important aspect of these sites, especially Tel Dan and Banias, is the abundance of flowing water due to the runoff of the melting snows from Mt. Hermon, just to the north. Here the water runs down into the sites in the form of massive springs that make up the headwaters of the Jordan River. This is a striking contrast to the sites in and around the Dead Sea and the Negev. On our visit to these southern places we were inundated with imagery of a dry and thirsty land. Here, however, the water flowed freely and, in some cases, year-round.

Given the prominence of the springs at these northern sites it is no wonder that the sites were religious sites long before Israel was ever in the land. The biblical text notes that Jeroboam built a high place at Dan (the other at Bethel) to provided major worship centers for the Northern Kingdom. Dan is a beautiful site, probably our favorite site that we visited in all of our travels. It is a lush site with pathways through overgrown woods with spring rushing through the site. Archaeological remains never looked as good as they do at Dan. Dan is also the site where the famous stele was discovered which contains the word, carved in old-Hebrew script: BYTDWD, which is generally interpreted to mean bet David, or "House of David." This is only known reference to the founder of the southern kingdom of Israel - David son of Jesse.

Near Dan is an interesting place that became the worship site of the Hellenistic forest deity Pan (who looks like the faun, Mr. Tumnus, in the Narnia stories) worshipped in conjunction with the sacrifice of "sacred goats." At Paneas as well, a major spring flows causing the lush fertile ground around the site. In the New Testament, the cultic activity of this site continued, and it was called Caesarea Philippi by Herod’s son, Phillip. It was here amid this well-known history of cultic activity that Jesus is said to have asked his disciples, "Who do people say that I am?" Amid the bustle of what the good Jewish disciples of Jesus would likely have seen as pagan worship, Simon-Peter, declares that the builder from Nazareth is the Messiah.

Our third and fourth days in the field focused on the blending of Jewish and Hellenistic/Roman culture that occurred in the land from about 300 B.C.E. until the beginning of the middle ages. This cultural blending is evident especially in the northern arena of the land - the Galilee and surrounding territories - in architecture and especially art. Our third day was spent around the Sea of Galilee and in fact our first lecture of the day took place in a boat drifting in the center of the lake. This field study around the Sea of Galilee was a wonderful way to bring so much of the gospel material to life, making it realistic, practical, and tangible. This is indeed the situation here and it is within this context that the followers of a man from Nazareth would turn the known world upside down, which could only take place in the mix of Jewish and Hellenistic ideals present in and around the Galilee.

The little body of water in the center of the Galilee area is fed by the runoff of the snow from Mt. Hermon to the north creating the Jordan River, which then runs into the Sea of Galilee. The body of water itself is not very big - it is 13 miles from north to south and 8 miles across the lake, east to west. When you are standing on one side of the lake it looks like an easy swim across, but water is deceptive that way, and once in the middle of the lake, the distance seems much further. The water is typically extremely calm and it is easy to picture Jesus walking on its glassy surface, though of course the biblical account says that he walked to the disciples during a storm. This raises interesting questions that have puzzled many people, namely: how can such a small and placid lake be so intimidating and fearful? Remember that the disciples thought that they were going to die in the storm when Jesus was sleeping.

There are a few interesting things to note in regard to this important question. Modern fishermen attest that the waves on the lake can reach about three feet in height in a storm. It is evident from archaeological remains that first century fishing boats sat low in the water, which would have presented problems in 4-foot waves. In addition to this, it is interesting to note that among the ancient inhabitants of Palestine, there was only one word to designate a large body of water - yam "sea." Thus the Yam Gadol "Great Sea" was the title for the Mediterranean and the Yam Kinneret "Sea of Kinneret," the Sea of Galilee. Among ancient Israelites (and their predecessors the Canaanites), and even into the 1st century AD, the sea was a thing to be feared, having its own chaotic life-force that they thought of as being divine. A storm on the lake, even for tough fishermen, might have had some theological significance for them aside from the physical struggles of keeping a boat afloat in high winds and waves. Jesus calming the "sea" would have had profound significance to people who knew that only Yahweh could tame the chaotic sea. This brings new meaning to their question: "Who is this man that even the wind and the waves (i.e. Yam) obey him?"

The gospel accounts tell us that Jesus moved from the little village of Nazareth to Caparnaum. The only explicit reference to Jesus profession in the gospel narratives is the question that someone is said to have asked concerning him: "Is this not the son of the builder?" Jesus' father is called a tektonos in Greek here, a builder who knew how to make stuff out of local materials - in this case basalt blocks, abundant in the area due to its proximity to the ancient volcanic cones in Upper Golan (the region of Gaulanitis in Jesus' day).

One look at the tightly clustered basalt-brick houses in the excavated areas of Capernaum and it is clear that this took some doing to get things built. The village is clearly set up according to a plan, no doubt with certain distances appropriate for certain areas and set dimensions for the buildings. The doorframes we saw were specially created in the basalt walls, a technique that required a master (see our pics). We thus discussed the potential interpretation of the Greek term tektonos to denote a local master-builder who had dedicated himself to the technical know-how of certain tasks. This person would be called upon to build and help others with certain kinds of building projects.

We have then a picture of Jesus as a builder working in his village of Capernaum (a location along the international trade route and also the site of a Roman garrison) and probably at the other towns in the area. Here Jesus was able to meet people's needs on a practical level as well as a spiritual one. Jesus in this light is seen not so much as a holy man with a random designation as a carpenter, but as a well-known builder who in his hometown was known as such. The gospel accounts make it seem like Jesus' eloquence, teaching, and miraculous actions were unusual for a stonemason. The picture presented however, is a really beautiful one since it presents Jesus in a very practical light that explains how people would have known about him and how he was able to make so many connections.

Our last stop on Day #3 was a strenuous one. We drove up to the Arbel Cliffs above Tiberius to climb down them. You have to see the pictures of this cliff to fully appreciate what we did… Unfortunately, we don’t have pictures of the actual climb, since a storm was brewing and we knew we would be climbing, not hiking. So, the camera stayed in the bus. It was a fun, crazy, and memorable experience and once again a test to Mandy’s fear of heights. Mountain number two conquered!

After our visits and lectures at the sites of Jesus' ministry, we spent the final day in the western lower Galilee area where Jesus hometown of Nazareth is (which has grown up into a significant city over the past two-thousand years from a tiny, secluded village primarily because it was put on the map by the biblical story). Nazareth is located on a ridge to the north of the Jezreel Valley, overlooking it. One cannot visit Nazareth and look off of the ridge into the Jezreel Valley without thinking about the psychological effect of the stories that took place here would have had on a person growing up in the area.

Here in the expansive valley, kings and tribal leaders battled with surrounding nations to hold their land and their trade routes. Epic poetic events tell of the "stars of the sky" fighting for the people of Yahweh as they battled the Canaanites in the valley "at Taanach by Megiddo's waters." Here one can see the area thought to be 'Ein Dor, the "Spring of a Generation," where Saul sought supernatural counsel only to encounter the apparition of Samuel and a grisly proclamation of his death. One could reflect on Ahab, the politically brilliant, but spiritually fallen king who battled the king of Damascus here. The larger than life prophet Elijah here headed up the fateful confrontation between the deities of Israel and Phoenicia atop Mt. Carmel, only a few miles away. Jonah, the man associated with the epic of the fish, lived just near Nazareth, a tradition that would have no doubt been known to Jesus and the inhabitants of his little town. At Megiddo Josiah, the last great king of Judah, who surely would have been seen in a messianic role as Judah's last hope for restoration, lost his life in a confrontation with Neco, the king of Egypt.

In their own way these people were "anointed ones" (Messiahs or Christs) people who felt and were recognized as set apart by God to do something special and/or represent him in some way to others, be it politically, spiritually, or both. This ridge where we stood was surely a lookout spot for the ancient inhabitants of first century Nazareth, just a short distance away. No doubt a young man once stood here and perhaps contemplated the stories that had taken place here so many years before.

As Jesus grew up, how did these ancient stories affect his thinking? How did they shape him to the point that he went into the synagogue in his hometown of Nazareth and said of himself, "The Spirit of Yahweh has anointed me." The text says that following this proclamation, everyone's eyes "were fixed upon him" (Luke 4:20). Here before them was a guy who had grown before their eyes. The older people probably remembered when he was a baby. He probably installed some of their basalt door fixtures. Jesus was ultimately not accepted among his own, which to some degree is natural. It is no wonder that Jesus is said to have uttered the words, "Only in his hometown, among his relatives and in his own house is a prophet without honor" (Mark 6:4).

While we cannot know historically what went through Jesus' mind throughout his life and ultimately what influenced his decisions, actions, proclamations, and messianic ideology, through the eyes of faith, it was the Spirit of Yahweh upon him. And, indeed it is possible to bring the perspective of faith and that of history together. It is truly beautiful to think about the human side of Jesus and the stories, ideals, circumstances, and events that shaped his thinking of which we only have vestiges of in the gospel stories, knowing all the while that God was there in all of those things, shaping Jesus into the kind of person who would die for his beliefs and for his purpose.

We visited a site called Sepphoris, which was a Jewish town from the second century B.C.E. It was in this town and the surrounding region that the primary post-biblical Jewish literature (the Talmud and Mishnah) was written and compiled. The site of Sepphoris, while not explicitly tied to the biblical narratives, may have been a part of the life of Jesus, though we cannot be sure. The oldest city was destroyed by the Romans in 4 B.C.E. The city was then rebuilt in the years following and since the city was within walking distance of Nazareth, the need for a skilled tektonos would have presented itself. Perhaps the local professional Joseph and his young son and apprentice worked in the rebuilding. This is a speculative local tradition, but one that has some validity to it. Sepphoris also has some beautiful and intricate mosaics, among them the famous "Mona Lisa of the Galilee." We finished out our trip to Galilee with a visit to Beth Shean, the only site Mandy and I had visited before, in 2008. It was fun to see it again!

Our time in the Galilee was, as you can see, packed with lots of information. It was an impacting four days for us academically and spiritually as we reflected on the geography and history of the northern arena of the land as well as on the ministry and life of Jesus. It was a profound experience to stand on the shore of the Sea of Galilee each night at the end of our days in the field and to reflect on the day’s events. We will never forget standing on the shore listening to the small waves lap against the sand while looking out at the extremely calm water as it reflected the moonlight. The Galilee is a beautiful region. It is a lush and fertile region watered by four springs fed by the melting snow from the high mountains of the Lebanon range.

It is a land that is not only rich in physical beauty, but in the beauty of the cultures that have made up its inhabitants for the past five-thousand years. It is a land that was for the ancients no doubt a mysterious place where the gods sent forth life-giving water and where people could journey to worship these deities. In the last few centuries before the common era the political landscape was a blend of Hellenistic/Roman and Jewish culture. Here some Jewish people accommodated the new influences of Hellenism, namely those in regular contact with it in commercial locations like Capernaum. Some sought to hold to their traditions, especially those who were already in secluded locations like Nazareth. It was from this second kind of environment that Jesus came. Here people had certain ideals about life, religion, politics, as well as Messiah and the role he should play. Jesus, however, envisioned a Messiah who would save his people from sin rather than from Rome and would be a person of lowly means rather than a king. His messianic ideals were not accepted in his hometown and he thus moved to Capernaum where he could work, make connections, and spread the message of the kingdom of heaven. The modern culture of these areas, aside from being steeped in the tourism industry, are very much still a blend of cultures - now Jewish, Muslim, and Christian. We are grateful for the privilege of having been a part of this world for a few days.