Trip to ISRAEL & EGYPT

We left home March 5, arrived in Tel Aviv, Israel the 6th. The following is just a glimpse of all the places we went and awesome things we saw. We never felt threatened or in any danger. We did see many armed guards and even had an armed escort in Egypt. Places we went in Israel included: Jaffa(where Jonah set sail for Ninevah), Caesarea(where one of Herod's palaces was & Pilate stayed), Mt. Carmel(where Elijah challenged the prophets of Baal),Capernaum(where we saw the ruins of Peter's house that Jesus stayed at and the local synagogue where he spoke),Mt. of the Beatitudes, site of the feeding of the 5000,the Golan Heights(where we saw signs along the road reading danger mine fields - still left from the war with Syria), Nazareth, Megiddo(site of King Solomon's stables & area of Armeggedon), Mt. Tabor(traditional site of the transfiguration), Mt. Gilboa(where Saul & Jonothan died in battle), Mt. of Olives, Pool of Siloam, Shrine of the Book, Qumran(where the Dead Sea scrolls were found), Massada, Ein Gedi(beautiful area surrounded by desert where David hid in the caves to escape Saul), all over Jerusalem(via Dolorosa, wailing wall, Church of the Holy Sepulcher), Bethlehem. I'm sure I've left some out. Then we went to Egypt; the pyramids, sphinx, valley of the kings and queens, the Egyptian museum, temples at Karnak, Luxor and Aswan, huge statues of Ramses II etc.... We packed alot into our fourteen days and returned awed and tired on Thursday the 20th at about 2:30am. Our luggage made it everywhere with us from Nashville through 6 flights, an overnight train ride and numerous hotel changes including a 3 day cruise but got hung up at JFK on our way home. We were happy to be reunited with them two days after we got home. If you ever get the chance to make this journey I highly recommend it, especially Israel. It has made the Bible come to life. Enjoy a few photos.

We saw these gravesites along the side of the road in Galilee.
Gives you an idea of what Christ's tomb might have been like.

This is what it's all about, an empty tomb. As Timm preached on Easter
Sunday ESPECIALLY who emptied it.

A hill near the Garden Tomb Park similar to what Golgatha may have looked like.
The most probable site of Calvary has a church built over it with just a hole under
the altar where they say Jesus cross went into the stone. The altar area is decorated beautifully.

Israel

This is the west side of the Sea of Galilee looking south. Can't you
almost see Jesus with a small fire, cooking fish and calling to the disciples.

This is a long distance look at the city of Nazareth. It is a much bigger
city today than in the time of Jesus(estimated to be about 400 then). I hadn't realized what a mountainous area it was in. Guess it makes sense though as they tried to throw Jesus off a cliff when he first proclaimed who he was. We visited a synagogue in Nazareth built on the
foundation of the small synagogue where Jesus read from Isaiah. We also visited the
church of the annunciation that claims to be built over the site where Mary was visited by the angel.

This is looking east over part of Bethlehem. The hills in the
background are representative of where the shepherds were when
they recieved the news of Christ's birth from the angels. In Bethlehem
we visited the church marking the place of Christ's birth. Bethlehem is currently
palestinian controlled and walled off from other areas. We had to change buses and
leave our Israeli guides behind to visit here. Armed Israeli guards walked through the
bus and checked everything carefully.

Here we are near the Garden of Gethsemane with the Old City of
Jerusalem behind us. The Kidron Valley is the green strip in the middle
and the Dome of the Rock (where the Holy of Holies of Herod's Temple
had been) is between us.

Israel

All those little bumps on the hillside are sheep and down near the
right is their shepherd. We saw many flocks on the mountainslopes outside
of Jerusalem. The horizontal lines on the hill are paths made over the years by the sheep.

This is part of the Garden of Gethsemane. The olive groves that
Jesus frequented for solitude and prayed in the night he was arrested.

Our first Sunday morning we visited the Mountain of the Beatitudes
where Christ gave the sermon on the mount. Timm felt awed to preach for
our worship service here. That's the Sea of Galilee in the background.

This is taken from the middle of the Sea of Galilee looking west.
Our boat stopped, turned off the engine and just let us experience
the surroundings; thinking about Jesus walking out here in the middle
of a storm or perhaps the disciples doing some fishing.

Israel

Model of the city of Jerusalem as seen from the Garden of Gethsemane
from Jesus time. It is 1/50 to real scale. This was outside the Shrine of the
Book where the Dead Sea Scrolls are housed.

Recently discovered area of the Pool of Siloam where Jesus healed
the blind man. The steps on the right lead down to where the pool was on
the left. The tunnel at the back leads to steps going up to the temple mount.

That's the Dead Sea in the background and the Moab Mountains (area where Ruth was from)on the other side.

Lee floating in the Dead Sea. Note the thick mud on my feet that went knee
deep walking in. People pay big bucks for skin treatments with this muck.

Egypt

Visiting the sphinx & pyramids.

A quick camel adventure.

The pyramids at Giza.

Sunset view of Cairo from our hotel room balcony.

Egypt

A close up look at some of the heiroglyphs on the temple walls at Kom-Ombo.

Visiting Kom-Ombo one of several Egyptian temples that date back 5,000 years!!

Cruising the Nile!!

From our cruise ship the Nile at sunrise!