It was another amazing day in Galilee. We went on another field trip today. Staying in the Jezreel Valley, we visited Mt. Tabor, Beth Alpha, Megiddo, and Gan Ha-Shelosha. With the heat blazing and little shade available, our attention spans were non-existant by the end of the day. I can only imagine what our poor teacher was thinking by the time we reached Megiddo.
The setting for Deborah's victory over a Canaanite alliance, Mt. Tabor has long been venerated by Christians as the site of Jesus' Transfiguration. As read in Matthew 17, Mark 9, and Luke 9:28-36 Jesus, Peter, James, and John went up to an high mountain apart, and there appeared unto them Moses and Elias. As we drove up to the Roman Catholic cathedral on the top of Mt. Tabor, I felt like I had been thrown into a Jane Austen movie. The road narrowed and was lined with different trees, shrubs, and flowerse; it was absolutely beautiful. When we reached the clearing, we got out of the vans and walked up to a courtyard next to the cathedral. The view was amazing as the Jezreel Valley unfolded beneathe my feet; it nearly knocked me off my feet. The cathedral was equally as beautiful. It was nice to just walk around taking pictures. As I was taking pictures, I found a 'oil-paint' mode on my camera. Coolest. Thing. Ever. I took some of the greatest pictures of the cathedral and surrounding gardens! Before leaving the mount, we met as a class for a quick devotional to discuss the Mt. Tabor as the Mount of Transfiguration. It was amazing to reflect on the Savior and the many acts He partook in and performed. From Mt. Tabor, we were supposed to visit Nain, the site where Jesus raised the widow's son from the dead. However, the chapel ther was closed, so we went to the Beth Alpha instead. Beth Alpha features a Byzantine-era synagogue that is home to a grand mosaic. In the late Fifth Century AD, a Jewish community in the area built a synagogue with a floor plan including elements rom a typical basilica church: atrium, narthex, nave, and apse. In the early Sixth Century AD, a mosaic floor was laid in the synagogue, displaying different Jewish symbols and a zodiac with the Greek sun god, Helios, in its core. Once inside the synagogue, a movie was shown to explain the synagogue, its origins, and the mosaic. With the lights off and the air-conditioning off, I am sorry to announce that I took a nap rather than watching the movie; according to my fellow students, I didn't miss much. The mosaic told its own story.
Megiddo was long ruled by the Canaanties, whoses sacred area contained four temples. It became one of Solomon's chariot cities and was later fortified by Jeroboam and Ahab. Megiddo was used as an Assyrian administrative seat. Its hellenized name, "Armageddon", has been associated with prophesied apocalyptic battles. Megiddo juts out in a northeast direction from the Carmel Range in the upper Jezreel Valley. The hillock possessed a spring and commanded traffic along the Via Maris between Hazor and the Yokneam pass through Carmel and through the Jezreel Valley between Akko and Beth Shean. Megiddo was excavated several times since the early 1990s by I. Finkelstein, D. Ussishkin, and B. Halpern. Twenty distinct strata were found, the earliest being pre-pottery Neolithic. Most of teh low-middle strata at Megiddo are correlated with Canaantie civilization. In the Canaantie sacred area, archaeologists found four separate temples, the earliest from about 3000 BC and the latest from about 1600 BC. Egyptian artifacts suggest that Megiddo was influenced by Egyptian culture as early as 2000 BC then came under Egypt's direct rule after the rise of the New Kingdom in 1550 BC. The victory inscription of Thutmose III at the Karnak Temple lists considerable booty he took from Megiddo, in addition in his famous statement: "Taking Megiddo is like taking 1,000 cities."Megiddo is mentioned amoung Canaanite kings defeated by Joshua. Joshua assigned Megiddo to Manasseh, but the Israelites were unable to conquer it. Nevertheless, Megiddo came under Israelite rule by the time of Solomon, probably through David's conquests. Solomon made Megiddo both a seat of provincial administration and one of his "chariot cities." Several structures have long been attributed to Solomon, although there is no less consensus among archaeologists on this attribution. After Tiglath-Pileser III destroyed Hazor in 732 BC, he annexed Israel to Assyria and made his regional headquarters at Megiddo. Megiddo has been conquered by many empires and kingdoms, including Pharaohs Thutmose III, Ramses II, Shishak, and Necho; Tiglath-Pileser III, Alexander the Great, Napoleon, and possibly King David.
Within ten minutes of stepping into the city, Brother Judd had lost the attention of each student. Many stared off into space; some tossed pebbles at other students. Some, including myself, pranced around the site walking like raptors and making high, screaching sounds. As soon as Brother Judd realized we were past the point of no return, he left us to our own disposal, giving us a time to take pictures and walk through the water system. It was fairly warm so most of us dove into the water system in search for shade, eager to get back onto the bus. After all, getting back onto the bus meant getting closer to Gan Ha-Shelosha.
Gan Ha-Shelosha is a natural spring; a natural spring that we spent the next three hours swimming in. The water was really deep so I spent most of my time swimming back and forth across the different pools and treading water. I also defied rules and jumped off of some rocks; I just couldn't help it! After a couple hours, I made it back to the shore and headed up to our "tree" to eat an ice cream cookie sandwich and talk with friends. It was a very relaxing afternoon. We got back to Ein Gev just in time for dinner. After a quick shower and a few squirts of lotion, I headed down to the beach to play games and talk until the Women's World Cup began! It was the United States vs. Japan, playing in Germany. The game was amazing and yet horrible. The United States had every opportunity to steal ahead and win the game, but what did they do? They ended up losing in Penalty Kicks! It was awful...a definite downer. The gamed ended near midnight. I had all intent to go to bed, but I stayed up talking to Ashley and Dallin until three o'clock in the morning instead! We mainly just talked about life and love and got to know each other better. It was nice to stay up talking to them, but I definitely regretted it in the morning...
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