Golan Heights

Hello Grandkids and Family and Friends

Today we took a loop into the Golan Heights which is north of the Sea of Galilee.  We had a late lunch at a Druze restaurant on the slopes of Mt. Hermon, which is about 10,000 feet high and usually has snowpack that supplies lots of water for the Jordan River and for the groundwater of northern Israel.  We first stopped at the site of Bethsaida- on a lagoon near the Sea of Galilee- which was the fishing village where Jesus called some of his disciples.  An archaeological team was working there and were just stopping for breakfast- they work early before the heat of the day.  We got to walk on stones that were from Jesus' time.  Since He called Peter from that area He probably walked on those stones Himself.  Judy was moved by that thought.

Next we stopped at Tel Hazor which was one of David’s fortified cities.  This city also had a spring water supply with a staircase and tunnel to the water level inside of the city walls.  The Egyptians built a palace here and the Canaanites controlled the city after the Egyptians but before the Israelites entered the land.  It’s a little hard to imagine the cities when all that remains are parts of the walls and gates and foundations of some of the houses.  Are the pictures beginning to look similar to you?

Then we visited Tel Dan which is near a very large spring that forms one of the streams leading to the upper Jordan River.  This was in a very beautiful riparian forest preserve with birds singing and very shaded paths and shallow pools to wade in- a great place for a family outing.  The city walls were built of large rounded stones.  The large gates to the city have been excavated and an inscription mentioning the “army of David” was found here about 25 years ago. Judy & Russ put their feet in the water at a less torrential spot.

 

We visited one more large spring that emerges from a large cave and rock cliff.  This was a place filled with niches and caves devoted to pagan worship of many false gods as well as human sacrifice. It was at this “huge rock” near Caesarea Philippi that Peter (rock) may have proclaimed that Jesus was the Messiah, and Jesus told Peter that on this “rock of faith” he would build his church.  This was the northern extent of ancient Israel.  The tribe of Dan had moved here because they couldn’t defeat the Philistines in the area they were assigned by Joshua (south of Joppa).  Abraham had passed through this town when he first entered Canaan- and they have recently excavated an early clay brick gate that Abraham might have walked through.  The City of Dan has remnants of many periods of Bible history. The Golan Heights have been occupied by Israel since the 1967 six-day war, when this area was captured from Syria.  The afternoon drive back to the sea of Galilee was through very beautiful hills with agriculture and some trees.  We crossed the Jordan River flowing into the Sea of Galilee from the Golan Heights and Mt. Herman and we were back at Tiberias.