An alternate site for the Sermon on the Mount?

Back in March, I went with a friend to the Galilee. It was almost time for Shabbat to start as we parked near the lake and scrambled up the hill to this overlook that is marked only by a simple stone with a cross carved into it. 

On the map, this observation point on the north end of the Sea of Galilee is just a dot with a name: Ein Nur. I'd never heard of it until last February, when I discovered the Israeli youtubers Sergio and Rhoda and watched their video on this place. You can watch it here:

Their stuff is pretty good, and I've enjoyed watching their videos. They seem to have solid information. I originally went to the site claiming to be the Mount Beatitudes while on my Bible tour in 2017. It was a beautiful day; I still remember all the butterflies and birds fluttering around the grounds. I had some questions though, but thought it was just my incorrect path of deduction as to where it happened. Like, at the top of the mountain? Why not closer to the water? Where were the people sitting? As Sergio and Rhoda point out in the video, the traditional site is a church that was built in the early 20th century, which was built in the place of a 4th century Byzantine church that had been destroyed.

So, I don't know about all that. Whether or not either site is legit is beyond my capabilities to discern at this moment (maybe one day I can be a tour guide or someone who knows this kind of stuff! How amazing would that be?). Somewhere around there the message happened. Jesus walked those hills around the Galilee so thoroughly that it's likely He stood in both places (assuming Ein Nur wasn't under water, since the lake was higher). 

What I do know is that Jesus was real, the messages He gave were real, and on that Friday evening in March of 2022, while sitting there with the early spring breeze lifting my hair, hearing the birds break the silence of the day already winding down—and the Sabbath to come—there was definitely Shabbat Shalom.

The Red-Haired Archaeologist Digs Israel

Right before coming to Israel, I found this short, quick read by Amanda Hope Haley: The Red-Haired Archeologist Digs Israel.

Written by (you guessed it!) a red-haired archeologist, it's more a story of the time after she attended a dig in Israel, when her family came to visit and they explored this beautiful land for a few more weeks than it is about her adventures digging (although there is that at the beginning). So for me, it was a review of many of the places I've been, seen through the eyes of an American archaeologist—which was fun! 

Haley's attention to detail was strong here, as she noted small events that happened in each city during her visit, from someone's expression to the food they ate. And I totally get why she wrote this, because I created my own photo album after I came, completed with written explanations, because I wanted to personally re-live my own trip and never forget those tiny details. So it was fun to go through this travelogue with her and her family.

If you want to know more in general about a lot of famous sites in Israel, then this is a great, quick read from someone who loves history and sharing it with others. 

Click here or on the image above to find it on Amazon!

City of David: ancient Jerusalem's walls and Pool of Siloam

Here we are–about to visit the Pool of Siloam!

As I stated last week, the ancient Hezekiah's Tunnel leads directly into the Pool. I actually don't know where modern tourists will exit from it now, but you can see the exit at the pool. Because I took the dry Canaanite tunnel, I was able to walk and see more outside, including:

THE ANCIENT CITY WALLS!!!!!

Cue me freaking out again, because this is awesome!!!

This is a model of an ancient crane used to build these walls:

And, we saw more ancient tombs before walking through part of a village to get to the Pool:

Finally, we found the Pool!

This pool was also commissioned by Hezekiah (2 Kings 20 and Isaiah 22). The stepped structure of the baths (covered over with stone from the Hasmonean period, aka The Inter-Testamental Period) lead archeologists to say that it was an ancient ritual bath, or a mikveh. 

Which, leads to something very interesting my friend pointed out. In John 9, Jesus heals a blind man at the Temple by spitting in mud and putting it on his eyes. He then tells the blind man to go wash at the Pool of Siloam, which means "sent". 

Something I never realized is how far the blind man had to walk in order to wash. Now a days, that's an easier path because of modern roads, but I still looked it up on GoogleMaps:

It's 700 meters to get from the Western Wall to the Pool of Siloam on modern roads. That's almost half a mile. The man was already blind, but this time he was navigating there and dodging people, animals, obstacles, etc.—all with mud and spit running down his face! 

Wow... being here in Israel is reading the Bible with GPS... it gives so much extra context!

Here again is the exit to Hezekiah's Tunnel:

There was more to see in the City of David- an ancient market and street, for example, but at this point, it began to rain and it was in the low 40s as far as temp. My friends and I needed to get back up north for class the next day, so we decided to leave. Which just means there will be more that is "new for me" for me to see next time!

Did you enjoy this tour of the City of David? Please let me know what you liked best in the comments below!

City of David: Hezekiah's Tunnel (Part 1)

Back in the City of David, it's time to see Hezekiah's Tunnel!

I don't have many pictures from this part of the tour, because as I said in the last post, I was so in shock over all I'd seen already that I forgot to take my polarizing filter off my lens—and everything was blurry. (The picture above is actually from the end of the tunnel, outside). I was aware of the blurry photos, so I snapped a few with my phone. This is the entrance from inside.

Also, this part was completely in the dark. You can travel this tunnel on foot. The water stays the same temp year round, and can get up to thigh-height on an adult. It's completely dark inside, so you can walk it just as the Israelites did. I knew about this tunnel, but didn't want to walk it in Feb with long pants and regular shoes. Hence, the desire to return!

But this, is a picture of the entrance, where an adult would need to duck down just to go inside. WOW!!!!

The story of how this tunnel was dug is amazing! It's approx. 533 meters, and the engineers were in a hurry because an enemy army was traveling around conquering nations. They knew it would come to Jerusalem, and Hezekiah wanted the pool of Siloam covered, with a tunnel bringing water into the city, so that any army who tried to lay siege couldn't keep the city from water. So the group digging the tunnels split in to two and dug from opposite ends.

They were in complete darkness, on a hill, blindly digging... and somehow met up with only a small difference in elevation when they finally met.

The tunnel ends at the pool of Siloam.

Alongside the wet tunnel is the dry Canaanite tunnel, which I took:

WOW! Incredible! I actually knew a lot about Hezekiah's Tunnel before seeing it, thanks to Lynn Austin's incredible research in the Chronicles of the Kings series, which I highly recommend!

Finally, on the way back from the Jerusalem the day I first toured the City of David, I saw this article from All Israel News:

Turkey currently has a stone from 700 BC with an inscription that confirms how this tunnel was dug. It is one of the oldest known artifacts written in Hebrew, and it says:

“… this is the story of the tunnel, while [the hewers lifted] their axes toward their counterparts, and while three cubits more were to (be hewn?), was heard the voice of a man calling to his counterpart, (for) there was [a crack?] in the rock, on the right and on the left. And on the day of [the final barrier’s] piercing, the stonecutters struck each man towards his counterpart, ax against ax and water flowed from the source to the pool for 1,200 cubits and 100 cubits was the height of the rock, over the head of the stonecutters …”

Wow! This stone was discovered while the Ottomans still ruled Jerusalem, and they took it back to Turkey. At the time of the writing of this article, Turkey hadn't confirmed this officially. But how cool- that this story came out the first time I ever saw Hezekiah's tunnel!

See you next week for the final stop (for now) in my visit to the City of David: the Pool of Siloam!

City of David: David's Palace and the Gihon Spring

This week is part 1 of a 3 part series on the City of David. This site was so incredible that I lost my mind approximately 6 times. I can't wait to go back when it's warmer and get a full tour, complete with Hezekiah's tunnel (spoiler alert). 

I have tried to get to the City of David for a while now, but it was hard with my schedule whenever I was in Jerusalem over the weekends (because the different sabbaths for the different faiths mean not everything is open). Even this time, I wasn't fully sure what we were going to see. That's why this was such an incredible surprise!

We left the Western wall, exited onto the main road, and turned left towards the Mount of Olives. On the way in, you can see more excavations in progress!

no big deal, just the Mount of Olives straight ahead!

My friends and I opted not to get a tour this time (I hope to when I return), and not to do the wet tunnel because it was February and cold outside. So you understand why I HAVE to return! But that didn't stop us from having an incredible time and learning a lot. 

The City of David is exactly what it sounds like: the Jerusalem from David's time. It's location so close to the Temple Mount gives us an incredible picture of what Jerusalem was like back in his day (the city walls you see in this picture surround what we know of now as the "Old City", but it these walls were built in the 1500s AD over where Herod's walls were). The city of David in this picture is to the right, not behind the "new" walls.

First, we went up to see the view:

That is the Mount of Olives and an Arab village directly across from ancient Jerusalem.

Then, we started by going underneath a shelter and looking at ruins of... DAVID'S PALACE!!!!! This is the first time I lost my chill. DAVID'S!!!! PALACE!!!!

In fact, I was so focused on DAVID'S PALACE that when I saw a tour group ahead, I got close to listen to the guide. I didn't pay attention to any of the people around me. It turned out that they were American NFL players, haha. But, DAVID'S PALACE!!!!!!!!!

These remains were discovered in 2005, and have been excavated since then. It would have been the palace for David and all of his descendants, down to King Zedekiah, the final king before the Babylonian destruction in 586 BC. In fact, 2 bullae, clay impressions found with the king's seal were found... and they had the names of scribes of the final king of Judah, Jehucal and Gedalyahu. Both of these men were antagonists of the prophet Jeremiah and were mentioned in Jeremiah 38!

Right below the palace was a stepped stone structure that supported the palace. Directly below was the royal quarter, the highest family in society under the king.

They would have been incredibly wealthy to live here, right next to the king. And further proof of that is the rectangular stone with a hole in it in the middle of this picture: an ancient toilet! It's placed over a pit, and is something only the very wealthy would have had then.

 

There were many other important finds in these excavations—too many to name. Also, at the top right of this structure (possibly not in the photos) are the remains of a small portion of Nehemiah's wall! There I go again, losing my mind!

Directly across this home is the view I showed previously. Did you see the ancient tombs in the stone below the village?

Then, we left the outside portion of the City of David and started descending down stairs into the rock, until we came to where I'm going to leave this blog for the day... because I lost it again here: The Gihon Spring, where Solomon was crowned king!!!!

In fact, I was so stunned that I forgot I had a polarizing filter on my lens the whole time we were inside. All the pics I took with my camera came out super blurry (another reason I need to go back!). Can you really blame me, though?

The spring is down below. This is where Solomon was crowned king!!!!!!!

Continuing on from there (SO HARD!) were the remains of spring tower, which led to the ancient Canaanite Pool (which received water from the Gihon spring). This was so cool, because there was a simulation superimposed over the ruins so that we could see what it would have looked like (above ground) back in the day. And on the opposite wall was a simulation of what the outside of the city would have looked like—the entire area around the pool, the spring, the tower, and the city walls. 

That's it for now! Was your mind blown too? What was your favorite part?