Tel Yokne'am: Where Joshua fought (and won!)

A few weeks ago, I got to visit Tel Yokne'am in the Jezreel Valley. Have you ever heard of it?

It is a hill about 200 ft high and 10 acres around in the Jezreel Valley. It has an incredible view, but what's inside is even more amazing.

Inside Tel Yokne'am are the ruins from almost 4,000 years of civilization-all the way down to the one Joshua led an army against in Joshua 12:22. This hill was one of Manasseh’s tribal cities and a Levite city. And who knows… there could even be more below that layer!

Today, at the top of the tel are Crusader ruins, dating back to around 1000 AD. The remains of an old Byzantine church from the 600s still stand, ready for visitors to explore and enjoy the view.

It fascinates me, the juxtaposition of the old and new here. I was standing on this ancient battleground, looking over the valley of Megiddo, as referenced in Revelation as where armies will gather before marching on Jerusalem (Rev. 16:16), when my eyes caught on a series of lights in the distance: an air base’s runway, directly across the valley… today’s warriors in view of where their ancient heroes fought for victory. The ancient and the modern just steps (and thousands of years) apart; close enough to be captured by a camera. 

This is what I love about studying and experiencing life, culture, and history in Israel!

Exploring Akko

So, I have some BIG NEWS that I haven't posted about on here yet:

One month ago, I moved to Israel!

AHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm here studying Hebrew and learning all about the culture, language, and everything else I can about this beautiful country. 

I still have some previously written posts that are scheduled for the future, which is good because learning to live in a new country (while also learning the language!) is a lot! But I hope to post as often as I can about new places I see and explore. 

For example, I went to Akko last week. 

Mentioned in the Bible as both Acre in Judges 1:31 and as Ptolemais in Acts 21:7, Akko sits on part of the only natural harbor in the entire Mediterranean, and is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world—dating back to 3,000 BC! 

Paul and Luke were there, because in Acts 21:7, Luke says: "We continued our voyage from Tyre and landed at Ptolemais, where we greeted the brothers and sisters and stayed with them for a day".

WOW!!! What an incredible history!!! (Can you imagine Paul and Luke sailing up to here?!?)

The city itself lies within the ancient boundaries given to the tribe of Asher, and since then, nation upon nation, from the Persians to the Greeks, the Hasmoneans, the Romans, the Crusaders, the Ottomans, the British, etc conquered and then lived in Akko, which is now an Arab village. Marco Polo sailed to the Orient from here. In the 12th and 13th centuries AD, it was the capital of the Crusader kingdom. 

One of the coolest things we did was walk through underground tunnels and into an entire city that is now mostly underground. It was from the time of the Templar Knights, and it was so cool (and this post is getting so long), that I will continue it next week. 

Stay tuned for the tour of the Knights Hall and Templars' Tunnel!

900-year-old sword discovered in Israel

Last week, Shlomi Katzin was scuba diving off the coast of Atlit, when something caught his eye. Moving closer, he realized it was an iron sword more than 3 feet in length!

Having already seen marine-encrusted stone anchors and pottery shards, he realized this was a big deal and brought the to shore in order for it to be kept safe from moving sand. There he called the Israeli Antiquities Authority (IAA) to let them know of his find. Simple tests showed that this sword was more than 900 years old—dating back to the time of the Crusades!

WOW!

Such finds like this are common, the IAA's Marine Archaeology Unit Director, Kobi Sharvit explained, because "the Carmel Coast has a lot of natural coves, which once upon a time, 'provided shelter for ancient ships during storms, and larger coves around the port cities developed.'"

Since 2010, when a huge winter storm brought more than 50-foot waves to hammer the Carmel coastline, the underwater topography changed as well, which ushered in one of the largest and most prolific periods of marine archeology in Israel's history according to the Jerusalem Post's Rossella Tercatin. 

Sharvit pointed out that "the coast of Israel is a bridge between east and west and north and south", and then a thick layer of sand from the Nile has helped preserve archeological evidence.

Every storm that comes through, every strong wave, has the potential to shift the seabed and reveal more historical treasure underneath. With the winter rains still to come, I wonder what will be revealed this year?