The Adventures of W & S: ISRAEL DAY 2- SAT. OCT. 17, 2015

We began our day on a vey nice boat trip on the Sea of Galilee. We were also given a demonstration of how the fishermen might have used the nets to fish. That was very interesting and a thrill to say we were on the Sea of Galilee.

We got off the boat and then went into a small museum which housed an ancient boat that would have been similar to the boat that would have been used by the fishermen In the time of Jesus. This well preserved boat is over 2000 years old. Pretty cool.

We then drove to Capernaum where Jesus supposedly taught. We also learned that a natural pomegranate has 613 seeds or commandments, 365 signify the things that you should not do and the other 248 indicate what you should do, this supposedly is in the Bible too. The Palm is a symbol that indicates royalty and independence which is seen on numerous carvings, etchings and paintings. The Romans also used this against the Jews when they had the symbol on a coin of a Jew chained to a palm tree. We also saw an olive oil press and the first pressings that are done without any additional pressure is called extra virgin olive oil.

There is an archeological dig under a modern church that is believed to be the house of Peter's mother-in-law where Jesus visited and possibly cast out demons or something. Either way it is now a special spot for tourists to take photos. They used information from graffiti on the walls which were prayers to Jesus to determine that this is the spot.

Next onto the Mount of the Beatitudes where Jesus was purported to give the Sermon on the Mount. This particular area has its own special natural acoustics whereby voices carry as if in an amphitheater. The church above it was also more modern and paid for with money from Mussolini and an Italian architect. There was a nice but simple dome of a golden wheat color and water blue circle in the middle. Lots and lots of buses with tourists here. It seems most are from cruise ships.

We then went to a couple of nature reserves where we walked along the Dan River with ruins of where sacrifices were probably performed. We had a nice view of Mount Hermon on the Syrian border. The other reserve was dedicated to the god Pan. There was a huge cave where the water came up from. If the water level was low then a sacrifice needed to be made since the group of pagans thought the water cave led to Hades. The only sacrifice that would be suitable was a baby. If the baby did not rise to the top then the sacrifice was good. If the body of the baby eventually came to the top, then another baby needed to be sacrificed in order to appease Hades.

Hades was supposed to be here. 😟

We then headed up to the Golan Heights. This was pretty spectacular how close we were to Syria and Lebanon. The line of agreement is not straight but meanders. There used to be Israeli troops and the bunkers were there for the tourists to walk through. While our guide was telling us I heard several gunshots in the distance, which was rather eerie. The metal figures of soldiers are also up on the top of the very high volcano. We got back fairly late to the hotel since we had such a busy long day.