Series 5 of the Experience of a life time in Israel and Egypt - Tuesday October 26th, 2008
The brave and foolish survived the smell of this urine soaked camel for a 10 shekel ride.
Beith Shean is a fully excavated Roman/Byzantine city of Scytopolis. This area took some 23 years to get to the stage where it is today and the works continue on
The main street where shops would have been on both sides and the bath house top left
One can only marvel at the enormity of this place
The theatre

Gideon springs where Gideon sorted out the 32,000 men into a fighting force of 300 to fight the Midianites

 

See Judges 7

The group as we have out first look at Jerusalem from Mount Scopus.

Here we performed the Jewish ceremony of welcome when you first come to Jerusalem for your first time.

This is celebrated with bread and wine.

After the special prayers in Hebrew, you then consume the bread and wine. A lovely way to start this special four day pilgrimage

Next into Bethlehem through massive security and past the massive security fences built to keep the Arabs and the Jews apart.

Then on to the Shepherds field and the caves of the shepherds and eventually into the Shepherds church built to commemorate their visit

One of the three special altar backdrops
Then on to the Church of the Nativity. This floor has been found under the present floor. Here we joined the queue of over 1000 people waiting to view the site of the stable. It is now a Greek church shared with the Catholics

This is the place where Jesus was born. In a limestone cave at the rear of the house where the animals were kept.

It has been made to look anything like that today and the Greeks go a little overboard in their reverence.

However it is a humbling experience to be there in this very Holy Place.

Then off to our motel with its very up market facilities. We are truly being treated well.

These have no relevance to today as this was taken by Ros at the Mount of Beatitudes.

Thye Chalice & Patern were purchased in Nazareth

Consider the contrasts.

This one photo was taken when one was on a high.

This photo shows a real low after the camera fell on the bus floor and wrecked the flash and the camera now only works in part. Even the internal flash doesn't work.

The large flash was bought to take a better shot indoor the various pilgrimage sites so the word stated was clear.

Dash, Darn and Blow
(Yeh! Right)

Still them's the breaks and we move on.