On The Road Again
Trip Start
May 13, 2006
1
15
25
Trip End
Jun 13, 2006
Beer-Sheva, Israel
Tuesday, May 23, 2006
I am back from a three day field trip into the middle of nowhere - well not exactly...read on...there are four parts....
5/22 - Beer-Sheva
Up early again to catch the bus at 7am. We descended out of Jerusalem to the Judean Hills past the city of Eshatol where Sampson was buried to Zorah. Judges 13 tells the story of Sampson's life here. We are in the Sorek valley where the Ark was returned to the Israelites (1 Sam. 4-6).
From the Sorek valley we continued down to Elah (David and Goliath) - Here I picked up a stone from the same stream that David would have crossed to meet Goliath. After a stop at Tel Azekah (1 Sam 17) we were off to Lachish - stopping along the way at a Roman Mile Marker which would have been on the road where Philip met the Ethiopian Eunuch in Acts 8.
We stopped at one of the best preserved "rolling stone" tombs - like what Jesus would have been buried in (note the picture). It was really neat. Lunch was egg salad in, what else, a pita!
We stopped at Bet Guvrin to visit the bell and columbarium (dove) caves - these were cool (look for the pictures).
The interesting moment of the day was when one girl in our group passed out and fell flat on her face. It was quite traumatic - she was unconscious for about 4 minutes. I and few others helped nurse her back to health over the course of an hour. This cut our day short (although no one complained) and we went straight to the Hostel in Beer-Sheva just east of Gaza.
We moved around quite a bit today - but I was glad I got to see the rolling stone tomb. I am tired and need to sleep - the hostel has AC! I will sleep well tonight.
Comments
Unbelievable!!!
Mike- I always look forward to your reflections about your day. The picture of the tomb is fantastic. It really helps me to visualize what it would've been like. You look great and every time I click on a picture it makes me miss you a little more.