Sea of Galilee. Tiberius.
Fishing the old way. You know like Peter.
Boat like Peter fished from.
Tabgha. Site of "Miracle of Loaves and Fishes."
Olive crusher.
Church of the Miracle.
Rock where the baskets of bread and fish multiplied.
Olive press.
Four person sitting baptismal.
Caperanum. Home of Peter and Jesus home base as an adult.
Peter.
Get it?
Stuff in Capernaum. It was a Roman city.
Synagoge.
Church over Peter's home.
Peter's home.
Inside the church.
Greek orthodox church. Cute, huh?
Sea of Galilee.
By the sea, by the sea ...
River Jordan.
Where John the Baptist baptisted Jesus.
Strange man stealing Jordan River water.
He's back!
Entrance to Jordan River baptismal site.
Beth Sean. Roman city.
Theater.
Entrance to private box seats.
Bird.
Archeology sites on hill.
Heating system of the public baths.
Stoa and shopping area.
Model od city.
Synagoge mosaics.
Dead Sea mermaid.
Peace, Sistah!
Even old hippies can float here.
Peace out, Bro!
Neptune is after my girlfriend!
Cute couple.
Dead Sea and Desert views from Masada.
Masada. Besieged by the Romans. The 900 rebels here committed suicide rather than be slaughtered, raped and/or sold into slavery by the 10th Legion. It was originally one of Herod's (yep, him again) palaces. He never used it but had a water source and stored years worth of food here.
Masada holds a special place in the modern Israelis' hearts. "Never again," they say, "will we be conquered or pushed off our land."
Model of Masada.
Another tourist!
You are so cute!
Herod's hangout to catch cooling breezes.
Ritual bath.
Birds.
Restored stuff.
Roman ramp used to defeat Masada around 70 AD.
Worlds first synagoge.
Cistern.
Dovecote. Pigeons for food, sacrifice and message carrying were raised here.
Roman ramp.
Tanner's home.
Jerusalem.
Temple Mount. Dome of the Rock. Mohammed ascended to heaven from this spot.
Family tombs outside city.
Wall of the Temple Mount.
Dung Gate. Don't ask :)
Old style crane.
Site of entry arch from back in the day.
What it looked like back then.
Western or Wailing Wall. The only part left from the original temple. People come to pray here and leave written messages. Men must have heads covered and are separated from women by a wall.
There's the wall!
Lotsa interesting characters.
The Torah.
Many boys have their Bar Mitzvahs here.
Becky found a friend!
The beginning of the Via Delorosa and the Stations of the Cross.
Pilate condemed Jesus here.
Jesus carried his cross up theses steps and was jeered, beaten, and fell down three times.
Church of the Holy Sepulcher. This is where the end went down.
Jesus was crucified here.
On this rock!
He was laid out on this slab.
Buried here. The tomb.
Street scene nearby.
This gate marks the demarcation of the Muslim and Jewish (this side) quarters.
Church of the Dormition Abbey. The room of the Last Supper is here somewhere.
Inside the Abbey.
Jesus was descended from Jesse according to the Old Testament.
And the House of David.
The gang's all here.
Outside of Cathedral of St. James. Hey, that's me!
Courtyard. The church was closed.
Armenian George the ceramics dude. We bought stuff handmade by him. Nice man.
The Armenian Quarter.
Near the Citadel of David. Jaffa Gate of West Jerusalem.
Outside the walls.
YMCA, believe it or not! Armenian George's wife had an art show in the lobby. Small world.
More YMCA!
Model of the Jerusalem back in the day.
More of the model.
Biggest Hershy Kiss in da woild!
What the old Temple looked like.
Garden of "Good persons." People that helped the Jews during the Holocaust at the Holcaust Museum, Vad Yeshem. Trees are planted for each person.
Me and Oscar Schindler's tree.
No pix allowed in museum. I got these outside.
Eternal memory flame.
Memorial to the slain children by the parents of this boy, Uzie.
Jerusalem Forest.
Town of En Karem. Birthplace of John the Baptist.
Mary used to visit her cousin and get water here.
The Church and Abbey of the Visitation. (Mary's cousin Elizabeth.)
Cloister.
Gardens. Very tranquil place.
Rock where John hid behind (to avoid Herod's soldiers) when he was two years old.
Ah me, a monk's life is tough.
The spring of Mary is also a mosque. The Muslims revere Mary also.
Russian church.
Clock tower of John the Baptist.
Ethiopean Church. Really the most sacred and mysterious place (to me, anyway.)
Another Russian church. Ho hum.
Jerusalem suburbs at night.
Herod's family tomb. He was not buried here.
Note the rolling stone. Remember: "Roll away the stone?"
King David Hotel $$$$$$$!
Rich American "artist colony" suburb.
What! A windmill?
This was "No man's land" until the "Six Days War."
Old city wall.
Jaffa Gate again.
Bullet holes from the 1948 war.
Inside the Citadel Of David. Just a name. He was never here.
What in the name of all the gods, is this?
Picture of what it looked llike.
Views from the walls.
Old synagoge.
Dome of the Rock, again.
Cityscapes.
Back in the citadel.
Assyrian goddess.
Babylonians hangin' out.
God?
Early email?
What did the Babylonians have on their minds? Nothing changes does it?
Jews rebuilding the walls.
Roman 10th Legion standards. The 10th Legion had the job of keeping the Jews under control. They got sick of the job and slaughtered or dispersed them by 73 AD. They were the same Romans at Masada.
Copy of Florentine staue of David.
Muslim side of town. Edgy.
Another cut Russian church.
St. Stefan's gate.
Mary was born here!
Greek, Roman and Crusader ruins near the Church of Sr. Anne, Mary's mother. Right up the block from Mary's place.
St Anne's church.
Anne was born here somewhere.
Old city street scenes.
The mighty Negev Desert.
Cool Ibix's.
More Negev.
Mr. and Mrs. David Ben Gurion's tombs.
More Ibix.
Twins.
This is the biggest eroded crater in the world. Not the stuff in the middle. All of it, as far as one can see!
More of it.
On the way to Jordan.
Petra!
"Beware of Dog!"
It's like the slot canyons in Utah except people carved stuff in the walls and lived here. This is the holy way in.
This channel was covered with terra cotta pipe and brought water into the city.
Niche for a god.
Colorful.
It's hard to see but this is a carving of a god (the bigger block) and a goddess.
Another god?
Another niche.
Lower half of guard statue.
Camel feet.
Remains of a camel sculpture.
Another camel?
Ta da. The Treasury building. Tourist poster, anyone?
Temple.
Inside the temple.
Noble of bearing ...
More stuff. Only 5% of the site is excavated. It covers 250 square miles! Yes, miles! The canyons were filled with rubble and archeologists have spent years clearing it.
Theater cut into the canyon.
It goes on forever.
Cool ceiling.
Mosaics in an early church.
Bring this fashion back!
Apse of the church.
The bishops house next door.
Roman temple complex.
Odion.
The resort town of Eilat. Ho hum.
Qumran, the site of the Dead Sea scrolls. This was a community of refugees from Jerusalem who wanted to live a more religious life. Some were monastic, some not so much. This is near Masada and the 10th Legion slaughtered them on their way to or from Masada. This is a ritual bath.
Living areas.
Jordan and the Dead Sea.
The actual cave where the scrolls were found. Wowie, wow, wow!
Good bye, Israel.
