We came to Capernaum on April 23rd. It is spelled differently on the sign! It was in this city that a man was lowered down through the roof into the room where Jesus was, and Jesus healed him! Matthew 9:2 and 3. After Jesus grew up in Nazareth, he lived mostly in Capernaum during his ministry. Several of his apostles were men from this town, and He had many miracles performed here. The city was evidently destroyed during the Arab conquest in 638 A.D. and never again inhabited.
Showing many remnants of parts of buildings from that time period.
Showing foundations of private homes, with small rooms.
Additional ruins, showing the stone carvings that were once in the city. The different carvings had significant meanings for them, such as the 5 and 6 sided stars. I can't remember the meanings, but they were Jewish.
Some of the stones in the front are millstones, and extremely heavy. Bishop Clark told us about the scripture: Matthew 18:6. "But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea."
They weighed several hundred pounds! Millstones were used to grind flour, with wheat, etc.
Another interesting ruin in that area. Some were made by the Romans.
Only foundations were left of the small village homes. Some of the rooms were perhaps 8 by 10 feet, and we were told most homes had 800 square feet or less. They were very small according to what we know. Homes often were made close together so one wall served as the adjoining wall for another family.
Most of the bathrooms we found in these countries were called "water closets", and had W. C. as a sign.
Close by were the ancient city walls of Tel Dan, showing an ancient gate into the city, from the time of Abraham. It is the northern limit of the land of Israel, and has several springs , the largest of which makes up a main source of the Jordan River.
These are the large city walls built around the ancient city of Dan.
The excavators of Tel Dan uncovered a city gate made of mud bricks on top of megalithic basalt standing stones, estimated to have been built around 1750 BC. Its popular name is Abraham's Gate, due to the biblical story that Abraham traveled to Dan to rescue his nephew Lot. There used to be a large open arch leading into the city. When it was excavated, they filled it in, as it would have collapsed. I was there and took the picture below.
It is in this area that Abraham rescued Lot from Chedorlaomer (Genesis 14:13-16).
Jeroboam set up a golden calf here, as the Egyptians did (a Kings 12:26-33)
The city was conquered and its inhabitants were carried captive to Assyria by Tiglath-pileser (2 Kings 15:129). And several other important happenings in the Old Testament.
The expression "from Dan even to Beersheba" is used in the Old Testament to indicate the northern and southern limits of Israelite occupation in the land (Judges 21:1, 1 Samuel 3:20).
This fast flowing stream near the city of Dan supplies about 20% of the water in the Jordan River. We ate our lunch in a small restaurant right by it, where we could hear the beautiful sound of running water!
The beautiful scene below is near there, and quite a resort -- beautiful green place with lots of water around.
Near Capernaum, we found Mt. Tabor. The scene above is on the top of it. The mountain pictured below doesn't look like it would have a rather flat place on the top of 2 or 3 acres, where there is a large church, and beautiful gardens.
Riding in a bus at the base it doesn't appear to be so large, but when you travel in a small van as the large bus can't get up there on the road, you realize how large it is! There is a narrow road and quite steep, pictured below.
It was near Nazareth, and Jesus probably went there often.
Here we got into a small van, which held 13 people -- it had beautiful flowers growing there! We then went up the winding road pictured above.
Deborah's Battle
The Israelite tribes gathered on Mount Tabor in the days of Deborah. The Canaanites were assembled at Harosheth Haggoyim (likely on the opposite side of the Jezreel Valley) and Barak led the Israelite charge of 10,000 men against Sisera’s army. It seems that the Lord’s intervention on behalf of the Israelites was in the form of a rainstorm, such that the Kishon River flooded and made chariot travel for the Canaanites impossible (Judges 4-5).
(The above from the internet). It is believed to be the mountain where Jesus went for His transfiguration, where He fasted 40 days. It is heavily wooded on the sides.
On Mt. Tabor, near the Gardens there.
The hillside, with many trees, had many rocks, such as above. In Jesus' time it would have been quite secluded, and somewhat difficult to climb.
Almost everywhere we went there were many buses. Our bus always had this sign on the front, so we could tell which one to enter!
The city now called Nazareth isn't in the same place that it was in Jesus' time. It is a fairly large city, and mostly Christian.
We visited Nazareth Village, in the area of the old city of Nazareth.
Nazareth Village needs to rely on volunteers to help with the daily running of the village. There is a Mennonite Ministry which advertises for volunteers to come for a short or long period of time.
The benefits of having volunteers from all over come to Nazareth are numerous. Not only do the volunteers experience a life changing experience of living as Jesus would have lived, they also get to connect and hear stories from the groups that have traveled from all over to visit Israel. I took the pictures below from the Nazareth Village.
A very old olive tree. They can live up to 2000 years. About the time it is ready to die, it shoots off seedlings around the base, and they can be taken and planted, and become a new tree! So trees that were living at the time of Jesus may have their seedlings growing around Israel now!
An example of a shepherd, and how he would have taken care of his sheep then.
This place was a former wine press! They could tell when they were excavating because of the shape of the stone -- rather flat, and that it ran down into the crevice shown below. They would put the grapes in the indentation in the rock, and stamp on them with their feet, and the juice would flow down into the crevice container. They did it with feet because if it was pressed with rocks, etc., it would crush the seeds in the grapes, and make the grape juice bitter!
Nazareth Village demonstrated what life was like then, and a girl is wearing a costume from that era. In the back, you can see buildings from a modern city!
This is an example of what Joseph's carpenter shop would have looked like, and the type of tools available then. They had volunteers who were showing what these scenes would be like in the time of Jesus.
This lady was taking wool from sheep, and making it into thread, and then weaving the thread on a loom.
Pictured below are the different colors they could dye the yarn, and she explained the different plants which produced each color.
This was an ancient type of olive press, in which they pressed olives to get the oil from them. There were 3 different times each batch of olives was pressed, and the first press was the purest, the second used for every day use, and the third was used to put oil in their small lamps they used to give light.
This was an example of what a synagogue would have been like in those days. It was just cement, with seats also of cement, and very plain inside.
The seating at Jesus' time would have been on cement or stone benches.
That night we drove to the city of Hadera, next to the Mediterranean Sea. We stayed in a Ramada Inn, on the 19th floor. I took the picture below looking down from our room there. The one above is of some very famous and beautiful gardens by Muslims.
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