Part 77 Israel - Steeped in History

Sunday, 6 May 2018 2:52 pm

20 Days Exploring Israel April 2018: The Highlights

We are staying with friends in Herzliyya, just north of Tele Aviv, this is the Mediterranean beach at sunset.

History surrounds us, just up the road an old cemetery dating back to 500BC.


Just further north an area that has been occupied by the Persians from about 500BC, then

63BC to 324AD the Romans, 324-638AD Byzantine

638-1099 Early Arabs

1099-1291 The Crusaders

1291-1516 Late Arabs

1516-1917 The Ottomans ( Turks )


Apollonia National Park



The Romans lived in this area and had a large community and a Mediterranean sea port connecting them to Rome.


In  1241 the Crusaders built this fortress to defend the port against the invading Arabs.









In 1264 the Arabs attacked and the ensuing battle lasted 40 days until it fell. The Arabs used large sling shots and rained the fort walls with large rocks, then filled the dry mote with logs before the entrance doors were rammed open. The fort was then burnt to the ground. Here some of the collected rocks they were flung at the walls
.


Our typical lunch is colourful and delicious.














The Latrun Armoured Corps Museum.



Over 150 tanks either used by, developed for, or captured by the Israeli army.












Captured tanks from the war of Independence












Caesarea

Built between 37 and 4 BC by Herod the Great and named in honour of Augustus Caesar, little remains of the great Caesarea city today.



Caesarea was a planned city with a network of roads, temples, theatre, markets, and above, this amphitheatre. Here 10,000 people watched the chariot races, wild animals and Christians. 


The luxurious public baths was where most of the political and trading business was discussed.






The high-lever aqueduct brought water 7.5kms to the prosperous town.











Tel Aviv


Shopping in Levinski Street - Do not come here hungry !



























Jerusalem



Overlooking the old walled city with our friend Tova.








Within the Old Walled City:


For me this is one of the most unique sites globally.


3 strong religious sites built on top of each other.


For the Jewish religion the significant tomb of David, King of Israel ( ground floor)


For the Christians, the exact site where Jesus had his last supper

( 1st Floor)


On top a Mosque.


Note: Neither destroyed the other, and each and every day this site is visited by tens of thousands of people from ALL religions, ALL nationalities, colours and creeds.




The magnificent Church of the Holy Sepulchre built above the cave where Jesus was  placed after the crucification.


Then we saw this ???

I think he thinks he is someone he is obviously NOT.
















This is the main door to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.


Question:

Who Holds the key, unlocks it every day and re-locks it every night for the last 850+ years?


And gets paid substantially for the service?


2 Muslim families

See:


https://edition.cnn.com/2016/03/26/middleeast/easter-muslim-keyholder/index.html








The Western Wall, very sacred to the jewish religion as this is the closest and an original part of the Temple that was destroyed way back in time.








Dead Sea & the Jordan River



Went negative today at minus 400 below sea level.


The Dead Sea is evaporating at 3 m per year, and  the hold valley is also sinking as the tectonic plates move apart. As it sinks these sink holes appear.




The Jordan River where John the baptist christened Jesus.


Just over there is Jordan.


Here thousands of tourists bathe themselves in the river.







A couple of 19 year old border guards.











An impressive place to visit with such a story.

Masada is a Mesa about 400 m high and surrounded by steep cliffs on all sides.







Between 37 and 31 BC, Herod the Great built a large fortress on the plateau as a refuge for himself in the event of a revolt, and erected two palaces on the northern face.




Little remains of this palace.





The fortress was well stocked with storage rooms and large cisterns that held the water, also plenty of the home comforts with spas and saunas.







In 66 AD, at the beginning of the Great Jewish Revolt against the Roman Empire, a group of Jewish extremists settled there.


In 72 AD, the Roman governor of Judaea led a Legion together with Jewish prisoners of war, totalling some 15,000 men and women (of whom an estimated 8,000 to 9,000 were fighting men) to lay siege to the 960 people in Masada.


For 7 months the Roman legion surrounded Masada and built a wall around the mountain.


They then commenced construction of a siege ramp against the western face of the plateau, moving thousands of tons of stones and beaten earth to do so.


A giant tower with a battering ram was constructed and moved laboriously up the completed ramp.




The Romans then assaulted the wall, discharging "a volley of blazing torches against ... a wall of timber".

The Romans finally breached the wall of the fortress on April 16, 73 AD and when they entered the fortress they found it to be "a citadel of death” The Jewish rebels had set all the buildings excepting the food storerooms ablaze and had killed each other, declaring "a glorious death ... preferable to a life of slavery”


Every Israeli soldier at the end of their 2 year ( female) or 3 year (male) compulsory service come here and takes an oath to defend Israel …“ Never again Masada” Just pride they have in their country.


Those squares you see on the lower plain are the remains of the Roman camps


Jewish priest writing out the entire Bible.

Takes him about a year to complete then it is sold to a church.









 
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