RIP

Sad my lovely yellow rose bush is officially dead. Rest In Peace! The bush to the right of it is also dead and there are tell tale borrow holes in the ground that spell chipmunks eating away at the roots. 

Petra

When I was studying geography in Jr. High School I did a report on Petra the city cut out of the living rock. I was enchanted by my research and made a vow that some day some how I would go there. And I did!

My first visit to Petra was in 1999 while I was digging at Ashkelon with Harvard University. We took weekly "Tell Tours" and were hosted by the archaeologist of those digs. On week five we went to Petra in Jordan and were were the guest of Brown University who gave us a tour of their dig and some back ground of Petra. It was awesome!

In the picture below I am standing in front of the Treasury - miss named by early archaeologist. It was actually what we would call a funeral home. 

This is a close up of the top where the remains of an urn can be seen. I say remains because some people thought it contained gold coins so they shot at it hoping to break it open and let the coins spill out. Turns out it was solid rock.
I have over a thousand pictures of Petra so stand by for MORE!

American Tomb In Jerusalem

I was walking in Jerusalem on my way to the hostel where I would spend the night and discovered an old cemetery. I like checking out old cemeteries so I went in to read tombstones. The older the better for me.

I discovered this tomb of an American Missionary who died there in the 1800's and was entombed.

Tiberias

King Herod Antipas built the city of Tiberias on the Sea of Galilee to win favor from the Roman Emperor Tiberias. It was a splendid resort city for the Romans as a place where they could enjoy "Roman life" without offending the local Jews. Today it is a modern city and is still a resort stop on the way through Israel.

Nazareth Today

This is a picture of Nazareth as it appeared in1999 during my trip through the Galilee area. There is very little of the ancient village left to see.

The Sea of Galilee

The Sea of Galilee also known as the Sea of Tiberias and the Sea of Gennesaret in the Bible was the home of some of the disciples of Jesus who were fishermen. Along these beaches Jesus walked and preached and taught. 

The Sea of Galilee is actually a small lake that is 33 miles in circumference. It is about 13 Miles long and 9 miles wide and 151 feet deep. The Lake lies 670 feet below sea level and is part of a rift valley that forms the Jordan river and the Dead Sea.
This fresh water lake is a great place to swim and enjoy fishing. I loved watching the wonderful variety of boats plying the lake.

On the Mediterranean Coast

For this picture I was standing on the sea wall at Caesarea where Herod the Great built the City of Caesarea for the Romans. There was no natural harbor here and you can see why in the picture. Caesarea needed a good deep harbor for Roman ships.

King Herod spared no expense and used a new Roman invention called hydraulic concrete that was made with volcano ash and would set under water. It was an awesome task but a protected harbor was built and served the Romans well for several hundred years.