Exploring Galilee

Yesterday we had a longer and very tiring day exploring Galilee, so after we’d had dinner and cleaned ourselves up, I pretty much went to bed. So, no posting yesterday. But I will give you a summary of some of the interesting things we did.

We left the city of Tiberius by boat, taking a short cruise on the Sea of Galilee. Below you can see the village of Magdala, the home of Mary Magdalene.

At the end of the cruise we stopped to look at a first century fishing boat, found in the lakeside mud during a drought a few years ago. It is thought to be very similar to the kind of boat Jesus and his disciples would have used.

From there we traveled to see the Church of the Beatitudes, and the ancient church at Tagbah, whose beautiful mosaic floor dates back to the fourth century. Many of the depictions are of birds, such as this peacock.

We went on, perhaps a mile away, to the remains of ancient Capernaum, where Jesus spent a considerable amount of time during his ministry. These are the ruins of the synagogue where Jesus taught (Mark 1:21). The floor dates back to that time.

After lunch, we headed to the northernmost tip of Israel, the site of ancient Caesarea Philippi. We skirted along the border with Lebanon, where warnings signs abound.

On the drive home, we traveled the Golan Heights, captured from Syria during the Six Day War in 1967. It’s possession by Israel is still highly sensitive today, as evidenced by the presence of a series of United Nations peacekeeping camps along the border. Below you can see a busload of Japanese peacekeepers returning to their base.

We crossed back over the upper Jordan on the way back to the hotel. Some were surprised to see that the Jordan is certainly no Mississippi, as you can see here.