Israel: Beyond Jerusalem, Into Jordan, & Eastward

We ended our trip to Israel by venturing beyond Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, into other parts of Israel and even into Jordan.

Nazareth & The Sea of Galilee
We spent two nights in Nazareth where we were able to appreciate a few of the sacred Christian sites. Nazareth is where Jesus grew up and is the starting point of the Jesus Trail, a walk that recreates his journey to the Sea of Galilee where he performed much of his ministry (the “sea” is a fresh water lake, by the way). Our most beautiful visit was to the Mount of Beatitudes, where Jesus is said to have given his Sermon On The Mount. Its setting is stunning, situated high up on the mountain overlooking the water. With a peaceful church and monastery built on this mount, it is a perfect spot for a prayer and meditation retreat.

An Interesting Approach To A Difficult Problem
We also had a unique experience, spending the better part 24 hours in the poorest Arab village in Israel. Jisr az-Zarqa (the name of the village) had been congenial with the Jewish people who began settling the region in early/mid 1900s. With Israel’s Independence in 1947, Jisr az-Zarqa was the only village that wanted to remain peaceful with its neighbors. Ultimately, this alienated the village from other Arabs and the village sank into severe poverty, inbreeding, and disease. A Jewish-Arab group is now committed to rejuvenating this town through tourism. We spent some time in this village, enjoyed their beach, experienced a meal in an authentic Arab home, and stayed at their guest house for the night.

What’s interesting is that the beach in this poor village is just minutes from Caesarea, home of the Israeli prime minister and to some of Israeli’s most wealthy.

Conditions in this town were rustic to say the least! But we had a memorable experience and were off to Caesarea the next next morning.

Caesarea
Caesarea is situated on the Mediterranean coast, just south of Jisr az-Zarqa. It is a wealthy and technologically advanced city. Its reputation dates back to the time of Herod, who built this city during his reign 37-4BCE. Herod had a knack for something our politicians lack today — the ability to appeal to all parties and the ability to get things done! Herod built this city for the Romans, dedicating it to Caesar, just as he built the Temple Mount in Jerusalem for the Jews and Jericho for the Idumeans. He knew how to keep people employed and happy! Replete with an elaborate palace and a swimming pool, a huge hippodrome for entertainment, and a sophisticated aqueduct system, Herod satisfied his Roman rulers with this city’s grandeur.

Jordan
Our final days were spent traveling to Jordan, where we dipped a bit further into Arab culture. Jordan is a small country of 12 million people with over 15% being refugees, hosting the highest population of Syrian refugees. Jordan is a country ruled by a King who selects his Prime Minister. Its parliament is elected by the people. Ten parliament seats are reserved for women. While this may sound like progress for women, we learned that men can marry up to 4 women. While urban men typically have only one wife (due to financial reasons), it is common in bedouin communities to have multiple wives.

The kingdom of Jordan was controlled by the Ottomans followed by the British Mandate before its borders were drawn after WWII. Jordan is peaceful with all its neighbors, including Israel with whom it shares the Dead Sea.

While modern-day Jordan is worth a trip, we only saw a small glimpse of Amman. We snapped a few quick photos before we were rushed back to our bus as two female members in our group were dressed in appropriately, cutting the stop short for the rest of us.

Most of our time in Jordan was spent learning about Jordan’s ancient history. We explored the old cities of Jerash and Petra, whose heyday occurred around the turn of the century. Roman and Hellenistic influence can be found at every turn. The vastness of these ancient cities was impressive. And the buildings made clear that its denizens were involved in trade, worship, theatre, government, and games. We noted that the writing was in ancient Greek, a common language used during the heyday of the Romans. Here is a pic that captures a tiny portion of the ancient Jerash ruins.

While we were were in Jerash, we enjoyed seeing an Orthodox Christian group sing and dance with an Arab trio in the ancient theatre, pictured below.

That night, we had a wonderful overnight stay in a bedouin camp. We were then off to explore Petra the following day.

One of the new seven wonders of the world, Petra was even more mystical than Jaresh as it remained “the lost city” until 1812 when a Swiss archeologist dressed up as a traveling bedioun on a pilgrimage in order to convince the local bedouins to take him thru their lands. Lost since ancient times, it was on this trip that Petra was first exposed to the modern world. Upon entering Petra, you find yourself walking thru a narrow canyon that opens up to the vast hidden city replete with a brilliant treasury building, temples, colonnades, and tombs.

It’s hard to appreciate the shear size of the city of Petra from the pictures. To put it in perspective, we must have walked over six miles to explore the city, and that includes the brief reprieve that Paul took while riding on the mule below!

Petra was originally built by the Nabataeans as it was along their Incense Trade Route between Egypt and Mesopotamia. Each historical period added their influence to what the Nabataeans created. Below is a monastery converted into a chapel during the early Byzantine Period.

Overall impressions of our trip to Israel and Jordan.
With Jordan, our trip to the middle east came to an end. We were thrilled and grateful to have been able to explore these unique lands. We gained a greater appreciation for the richness of its history from King David and the Jews, to the Romans, the Byzantines, the Crusaders, the Mamaluks, the Ottomans, the British, thru to today. We experienced the warmth of the people who live there. Most of all, as we look to the future, we pray for peace in this region that is special to so many.

As for us, our travels took us onward and eastward. We were off to India!