Beauty on the Border

Wednesday, June 5, 2013

Today, our last day in Israel, is a loooong day! Our flight leaves at 11:30 pm; must be at the airport three hours ahead of time. Before heading to Tel Aviv, though, we loaded the luggage and went north towards the border with Lebanon and Syria. Our first stop—Tel Dan Nature Reserve. 

It was another glorious day—bright sunshine, cool temperatures, and a freshness in the air that enhanced our experience of the nature reserve. Elaine, one of our group said, “I’m so glad you brought us here! This gives me a whole different perspective on Israel.”

Around 2700 -2400 B.C. Canaanites built a city at Tel Dan, a choice location because of the abundance of fresh water from the natural springs flowing out of Mount Hermon. The Dan River is one of the three sources of the Jordan River. We hiked the trail that winds over the rushing, clear river surrounded by dense foliage. 

Tel Dan, so called because the tribe of Dan migrated to Laish (which they later renamed Dan) and conquered the inhabitants (Judges 18), has three main archaeological areas. The trail led us to what is referred to as the “High Place.” When the kingdom of Israel was divided, Jeroboam established ritual centers at Bethel and Dan (930 B.C.). He erected a golden calf in the "sacred high place" (shown below).

Israelite High Place where Jeroboam had a golden calf erected.

Up over the steps and along the path we came to the command post lookout with trenches that served the Israel Defense Forces until the Six Day War (1967).  

Lebanon village with snow-capped Mt. Hermon in the background from the Command Post Lookout at Tel Dan.

The path led us to the amazing discovery of a mid-Canaanite-period gate (18^th century B.C.). The gate, built of adobe brick, is about 22 feet high and remarkably intact. It’s hard to believe standing here at this place that people were going in and out of this gate almost 4000 years ago! 

Canaanite Gate made of adobe bricks at Tel Dan. City where Abraham came to rescue his nephew Lot (Genesis 14:11-15).

Our last stop was the Israelite gate from the time of Israelite settlement. This fascinated me our first time here and again this time. Inside the outer gate complex, archaeologists uncovered a raised platform for the canopied seat of a king or judge, as well as a bench for the elders, where they held court to decide legal cases and carry out judgments. Boaz settled his right to obtain property as well as consent from Ruth’s kinsman to take her as his wife from the elders of the city at the gate (Ruth 4:1-11).  See also 2 Samuel 19:8, Deut. 21:19, and Joshua 20:4 for more examples. The drawing below illustrates how the canopy sheltered the king. 

The platform for the king is just below the tree at the left with the bench for elders to the right.

 

Close-up of the platform. The small round stones held the canopy as shown in the illustration below.

 

Another remarkable discovery made at Tel Dan was a small stele dating to the mid-ninth century B.C. with the name of the House or dynasty of David. Prior to its discovery, many biblical scholars believed David and other Old Testament protagonists merely legends.

House of David highlighted in white.

Not far from Tel Dan is the Hermon Stream Nature Reserve Banias, another source of the Jordan River and location of Caesarea Philipi. Remains of the earlier settlement of Banias, a corrupted form of the deity Pan’s name, include remnants of Greek and Roman temples and monuments to Pan. King Herod also built a temple close to the springs, but his son Phillip made this area the capital of his kingdom in 2 B.C. calling it Caesarea Philipi. This place figures prominently in the New Testament for Peter’s acknowledgement of Christ’s divinity: “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Mat. 16: 14-19; Mark 8:28-31).

Hermon River Springs, one of three sources for the Jordan River, at Banias and Caesarea Philipi

Leaving Caesarea Philipi, we climbed further up the Golan Heights to Mount Bental in the northern-most part of Israel. At the top, a combination of a Swiss chalet and local Starbucks provided a pleasant place for lunch. 

They had the most marvelous hydrangeas(!)—as well as stunning views of Mt. Hermon in Lebanon; Syria with Damascus only 30 miles away to the right; and the Valley of Tears, where one of the bloodiest battles was fought between Syria and Israel—the Yom Kippur War of 1973. A network of old bunkers and trenches tell the story. A couple UN peace-keeping soldiers, Italian, also enjoyed lunch here today.

Valley of Tears below Mount Bental

Bunkers and trenches at Mount Bental.

Our time to say farewell to Israel was fast approaching. We started on the almost four-hour journey back to the airport, stopping first at our last place to visit—Joppa (as spelled in the Bible but also rendered Jaffa or Yafo), an ancient port city of Israel. A large sculpture of a whale reminds visitors that Jonah boarded ship here to flee from the presence of the Lord (Jonah 1). 

House of Simon the Tanner

Other narratives in the Bible that happened at Joppa include the raising of Dorcas, a woman “full of good works and almsdeeds,” from the dead by Peter (Acts 9:36-41) and Peter’s vision while staying at the home of Simon the Tanner that eventually resulted in the conversion of Gentiles in Caesarea  (Acts 9:43 and all of chpater10). 

 

Joppa’s complex history covers several thousand years. Beginning in the 1990s, parts of the old town have been refurbished and old buildings restored, featuring art galleries, theaters, souvenir shops, restaurants, sidewalk cafes, and promenades (Wikipedia). 

Joppa, taken from shore at Tel Aviv.

 

Port of Joppa with lighthouse.

Looking back at the old city of Joppa from the dock at port. Photographers took photos of a bride, center bottom.

The time finally arrived to say good-bye to Yossi, our guide, and Abed, our very competent driver. 

But wait! I’m not finished! I think I said in a prior post that after completing the “itinerary” that I would do a few posts of special subjects: food, flora, fun, and safety. I’m going to drop the one on flowers—you can see those any place, although they are so lovely here in Israel, but I will do the other three. So stay tuned next week for the final three!