Steve and Kelly Plus Two: Israel

Steve went back to Israel at the beginning of February for his second trip back. It was a small group so they were able to get their work duties done fast and squeeze in one long day of sighting seeing before the trip was over. They pretty much drove around the entire south and central part of Israel. I didn’t write a whole lot cause I wasn’t there and don’t really know what most of this was, but Steve gave me some detail and brochures, and I really don’t want to read through brochures night, so I’m just providing the basics. He had a blast though and something about Israel makes him bring back gifts. The man who never ever buys presents brought home a very very very nice diamond ring for me from the first trip and this time brought me back some expensive face masks promised to take 10 years off my appearance. I hope there will be many more trips to Israel in Steve’s future!

These are the ruins of Tel Beer Sheva, an early Arab fortress dating from 4,000 B.C. It is believed to be the first settlement the Israelites reached after wandering in the desert for forty years. Steve toured the ruins and then descended into the underground water reservoir.

Above right is a replica of a four horned altar.

Steve and the Dead Sea, which he’s been to 3 times now, twice on the west side in Israel and once on the east side in Jordan. This is the lowest point on earth.
Next, they went to Masada, which was King Herod of Judea’s ancient fortification on top of an isolated plateau in southern Israel. It was attacked by the Roman Empire at the end of the first Jewish-Roman War and when the 375-foot siege ramp built by 4,000 Romans finally reached the fortress after 2-3 months, 960 Jewish rebels and their families committed suicide rather than become Roman slaves.

Everything below the black crack is original to the fortress and everything above has been reconstructed.

They visited the Church of the Sepulchre, which is a church built over the site where Jesus was crucified. The bottom left picture with all the gold is the spot they believe the cross was placed in. The picture above that is the spot where they moved the cross to after he died and he was given back to his family. The picture on the right is the anointing stone where he was laid and cleaned after his death and prepared for the tomb. The stone is important because it is the only thing known to have actually touched his skin and therefore it is blessed. Steve put those two little boxes on the stone to bless them for the kids to have.

The pictures above and below are of the Western Wall (also known at the Wailing Wall) which is a very important religious site for the Jews because it’s the original western wall of the Temple Mount where the Arc of the Covenant was kept. The Temple Mount was destroyed during the Crusades and when the ruins were found by the Muslims, a Mosque was built where the temple used to be but they left the Western Wall for the Jews to worship at.