Tel Dan, battlefields and more

Before lunch we visited Tel Dan. The word "tel" simply means an ancient site where archeologists have uncovered several levels of civilization.This is an Old Testament site that dates back 3000 years to the time of Chronicles and Kings. It is in the very northern portion of Israel, where the tribe of Dan settled after the conquest of the promised land. It is at the very headwaters of the river of Jordan and we saw amazing amounts of water gushing forth from deep mountain springs flowing out of Mount Hebron. This is the place where King Jeroboam built a temple to rival what was going on in Jerusalem. Archeologists have uncovered the temple where sacrifices were made and upon which they had also placed a golden calf. Obviously this angered God, who claimed total allegiance, no idols, and Jerusalem as the place for his temple. King Jeroboam's reign ended badly, which you can read about in the Old Testament.

We have been at three different Caesareas, all named after Caesar Augustus. The first was Caeserea by the sea, which is where Herod had his palace. The second is Caesarea Tiberias, which is where our hotel is located on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. The third is a place we visited this afternoon called Caeserea Phillippi. This is the place Jesus visited with his disciples...at that time it was the Capitol of the furthest kingdom north in Israel. It had a Temple to Pan, the pagan God that was half human and half goat, a temple to Zeus, and a temple to Caesar, all next to each other in a grotto against a mountainside with a natural spring of rushing water flowing out of the mountain. This is where Jesus asked his disciples the all important question, "but who do YOU say that I am?" Can you imagine them looking at these shrines and answering the question? Peter's confession takes on deeper meaning..."you are the Christ, the Son of the living God."

From there we drove to the sight of the latest war with Syria when the Golan Heights was recaptured. The land is desolate, yet land that has been fought over for thousands of years. From the hill we could see a Syrian city where yesterday there was serious fighting between the present regime and the people. Both Syria and Lebanon don't acknowledge the right of Israel to exist. What is clear when you are here is the physical closeness of all these places. In fact, in Israel itself, the distinction between Jewish and Arab neighborhoods is very fluid and circuitous. It's a wonder that the Israelis can keep the peace at all. Every Israeli must serve in the military for at least two years...and both our guide and our driver are parents of children serving presently. At this battle site, there were still fields mined with bombs and several destroyed tanks. On the way back to the hotel in Tiberius we passed at least five Israeli military bases within about a twenty mile spread, all in a position to defend Israel from Syria and Lebanon. 

Dinner was in the hotel in Tiberius. When we arrived, the waiter tried to direct us to the side where our tour group and Christians were dining. We chose to go sit among the Arab and Jewish families. It was fun watching families of different cultures. Kids are the same no matter their culture of origin. We watched one Muslim woman trying to coax her youngest son to eat with the fork delivered to his clamped shut mouth and recalled similar trials with our children when they were young. The Moslems have just concluded Ramadan, a time of fasting. So a number of Moslem families were there to truly feast.