Shephala

What an awesome day!  We spent today in the Shephalah - the area between the Judah mountains and the coastal plains west of Jerusalem.  Our first stop, Yad Heron had a magnificent view

Here there is a replica of a synagogue and a Biblical garden.  Also, we saw a burial tomb

An olive press

A mikvah or ritual bath

And a wine press and a threshing floor as well as examples of the 7 plants listed in 

Deuteronomy 8:7-9.

This was a great chance to see all of these things in one place since they all appear frequently in Bible stories.

Next we boarded the bus and headed for Bet Shamesh "House of the Sun" - the area where Samson grew up.  Unfortunately, the sun was not shining today!  Here we saw an underground cistern.  So thankful we have water bottles!  Also thankful we have Jesus' living water and don't have to settle for a dirty cistern.

We hiked up to Azekah and looked down at the Valley of Elah where David fought Goliath.  How awesome to be in the place so clearly described in the text.

Next up, Bet Gurin, an underground city recently discovered and still being unearthed.  We climbed down into the largest columbarium ever found. That is a fancy word for pigeon house!  Boy was I happy that the pigeons weren't home.  Once inside it became clear where the phrase "pigeon holed" came from!  We also climbed down through a very large complex of rooms underground including more columbariums, an olive pressing factory and another cistern.  This was truly amazing and all carved out of limestone.

Terry stopped to make some notes and we got back on the bus for an hour and a half ride to our hotel located on the shore of the Dead Sea.  Ill try to post pictures of the view from our room in the daylight.  We finished the day with a group sabbath dinner in the hotel.  I'll post again next time we find some wifi!