Jaffa, Caesarea Maritima, Mt Carmel and Nazareth

We left Tel Aviv and drove about an hour north up the coastline to Caesarea Maratima (by the sea).

Acts 10,11,12 Built by Herod the Great. We started our tour at the theatre. The theater was the place of entertainment including plays, dancing, fighting etc, none of which would have been allowed in Jerusalem.

You could see the blending of both Roman and Jewish culture. Mosaic tile patterns still exist marking living rooms and meeting spaces where men would gather reclined at tables.

We walked to Herod’s palace. We saw the hippodrome (horse/chariot racing).

This site is significant because it is where Paul was imprisoned. We saw original mosaic tile floors from the 1st Century. I closed my eyes and stood in the hippodrome and could almost here the thundering sounds of the horses mixed with the people cheering and yelling expecting to be entertained.

We walked through a bath house, horse stable ruins and meeting places.

We took a bus about 30 minutes toward Mt Carmel. Mark told the story of Elijah and the prophets of Baal. We climbed up to the top of the church and we could could see Mt Hebron to the east and the Mediterranean Sea to our west.

Tel Megiddo (Tel – flat top man made mountain)

Occupied by multiple dynasties including Solomon. From the top of Megiddo we could see Nazareth, Mt Tabor, and Gilboa (where Saul was killed) (Left to right)

We walked across the top of Megiddo and could see Solomon’s palace and how the ancient city lived. This archeological spot has history piled onto history.

As we left the top of Megiddo, we passed through a channel that was dug out leading to a natural spring. It was this spring that fed into the city and enabled Solomon’s army to be undefeated by their enemy.

Megiddo is where we get the word Armageddon. We crossed the Jezarael valley and entered Nazareth.

We grabbed our packs from the bus and began our hike. The hike actually begins tomorrow, but we walked through Nazareth, and stopped at Mary’s Well.

We know for sure Jesus was here as a boy as it was the only water source in the old city.

Just up the road sits the church of annunciation. It’s an Orthodox Church that sits in the place where God announced to Mary that she would give birth as a virgin.

We walked through the streets of Nazareth to Michel’s House where we will spend the night. The view of Nazareth from Michel’s House was spectacular.