One day, we went to Hezekiah’s tunnel, walking in cold water in some places up to our knees. Israel 08: Hezekiah’s Tunnel This tunnel was built around 700 BC (II Kings 20:20 and II Chronicles 32:30) from the Gihon Springs to the city of Jerusalem to insure a water supply during a siege.

Another day, the late morning sun found us on a black top road traveling between two herd of sheep on one side and newly plowed ground (liberally sprinkled with small rocks) on the other. The sheep are the dirtiest I have witnessed, but they are well fed and their herder is drawing water by the time honored practice of using his hands and a rope.

Earlier I had rendezvoused with 9 other men, including an archaeologist, in the interest of removing and transporting two significant artifacts to an antiquities storage area in Jerusalem.

Now I find myself in less than friendly territory helping in a small way the progress of biblical archeology. Thirty minutes before witnessing the sheep herder’s activity, we had entered Palestinian Authority territory, traveled through two Palestinian villages and met some friendly local citizens. Our next step was to relocate the large stones (500-600 lbs and 100-150 lbs) and load them on a Toyota two-seater truck. Six of us would be following the truck in an ancient van.Gate Stone - Ai?

I had the privilege of using two pick axes to pry the two large rocks free of partial burial encumbrances so they could be maneuvered on to a pallet for pick up and removal. For the record, the rocks are indented in such a way as to indicate them as being the anchor stones for the main gate of the city of Ai.(Joshua 7,8) Liberal writers have for years denied the existence of this biblical Canaanite city, and until now, little, if any proof existed to prove otherwise. Local Arabs had often tried to point out its location to exploration groups, but their insights had been discounted.

We also visited the Jerusalem Archaeological Park and climbed steps as old as Solomon’s reign. These would have been 900 years old in Jesus’ day. Now it appears as if a process has begun that could result in Old Testament History books being updated. There were other artifacts present, but these large, altered stones suggest far more than any other.

Two unique experiences have been ours in the past few days. Friday after making cookies, cutting vegetables, and cleaning house, we left at 4 p.m. for a service at 5 p.m. The exciting part was the baptism. Following this service, twelve pizzas were ordered for the 25 students from the Ibex Institute, who came to the apartment. They came hungry and scarfed down the pizzas, sodas, vegetables and cookies. We enjoyed meeting and talking with them.

The other event was an authentic Passover Seder in Jerusalem. One had made slaw from 12 heads of cabbage and a kilo of carrots for the expected 130 people who gathered. Others baked chicken and roasted potatoes for the Seder. We arrived at the church as tables were being set up. The leader pointed out that the Seder was symbolic of Jesus, who is the focal point of our faith, not the ritual. A history of the exodus from Egypt was reviewed, along with a skit performed by the young people. Then we enjoyed matzo ball soup, chicken and potatoes, meat balls and rice, slaw, beets, grape juice, water and soft drinks. Lamb is expensive and not often served.

Before going to Galilee for three days, we went to Herodion, which was Herod’s summer palace, fortress, burial ground, and district capital. Lying south of Jerusalem and south-east of Bethlehem, this complex is situated on an artificial hill which we climbed to see the ruins of the fortress.

The next day we walked the walls of Jerusalem from the Jaffa Gate to the Dung Gate. Walking the Walls Measuring four miles around, the walls were built for defense as well as protection. Walking on top of the walls gave us a different perspective of the city. From there we went to the olive garden of Gethsemane.

From Gethsemane, we walked down into the valley of Gehenna, which is the word used in the Bible for Hell because garbage was burned in this valley and the fires were always burning. As we walked down the steep steps and steep road on a very hot day, I asked if we were descending into hell. A carnival atmosphere permeated the valley as a rock-climbing wall, a zip line and a rope bridge were set up for those who tried their skills at climbing and daring.

The next week we drove to Galilee and went to the Hula Valley Nature Preserve. That was the hot day. One lady said her thermometer registered 121 in the sun, but we saw one registering 43 degrees Celsius, which is roughly 115 degrees. We “sweated” that one. That night we ate St. Peter’s fish in a restaurant in Tiberias. We stayed at a kibbutz at the home of friends who had refurbished one of the buildings into a comfortable home. The next day we visited the fortress at Akko or Acre that had been built by the Turks in the 18th century on the13th century Crusader foundation.Crusaer Castle at Akko We spent another night in Galilee before returning by way of Bet She’an. You may remember that Bet She’an was the place where Saul and his sons’ bodies were hung on the wall after being killed by the Philistines.

That wrapped up our time in Israel where we did not go to the sites most tourists visit, nor did we buy any souvenirs. Gas is about $7/gallon there. We found that it is very expensive to live in Jerusalem.