That said, we hated leaving the home country of Jesus. We had grown to love the Sea of Galilee area especially knowing that Jesus, Peter, James, John, and Peter had grown up in that area and walked those hills and spent much of their time on the Sea.
But our next stop was particularly exciting and mostly unknown to most of us. It's Beit Shean, the world's largest active archaeological dig. It's an incredible story. It was a Roman city complete with theatres, heated baths, thriving commerical area, a stadium for chariot races, running water for public bathrooms, and luxurious homes. Then, in 749, an earthquake leveled the city (as well as much of the Middle East we were to learn) and the city lay forgotten under rubble, silt, sand from sand storms, and runoff from floods. As happens in this part of the world, people built over the rubble. A new Beit Shean was built. In fact, it's the hometown of our guide,
Dr. Saleem Ateek, the Dallas psychotherapist. The Israelis forced him and his family out in 1948 as the newer city was once again leveled.
Biblically, the city is famous as the site where King Saul and his sons' bodies were hung from the city walls.(See the book of Samuel for details.) More recently, some of the movie Jesus Christ, Superstar were filmed in the newly uncovered city. But I'm getting ahead of myself.
When the Israelis bulldozed the newer Beit Shean, they discovered some of the older city's remains. Archaeologists went to work and you just won't believe what they've uncovered. I'll post a couple of pictures but there's no way the photos can do justice to the majesty, the grandeur of this once-thriving, beautifully-designed and built city. They've now uncovered evidence of 20 different civilizations dating back to 17 centuries B.C. Mind-boggling.
On to Jordan. We crossed in at the Sheik Hussein Bridge. It took us two solid hours to exit Israel and enter Jordan. When I tell you border security in this part of the world is tight, believe me, it is tight. It's nothing like our porous border with Mexico where anyone and anything enters at will with little to no scrutiny. Here, everything associated with border crossing is scrutinized and nothing is easy.
On the way, our Muslim guide (who replaced our Palestinian Christian guide who led us through Israel) introduced us to a new word. "Abouna." It is the highest respect paid to a man of God (believe it or not, he included clergy - Larry and me- in that category.) So, since then, everyone calls us "Abouna Dale and Abouna Larry." Being in Jordan, it's a little lower than "King" and we heard plenty about that, too.
Jordan is 92 percent Muslim (or Moslem as everyone here says it) and only five percent Christian. It is dirt poor. Some are rich and almost everyone else is dirt poor. No middle class. We saw poverty that breaks your heart. Most of us bought trinkets for our kids and grandchildren because our hearts were touched when little Mohammed and little Ibn asked us to pay $1 for postcards and $4 for beautiful bracelets of "rare stones." A lot of U.S. grandkids are going to have a swell time with all their new trinkets when our pilgrims get home.
The Jordanians are proud of the fact that Jesus was baptized in the River Jordan in what is now Jordan. In fact, on his way to Jerusalem from Nazareth and Capernaum, Jesus often walked the route that took him east of the Jordan River which is today, Jordan. The Moabites, Sodom and Gomorroh - all Jordan.
Then to the Mountains of Moab and to Mount Nebo. See Deuteronomy 32: 48-52 and chapter 34 for the huge events that happened on Mount Nebo. At its peak, where god led Moses to overlook the Promised Land and where Moses died - that's where I got to hold a communion service. The music was heart-touching and the joy and the fellowship we all felt in such a holy place was beyond my ability to put into words. A true mountaintop experience. Thanks be to God!
Overnight in the thriving tourist town of Petra. What was uncovered there in 1812 by a Swiss engineer is one of the Eight Wonders of the World. It is truly beyone description. Between the First Century B.C. and First Century A.D., a people called the Nabateans built a city out of the mountains. Literally carved temples, palaces, amphitheatres, homes, and shopping centers (so to speak) out of solid rock. I'll post a few pictures.
Our tour there was interesting. Saleem has led many tours here and he said if we want to avoid literally thousands of Italians, Russians, French, etc. tourists all muscling their way through the narrow gorges into Petra, we ought to arrive early. How early? Wake up call at 5:30, on the bus at 6:30. Sure enough, we were the only ones there for a good hour-and-a-half. As we were leaving at 9 a.m., you should have seen the thousands of tourists all arriving at the same time. We thanked Saleem for his wisdom.
Then to Aqaba on the southern tip of Jordan and bordering the Red Sea. Know why they call it the Red Sea? Because at sunset, the sun shining on the bordering Jordanian mountains give the Sea a reddish tinge. We saw it tonight as we left Jordan, entered Israel for a couple of miles, and then entered Egypt. Yes, three border crossings. Three checkpoints. Three passport checks. Three visa stamps. Three baggage x-rays (the Israelis is by far the most extensive as you would expect). Then three more passport checks and then three more luggage checks. Lots of bureaucracy. At the end of today, most of us never want to see another line again - or people carrying big guns and not smiling.
We had a late lunch in Elot (still Israel) which is a resort city on the Red Sea. Beautiful scenery. Modern shops. Big-name retailers. A stark contrast to the poverty of Jordan. Elot is in the middle of the Rift Valley which most of us know is in Africa but didn't know actually begins in Syria. It's an earthquake faultline and everyone talks about the earthquake of 749 devastating all the surround countries.
We're now spending tonight in the Intercontinental Hotel in Taba Heights in the city of Taba. It, too, is on the Red Sea and is impressive. Our guide, however, tells us that Egypt's poverty is even more stark than Jordan's. He says there are rich people in
Cairo but they're small in number compared to those who are poor. There are 17 million in Cairo. That's where we're headed tomorrow (Thursday) after we bus across the Sinai Desert and visit St. Catherine's (think Moses and the Exodus) on the way to Cairo.
The beautiful Scots Hotel in Tiberias. It's owned by the Scottish Anglican Church and was a hospital in the 1800s. It's nowa luxurious resort hotel right on the banks of the Sea of Galilee.
The Cardo Maxima ("cardo" from the Greek for "heart." This is the main street of Beit Shean, a Roman city built 2,000 years ago. It was uncovered in 1948.
One of the means of transportation into and out of Petra. 
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