Craig and Suzanne Kuehn
Our Family and Travels
At Bet She'an National Park, the most complete Roman city is being excavated. The ancient city is the tell in the distance from the amphitheater. King Saul's body was hung there. Jonathan Maccabees was killed there. The Roman city was built after Pompeii took control. It was called Scythopolis during Jesus' time. The next photo is the ruins of Qumran. The last is a cave that held the Dead Sea Scrolls.
We took a "Jesus" boat to kibbutz for lunch. After lunch, we went up the Golan Heights. We could see Syria, but there was no hint of the civil war happening over there. The middle is the Sea of Galilee from the Golan Heights. The Yarmuk River forms the boundary between Israel/Syria and Jordan. It is a lush valley before the river empties into the Jordan River.
Capernaum was Jesus' hometown during his ministry. It is now an Israeli National Park. Building foundations and a synagoge are excavated. A Franciscan church sits over Peter's house and inside the church visitors can see the excavation from above. On the l., the church at Tabgha, the site of the Feeding of the 5,000.
(l to r) The Chapel of the Beatitudes, the site of the Sermon on the Mount. The chapel's grounds with the Sea of Galilee in the background. And us.
(l to r)A Korean group having mass at the Church of the Annunciation in Nazareth. Below the church is the excavation of Mary's home. There was a wedding in Cana -- this time an Ethiopian wedding, the place where Jesus turned water into wine.
(l to r) Archeological excavations happen all over the Holy Land. This in the middle of Yaffo, biblical Jaffa. Meggido was at a trading crossroads and used by Solomon to keep his horses. The amphitheater at Caesarea was excavated and is now is used for concerts.
Holy Land 2013
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Subtitle
We were able to use our vacation club points for a Holy Land tour in 2013. We normally don't go on tours, but in the Holy Land, a tour cuts through a lot of red tape and by using points we didn't need to lay out cash -- both positives for us. Visiting the Holy Land brings the Bible to life. To walk at the places mentioned in the Bible adds flesh to the biblical text. It adds an appreciation of the climate and a feel for the strategic importance of the area. We say visiting the Holy Land, because the Holy Land is much more than Israel. Of course, the highlight of any visit to the Holy Land is to be in the holy city of Jerusalem.