photo on left: descending into cistern at Tel Be'er Sheva (we've climbed A LOT & we've all learned what goes down must come back up!)photo on right: Becky gathering stones in Elah Valley
Elah Valley, site of David's victory over Goliath: Jason read I Samuel: 17 then we all gathered our 5 smooth stones. We all assume a gravel truck comes in once or twice per month to replace those picked up by tourists but I don't care. This is authentic, the real place, and I'm sure I picked up the extra 4 stones David didn't use! Those are for you, Sandy. Thankfully, the brook was dry.(JT)
Beit Guvrin/Meresha: First hiked through the Bell Caves, date to the Byzantine Period and Early Muslim period. In the area there are actually more than 800 caves. We sang "It Is Well" in a cave. A memory I was able to video. Up and down, up and down, in and out of cave residences. Pant, pant. My tongue's hanging (JT).
Lachish: This is another Tel (which means rubble). The city was built on a pile of rubble. It covered 48 acres. When Hezekiah was king (700?BC), the Assyrian king, Synnacharib, sat and watched as his army stormed the city to conquer it. The army conquered 20 different cities. They think that perhaps they were attacking different cities at the same time because the army was so large. Afterward they captured and tortured people. 1500 dead bodies were found. After the Assyrians fell, Lachish was rebuilt by Rehoboam. This was the last city of Judah to fall to the Babylonians before Jerusalem was captured in 586 BC.
Driving to Beer Sheva passing Bedouin dwellings.
Beer Sheva: Just had our picnic lunch. Paul's wife, Patty, and daughter, Andrea, have prepared lunches for us all week. It's been wonderful. A typical lunch includes large hard rolls with meat & cheese (today we had either chicken or tuna salad). Today we also had a cucumber tomato salad (served very frequently at all meals including breakfast), hummus (now loved by many of us), carrot sticks, chips, Bamba (an israeli treat I can only describe as cheetos made with peanut butter instead of cheese), and carrot, date, and banana bread. I (JT) have been on the South Beach diet for 3 or 4 weeks and it's been very easy to stay true to the diet while in Israel. Vegetables are served every meal. I just have to avoid the bread and desserts. We stopped for ice cream this morning after climbing around Meresha. I couldn't resist.
Now Becky's on the edge of her bus seat looking for a camel. We've been told we may see some any moment. From the moment Becky knew she was going on this trip she's been telling others she was coming to see a camel and I've been telling her there are NO camels in Israel. Phooey, I think I'm wrong!!!
We've just been within 3/4 mile of the Gaza Strip near Ashkelon on the kibbutz, Yad Mordechai. At this site 150 Israelis held off more than 2000 Egyptian militia for five days allowing the remainder of the Israeli forces to organize and defend their new nation. This took place immediately after Ben Gurion declared Israeli independence in 1948. Becky and I both purchased the book, "Six Days of Yad-Mordechai", If you'd like to read it just see one of us.
Now we travel home for our evening meal. It will consist of hummus, soup, cucumbers, tomatoes, carrot sticks, some other relishes we don't recognize, a form of potato or rice or couscous, and a meat dish. Last night we had one piece of chicken for four people to share and some lamb meatballs. There were also cooked prunes and grapes in the dish. There was cake for dessert, but they ran out before our table was served, so we didn't get any. We'll see what tonight brings. We walk so much during the day that we are very hungry by dinnertime. This is our last night here, so we will mark our maps for the last time.
P.S. Never saw a camel!
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