Friday June 10th

The entire day today we spent to the north of Tiberias.  We visited a couple nature preserves.  First, in the morning went to the Tel Dan nature preserve and walked the ancient Dan trail.  It takes its name from the tribe of Dan.  The Dan springs are the major source of water for the Sea of Galilee.  The water is fed from Mount Hermon in Syria and that is a point of contention for Syria.  The spring water flows down the Dan river into the Sea of Galilee, down the Jordan river, and ultimately ends in the Dead Sea.  This is a major source of water for this dry arid environment.  Later in the day we went to the top of Mount Bental.  On mount Bental we were given a “modern history” lesson about the 6 day war that happened in 1967.  During this conflict Israel took possession of the Golan Heights, West Bank, and Gaza Strip.  Our history lesson dealt with the Golan Heights since that is where we were spending our day.

Damascus valley from Mt. Bental

On the top of Mount Bental we stood in former Syrian bunkers.  I got the impression that the Israelis are divided on whether they should retain control over the Golan Heights or settle on a peace for land trade.  It is obvious how important this land is to Israel and for its own security.  The whole day we skirted the borders of Lebanon and Syria and passed along side active mine fields.

In between our nature stops we stopped at Caesarea Philippi.

Caesarea Philippi

While there we stopped reflect on what significant biblical event happened there.  You can read the event in Matthew 16:13-16.  Jesus asks his disciples who do they think He is?  We focused on Peters answer.  His response was not just simple a single statement, his answer was a three phase statement.  Peter identified Jesus as the Messiah, as the Son, as coming from the living God.  We were challenged to think more intently on Peter's response and the deep meaning in his response.

Today I had my most ethnic meal yet and definitely the most enjoyable.  It was fairly simple but very tasty.  We were in a Druze village.  We had a Druze pita with lebane (sour cheese) and olive oil.  It was fantasitic!  It was a hot day (over 100°F) so I enhanced the meal with a cold Coke and Ice cream for dessert.

Using a fig leaf to cover my shame

I have to make a comment on our guide.  He is absolutely fantastic.  He has a PhD in archeology and teaches it at a university.  He leads tours as extra work.  He views archeology through the bible.  Even though he is not a Christian he is constantly reading from the bible at the sights as proof of how the Bible and archeology are so closely tied together.