On our first stop we Beer Sheva where we looked at some old ruins (surprise, surprise) and focused a lot of teaching on the ancient alters.
Liz and me chilling on a replica of the alter- it has the horns and everything.
We then journeyed to Arad where we explored an iron age (1200-1000 BC) temple that was almost an exact replica of the one that was once in Jerusalem.
Here we are in the "Holy of Holies"
Jesse is sacrifice me on the alter. I know, I know, we get a little carried away, but trust me, there is only so long you can just stare at these ruins- to keep life interesting, we've gotten a bit creative.
Our instructors smile and turn their heads the other way when we "explore" beyond the normal routs of a tourist. In this case Caitlyn, Ada and I went down (ok, well, i was the only one that actually went down) this big cistern type thing that was being excavated in the ancient temple.
The wall around an old Canaanite city below the temple grounds.
Stop 3 was my favorite as it entailed hiking through the Wadi Zen- a beautiful dried canyon of magnificent stone structures that were sculpted and cut away by the flood.
beauty
and clarity
Tryin to do the whole gansta thing near the top (-:
Christina and me- we finally made it! Check out where we just were!
ha! Matt trying to be all cool...he totally jacked up his leg when he fell, but I was pretty happy with the action shot, so I'm posting it
Stop 4- Avdat. This was an ancient fortress of the Nabateans (a people group that Herod the Great's mother came from). These people used to be the nomads of the desert but finally settled in very remote places in the desert.
See the little hills beyond the arch? The entire landscape looked like that.
k, so I was liking the whole "through a window" effect. This is taken out of a doorway in one of the ancient churches of the Nabateans.
We ended the day at the Maktesh Ramon, the worlds largest erosion crater located in the Negev desert. We made it just in time for sunset- it was so so SO beautiful. Everyone stared silently for quite some time as we watched the colors dance and change across the sky.
nothing short of majestic 
a wonderful conclusion to our day
1 comment:
only you could make more than a month's work of "ruins" pics absolutely, fascinating, artistic, and hysterical, naom. i never get bored of them. what incredible opportunities you have had! i just got your birthday postcard in the mail! i was so excited! thank you so much! :) it's beautiful. it's definitely going up on my wall. heehee.
take care.
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