On Thursday morning we headed for Caesarea. The site was first occupied by the Phoenicians, who built a harbor here in the 4th Century B.C. Herod the Great began construction of a large city named in honour of Augustus occupied by both Jews and non-Jews. When Judaea became a Roman province Caesarea was, from AD 6, (or as called in Israel CE for Christian Era) the residence of the Roman procurators including Pontius Pilate during whose term of office Christ was crucified. The Crusaders occupied this town in 1101. The crusader fortress has been open to the public for many years. The remains of an aqueduct are present here and you could see how the citizenry of the time got their water from inland sources.

It was at this site that Mike was photographer in 1972. He was often the first into various "digs" in order to take pictures before disturbing the artifacts. Mike introduced himself to the Head Archeologist (Daveed) who was happy to talk to someone who had been present in the first season of the dig. We were then taken on a "guided tour" of this ongoing archeological dig. During Mike's time at the dig only a very small section of the Herodian city had been unearthed. Now, 20 years later, a large portion of the city has been uncovered. They are working diligently to have the site open for tourists by 1998 - the 50th Anniversary of Israel as a nation. We spent several hours there touring the site, taking pictures and eventually enjoying a wonderful lunch sitting in a restaurant overlooking the Mediterranean. Our second night at Shefiyam we went in search of supper and came across an Israel equivalent of a Dennys. Kapulsky's. They seemed to serve a little bit of everything, were located throughout Israel, (I got to the point where I could even read the word in Hebrew!) and provided the most wonderful desserts: eclairs, apple strudel, etc.

On Friday, we packed up and slowly made our way northward to the Sea of Galilee and the town of Tiberias via Nazareth. (That included a false start when we tried to head through the Arab town of Tulkarm and discovered there were NO road signs to show the way after you hit the center of the city so we back tracked). After leaving Nazareth we passed through Cana. Cana was the little town famed as the place where Jesus performed his first miracle: the changing of water into wine at the Marriage in Cana of Galilee. We didn't really stop in Nazareth (the largest Arab town in Israel) but had a pleasant journey over hill and dale through a time that has changed mightily over 2000 years.

Herod Antipas founded the city of Tiberias in AD 17 and named it after the Roman Emperor Tiberius. The town is very much like a seaside town with lots of shops and fish restaurants as their fish is still caught from the Sea of Galilee. We passed through Tiberias and Midgal (home of Mary Magdalene). Just north of Tiberias was our second Kibbutz - Nof Ginnosaur. This was a delightful place with green grass, trees and a wonderful scent from the citrus groves surrounding the property on three sides. Our room overlooked the Sea of Galilee in a peaceful setting. Oh yes, the breakfast dining room at Nof Ginnosaur was very different from Shefayim. Here, we only shared our meals with other tourists and there were lots of those. They brought them in by the bus loads each night. For a "small" kibbutz, there were about 7-10 buses there both nights.

On Saturday, we made our way toward Capernaum at the north end of the Sea of Galilee. (This is 673 ft. below sea level) It was here that Jesus called his first disciples: Simon Peter, his brother Andrew, James and his brother John. The town was first established around the 2nd century BC. The residents at Capernaum did not take part in the uprisings against Rome in the 1st and 2nd centuries. Here we visited a sort of archaeological park with many carved architectural fragments and mosaics. Straight across from the entrance, toward the back, is the Octagon of Peter where there are remains of earlier houses laid out in regular square blocks (insulae) the oldest of which dates from the 1st century BC. These were modest dwellings with small rooms surrounding a courtyard. One house was replastered at least three times and on the remains of plaster were found 131 inscriptions in which the names of Christ and Peter frequently occur. To its left is the synagogue that was partially rebuilt. It is hoped that further excavations on this spot will reveal the synagogue where Jesus taught. We left Capernaum (amid the tour buses) and traveled around the Sea with the Golan Heights on our left and the Sea at our right and passed over the River Jordan as it feeds into the Sea of Galilee. The fields where filled with yellow and red wild flowers, numerous citrus groves and farm land.

As we came around the Southern tip of the Sea we encountered Yardenit which is a place of baptism on the River Jordan south of Tiberias. The baptismal areas were built in recent years.

Page 3 of our Israel Trip