Beginning Week 3

We’ve continued our tour of the country, moved north to south, and now we have begun our central campaign.

Negev

The Negev is the desert region in Southern Israel, extending down to the Gulf of Aqaba. It is a beautiful region, with deserts and makhteshim—the “craters” caused by soft mineral eroding from beneath harder rock, causing the upper layer to collapse.

View of Makhtesh Ramon in the Negev

Arad

Originally built in the Bronze Age, Arad is one of those cities in Israel that has always been there. The lower city excavations are Canaanite, featuring dwellings and palaces. The upper are mostly of Israelite origin, with a Hellenistic tower built in the middle of the fortifications.

Israelite Fortifications at Arad

Be’er Sheva

Beersheba is a oft-mentioned city in the Bible, from Abraham’s covenant with Abimelech to describing Israel’s territory as reaching from “Dan to Beersheba.” The tell itself commands a fabulous view of the surrounding country, which was necessary for the embattled city to defend itself.

Ancient City at Tel Be’er Sheva

Ashkelon

A tell that is near and dear to our hearts, we returned to take a few photographs and recall an ancient site that is best known as one of the Philistine pentapolis. Throughout its long history, this city has been an important port town, and is well known for its wine and oil.

Ashkelon, by the Sea

Ashdod

Another member of the pentapolis, and now a cow pasture, Ashdod was the original resting place of the Ark of the Covenant after its capture by the Philistines. They learned a rather uncomfortable lesson from that incident, and hastily sent it home. It is also described as participating in sea-trade, due to its control of a port 4 miles away from the land-locked city.

Ashdod, Now a Cow Pasture

Lachish

Lachish is an old favorite. As a city that was old before the Israelites conquered it, it came under control of Judah, and was established as a fortified city by Rehoboam, the final defense before an enemy could reach Jerusalem. It acted its part during the siege of Sennacharib, who destroyed the city and publicized the event through a series of reliefs in Nineveh.

Fortress at Lachish

Mareshah

Another of Rehoboam’s fortified cities, Mareshah was the site of a battle between King Asa of Judah and Zerah the Ethiopian. However, the city was taken by the Edomites after Judah’s fall to Babylon, and remained a vibrant city until it rotted away under the Hasmoneans. Today, visitors can explore many of the incredible caves under the city, including subterranean olive presses.

Subterranean Olive Oil Press at Mareshah

Socoh

Positioned in the Elah valley, near Khirbet Qeiyafa, Socoh hosted the Philistines as they drew themselves up in battle array before the Israelite encampment at Qeiyafa. It was between these tells that David and Goliath had their famous “match,” and then the Philistines were pursued up the valley as they fled the wrath of their conquerors.

Tel Socho

Gath (Tel es-Safi)

Speaking of Goliath, number 3 in our tour of the pentapolis was Tel es-Safi, commonly identified as Goliath’s hometown of Gath. It is a unique irony to note that the Brook of Elah runs along the foot of the tell—a ways downstream, it betrayed the giant by yielding a smooth stone to a young shepherd.

Tel es-Safi, Commonly Considered as Gath

Through the Shephelah and Beyond

On what was one of the most exciting days of the trip so far, we finished up our Israel leg by winding our way from Jerusalem down to Gath, and up to Tel Aviv through the Shephelah (or Shfela). This is the lowland area of southern Israel in Biblical Judea.

It’s interesting to note the difference between the two sides of the ridge in Judea–on the west is the Shephelah with rolling hills of fertile agricultural land, which you can see in the Sorek Valley photo. On the western side of the mountains is the wilderness of the hill country with its rugged and barren land.

We stopped at the tell of Beth-Shemesh first. This was originally in the Danites’ territory, which was abandoned when the Philistines became too aggressive for Dan’s sensibilities. God allowed their territory to be overrun because they violated His command to utterly drive out the inhabitants of the land (Judges 2:2-4). This city was at an important passage through the Shephelah and the old stomping grounds of our friend Samson. His birthplace and his wife’s hometown are both visible from this tell. The Philistines would later send the Ark of the Covenant up the Sorek Valley on a cart drawn by two very miserable milk cows.

View from the Tell of Beth-Shemesh into the Sorek Valley

Another stop on our way was the tell of Lachish. This was a geek-out site for us. The British Museum has a beautiful display of Sennacharib’s siege against Lachish (note the siege ramp on the right of the mound), from the beginning to the brutal end when the rebels were impaled or skinned alive as the rest of city was led into slavery. The Assyrian army was slowly moving through Judah, ravaging the land and conquering the fortified cities–cities which communicated to each other by signal fires. There’s an emotion that lands somewhere between heartrending and chilling when you read one of the final letters to the military governor saying, “…we cannot see [the signal fire of] Azekah.” Lachish was alone.

Tell at Lachish, Showing Siege Ramp

The last site was Gath (Tell es-Safi). We know this best as the mighty giant Goliath’s hometown. Ironically, the brook of Elah runs at the foot of the city, the same brook from which, further along, David likely lifted the smooth stone that would be Goliath’s bane.

Tell at Gath, Goliath’s Hometown

Now, for the weird note for the day. In Tiberias, across from our hotel, we snapped this photo of a creepy bit of graffiti. Creepy, because that buck-toothed teddy just seems to stare into your soul.

The Creepy Teddy Bear, Part 1

Much to our consternation, we stepped off the bus 10 days later at a random gas station in southern Judea near Lachish, and there–staring into our souls–was Creepy Bear. Again.

Creepy Teddy Bear Stare, Part 2

This is our last post from Israel–we’re heading to Seville, Spain next. We hope you enjoy the next step in time to the Renaissance and beyond!