Judah and the Shephelah (Day 1)

We recently spent 3 days in the southern part of Israel, which means and impression report from each day. I will attempt to post those with pictures now. :) Here's the first:

It’s amazing how much things can change in ten years. Ten years ago, in October of 1998, I made my first trip to the land of Israel. The sites I visited then are not exactly the same as the sites we’ve visited so far this semester, but many have been the same or similar. Last time, I distinctly remember visiting Azekah and looking down on the Elah valley. It was incredibly hot, especially for us Montanans who were preparing for winter back home. I remember that we were impressed by the large amounts of pottery to be found all around. My sister especially enjoyed collecting it. With our guide we searched out the shade of a lone tree on top of the hill to listen to him talk. We sat in the dirt or stood. I’m pretty sure that we had the site to ourselves. Today, what a difference! It was not so extremely hot, for starters, though I don’t think that has much to do with the ten year time difference. Perhaps memory serves me poorly, but I’m about 99% sure that it was much more developed: more picnic benches, more paths, more places to sit. And, of course, more people. Perhaps this had something to do with the fact that this time we came on a Saturday, and I’m fairly sure that last time we came on a week-day. Nevertheless, it was a very different experience. I must add, as much as I enjoyed that two week trip, it’s nice to spend more time over here and have a chance to digest what I’m learning. (Here's our group on top of Azekah.)

However, Azekah was our third stop of the day, so let me back up a little. The morning started out in the beautiful (and relatively rugged) Sorek System. We hiked down the Wadi to what used to be the Arab village of Safat. On the way we stopped by a cave – one that at some point had probably been a house. We talked about how Israelites probably lived during the time of Solomon: “Each under his own vine and fig tree.” We even saw a vine and fig tree together a little later on. While there we also talked about how grapes are (were) raised in Israel and looked at a couple places where this imagery is applied in the Bible. God compares Israel to a vine that, though it had every conceivable advantage, refused to produce the proper fruit. Jesus used the image of a vine to remind His disciples of the importance of “abiding in Him” as well as bearing proper fruit.

From there we crossed into the Rephaim Canyon, and then down to the Sorek Valley. . We cut across the chalk trough and stopped at Beth Shemesh. There we talked about Sampson and looked across the valley to the place where he lived. It was one of our first looks at the swinging door area of the Shephelah where so many of the Philistine/Israeli conflicts took place.

From here one can clearly see the hill country, the stronghold of Israel, and the beginning of the coastal (Philistine) plain. It’s a battlefield just waiting to happen, and it doesn’t have to wait long. After our discussion of Sampson, trying to see him in the land, we got to look around the tel there a little. There were some fun burial places and a large cistern shaped like a cross.

Our third stop was, of course, Azekah, looking over the Elah valley. As a note of interest, Azekah is the center of the Shephelah. We could clearly see Gath to the West from the top. We talked about why it’s likely that the David and Goliath story took place around the corner in the Elah valley, and not right in front of where we were. From there we continued along the diagonal route, past Maresha, to Lachish. I’m looking forward to going to Lachish with Dr. Barkai and learning more about that place. We talked briefly about the Israelite fortifications and the Assyrian siege. Those Assyrians were not the sort of people I would want my daughter to bring home. Then we looked around a bit at the palace and the well. (This is a couple of guys from the other class re-enacting the conquering of Lachish by the Assyrians.)

The last stop of the day was as Ashkelon. I went (with a few other people) with Leah and Larry to look at the site. Larry’s place had many different layers. One of the most interesting things he told us was about a place they had found pottery with erotic scenes on it, so they figured it was a brothel. Later on, in a Roman pipe, they found many skeletons (something like 200, I think) of infants. All but one of them were male. Likely enough, when the women at the brothel got pregnant and gave birth, they threw out the males but kept the female to raise to be prostitutes. How tragic.

Leah’s sight made her happy, but they didn’t find anything all that exciting. The sight right next to it had some amazing statues, though. There were a lot of fun Byzantine remains in the area.

We also saw a large glace and the remains of a Canaanite arch.

Then we went down to the beach. It was lovely to wade in the warm water, look at shells, and watch the sun set. What a beautiful place.

Around 7 we arrived at Beersheva, ate dinner, and went to our rooms. Small, but efficient, and sufficient. And now I need to sleep to be ready for tomorrow!