We had an interesting first day that began with a good Israeli breakfast, a pleasant morning drive in our rental van, and picturesque visits to biblical sites. We visited Megiddo, Mount Carmel and Caesarea before heading over to the Sea of Galilee and checking into our hotel in Tiberias. (The hotel has a large open balcony with a great view of the city and the lake. I’ll try to post a picture later.)
I’m dealing with some jet lag and am wanting to nod off, so I’ll keep tonight’s post simple.
A gate at Megiddo that dates to the Canaanite period. This was built prior to the Israelite conquest of the land. According to Judges 1, Megiddo was not captured or destroyed by the Israelites. It became one in a chain of Canaanite strongholds that stretched across the middle of the country, effective cutting Israelite territory in two.
The surviving half of the "Solomonic" gate at Megiddo. This view is looking out from inside the the ancient city. Three chambers are visible. (The second one is blocked with small stones.) Gate with a similar design were discovered at Hazor and Gezer. The same architectural gate design calls attention to 1 Kings 9:15, which states that Solomon fortified these three cities during his reign.
These were not the only gates in ancient Megiddo. The city was destroyed 25 times in antiquity and built/rebuilt 25 times. Each of these 25 versions of Megiddo was its own civilization with unique traditions, history and culture. It’s almost staggering to imagine so many memories and lives that sprung from here, and how they are only represented by scatted piles of damaged rocks.
No time tonight to show the other places we visited but I’ll get to those later. We have a great day planned for tomorrow, so I will prepare to enjoy it by getting to sleep.
