We traveled South to the Negev (the continuation of the Sinai Desert in Israel) on Sunday and Monday and visited four significant Archaeological Sites. Each of the sites that Fr. Gregory has chosen for us to visit adds something else to an understanding of Biblical history that is still being rounded out. On Sunday afternoon , we visited Tel Arad. This stronghold in the Negev has a significant site from the Canaanite period that has contributed to a greater understanding of that Culture. But the real highlight of this site the fortress or citadel that dates to the Israelite iron age. It has one of the few clear Israelite temples outside Jerusalem. This temple, which has a floor plan similar to that of Solomon's temple, was in use until the 7th Centruy BC, when Josiah unified all worship in Judea at Jerusalem. This is the only example of a Jewish Temple in Israeli contemporaneous with Solomon's Temple. http://picasaweb.google.com/FrBart/HebronAndTelArad. After a good night's sleep in a hotel in the modern city of Arad, we headed deeper south into the Negev 
Desert to the ruins of an ancient Nabatean City fortress of Mamshit. The Nabateans were the "toll keepers" on a number of significant middle eastern trade routes and established several significant cities (including the great city of Petra which we will visit in Late July). Mamshit was founded sometime int he 1st Century BC. Mamshit is well preserved (and some reconstructed ruins) that date from the the 1st Century BC until the Byzantine Era, during which the Nabateans had adopted Christianity. Among the identifiable ruins here are public buildings, private residences and two well established Christian Churches. The well-planned city yielded great photographs of remarkable architectural features today. Among the more interesting realities of Mamshit is that it never had a well that dug down into the aquifer. The entire water supply of the city came from carefully collecting rainwater from near-by Wadis and from rooftops and storing it in underground cisterns. Much of that water system is apparent today, including a well preserved dam that still functions to collect water in the wadi closest to the Tel. http://picasaweb.google.com/FrBart/Mamshit
Desert to the ruins of an ancient Nabatean City fortress of Mamshit. The Nabateans were the "toll keepers" on a number of significant middle eastern trade routes and established several significant cities (including the great city of Petra which we will visit in Late July). Mamshit was founded sometime int he 1st Century BC. Mamshit is well preserved (and some reconstructed ruins) that date from the the 1st Century BC until the Byzantine Era, during which the Nabateans had adopted Christianity. Among the identifiable ruins here are public buildings, private residences and two well established Christian Churches. The well-planned city yielded great photographs of remarkable architectural features today. Among the more interesting realities of Mamshit is that it never had a well that dug down into the aquifer. The entire water supply of the city came from carefully collecting rainwater from near-by Wadis and from rooftops and storing it in underground cisterns. Much of that water system is apparent today, including a well preserved dam that still functions to collect water in the wadi closest to the Tel. http://picasaweb.google.com/FrBart/Mamshit
From Mamshit, we drove west in the Negev to the ruins of the town that was the capital of the Israelite Negev: Be'er Sheva. Be'er Sheva is at the place that Abraham bargained with a Philistine for a particular well. That very deep well is on the site of the archaeological remains of the City. Like other built up fortresses we have visited, Tel Be'er Sheva includes an elaborate tunnel for storing and channeling water that could also have served as an escape route in case of attack. http://picasaweb.google.com/FrBart/BeErSheva.
Finally
this afternoon, we headed back into the Judean hillside to another remarkable archaeological site called Beit Guvrin. Around this archaeological site are hundreds of "bell caves" which were cut from the top down into the earth in a unique chalk (limestone) quarrying method from the 4th to the 7th Centuries. These magnificent caves made for some remarkable photographs as well. In addition to the caves, we also visited the so-called "sidonian tombs" in the burial area of this site. These date from the Hellenistic Era and contained amazing tomb drawings around the actual tombs. Again there are remarkable photos from this entire site. http://picasaweb.google.com/FrBart/BetGruvin.
this afternoon, we headed back into the Judean hillside to another remarkable archaeological site called Beit Guvrin. Around this archaeological site are hundreds of "bell caves" which were cut from the top down into the earth in a unique chalk (limestone) quarrying method from the 4th to the 7th Centuries. These magnificent caves made for some remarkable photographs as well. In addition to the caves, we also visited the so-called "sidonian tombs" in the burial area of this site. These date from the Hellenistic Era and contained amazing tomb drawings around the actual tombs. Again there are remarkable photos from this entire site. http://picasaweb.google.com/FrBart/BetGruvin.Each of these sites adds to the storehouse of cultural, geographic, historical and literary database that help with the interpreting of the Scriptures. I am growing in my appreciation of the landscape that shapes so much of our religious narrative. The Word is becoming flesh in new ways each day.
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