Our Greece and Israel Itinerary, on a map

Top 10 places I want to see in Israel, as of today

What do I want to see most?

Without giving it a lot of thought, here goes:

1. Where Jesus walked on the water. And Peter stepped out and walked also, when he kept focused on Jesus.  Sea of Galilee or as it is called now, Sea of Kinnereth. It was also called Sea of Tiberias.

2. Where Jesus was born. Where God became man and walked among us. Bethlehem.

3. Where Jesus prayed in the Garden to His Father, right before being arrested. He talked as one of us, please don't make me do this. He heard and obeyed. The Garden of Gethesemane.

4. Where Jesus preached in Galilee, on the hillsides, to groups of followers. For three years. To sit there and read his words, with the same mountains and hills and stones around me. The Sermon on the Mount.

5. The path representing Jesus' walk from Pilate to his crucifixion. Via Dolorosa. I know the current one is
not the original one. Pilgrims started walking this in the 800's.  So many pilgrims have walked it. Its the spiritual impact that counts.

6. How about the Upper Room? Do we know where that was? And a tomb similar to what Jesus would have been laid in. All those events in Jerusalem the last three days. Any locations remaining?

7. I wonder if we could see any sites of Jesus' miracles? His healing at the Pool of Bethsaida?

8. The Temple, what is remaining.

Wailing Wall of the Temple in Jerusalem

The First Temple built to God by Solomon was totally destroyed by King Nebuchadnezzer in 587 BC and the Israelites were hauled off to Babylon as exiles, but the Second Temple was built in about 537 BC. The Israelites were allowed to return to Jerusalem under Persian King Cyrus the Great and rebuild their Temple.  In 70 AD the Romans knocked it all down. All except for one wall. The Wailing Wall.

Remember this is the site where Abraham didn't sacrifice Isaac.

9. Old fragments of scripture. Old or New Testament.

10. The Jordan River. Jesus was baptized along it's banks. Joshua led the Israelites across it to the Promised  Land.

Well, there's a top 10 list. 

History of the Holy Land. Part 3

37 BC - 135 AD Early Roman Period

Model of Second Temple

Herod the Great ruled Judea from 37 BC to 4 BC.  From Edom (south of the Dead Sea), he and his family practiced the Jewish faith by choice. He would not have been considered Jewish by the purist nationalist Jews of Judea.

 His rise to power was gradual. After ruling Judea and then loosing power to the Parthians, the Roman Senate backed Herod the Great as "King of the Jews" and seated him as client king in Palestine.  He was allowed freedom to rule.  

Wailing Wall today

He is mostly known for two things: colossal building projects and brutality towards his own family. He greatly expanded the Second Temple in Jerusalem (known also as Herod's Temple), build the port-city of Caesarea, and erecting fortresses such as Masada and Herodium. From the grand Second Temple, today only the four foundation walls remain, with the western one referred to as the Wailing Wall. 


When Herod died in 4 BC, his three sons ruled briefly. Then the Romans decided enough was enough, and took over direct rule again. This was the world into which Jesus was born. Heavy Roman taxes, administration insensitive to native peoples, and the forced imposition of Roman culture.  

Herod expanded the Second Temple, but then people selling the sacrificial animals charged prices way too high. Rome needed tax revenues to build and expand. The Jews didn't like or trust the Romans. 

 Growing anger against increased Roman suppression of Jewish life resulted in sporadic violence which escalated into a full-scale revolt in 66 AD (First Jewish-Roman War.) 

Superior Roman forces led by Titus were finally victorious, razing Jerusalem to the ground  (70 AD) and defeating the last Jewish outpost at Masada (73 AD).

The total destruction of Jerusalem and the Second Temple was catastrophic for the Jewish people. According to the contemporary historian Josephus Flavius, hundreds of thousands of Jews perished in the siege of Jerusalem and elsewhere in the country, and many thousands more were sold into slavery.  Those who escaped fled into North Africa or east to Babylon, This is known as the Disapora.

Roman Emperor Hadrian rebuilt Jerusalem as Aelia Capitolina, a Roman city Jews were forbidden to enter. 

 135 AD - 324 AD Late Roman Period

Church of Holy Sepulchre

The Jews kept their traditions and their religion stayed alive. The oral laws and commentaries were written down, the Talmud.

 In 306 AD Constantine  became Emperor of Rome, starting the Christianization of the Roman Empire. Constantine's mother Helena journeyed to Jerusalem, ordered the destruction of Hadrian's Temple to Venus (on Calvary) and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre was built. Also churches at other important New Testament sites such as Mt of Olives (Church of Ascension) and Bethlehem (Church of the Nativity.)

 395 AD - 638 AD Byzantine Period

In 395 AD the Roman Empire was divided in half.  The Latin speaking Western Empire returned its capital to Rome. The Greek speaking Eastern Empire, known as the Byzantine Empire, had its capital at Constantinople. This was a period of relative stability in the Holy Land. 

I say relative. 

The Rock of the Dome

638 AD - 1099 AD Arab Caliphate Period 

In 638 AD, six years after Prophet Muhammad's death, his successor Caliph Umar captured Jerusalem.  The Muslims became the new rulers of Palestine. They were particularly interested in Jerusalem, a city they regard as holy.  One of their three holy cities (Mecca and Medina the other two.) 

The Muslims believe the Prophet Muhammad ascended to Heaven on his Night Journey from the same rock in Jerusalem which Abraham had been about to sacrifice Isaac on.  Muhammad was transported from a Mosque in Mecca to this rock, and then ascended to heaven to speak with God, and then return to earth.

This rock is where Solomon's Temple was built, and the Second Temple was built after the first one was destroyed. One rock, sacred to both religions. 

The Muslims believe it was Ishmael who Abraham took to sacrifice at that rock. Christianity follows Judaism in that Abraham took Isaac to sacrifice, not Ishmael. 

So the Muslims built two mosques on the Temple Mount, over the rock.  The Dome of the Rock, and then 14 years later El-Aqsa. The Muslims forbade Jews and Christians to enter this area. They were allowed to live in the city of Jerusalem if they paid an Infidels tax. 

Dome of the Rock Mosque

Here is where the Wailing Wall became so important to the Jews. It is the closest they were allowed to get to the rock so important to their history. Father Abraham's intense event with God, where Abraham was shown to be faithful and God was shown to provide. 

Christians pilgrims were allowed to visit Jerusalem, for a price. This continued happily until 1009, when Caliph El-Hakim ordered destruction of all synagogues and churches, which included the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.  

Sixty years later, Christians were forbidden to enter Jerusalem, for any price.

Crusader Period

1099 AD - 1260 AD Crusader Period


This enraged Christian Europe, who took up arms and launched several crusades over 200 years, to recapture Jerusalem and the Biblical sites of Palestine.

 I had no idea the Crusaders ruled the Holy Land. It was called the Kingdom of Jerusalem. 

I also had no idea the Muslims had forbidden  Christians to even visit Jerusalem. 

The Crusaders' Royal Palace was in the El-Asqa Mosque, and the Dome of the Rock was transformed back into the a church by the Augustinian monks.

1260 AD - 1517 AD Mamluk Period

Most of the Holy Land was taken by the Mamluks of Eqypt, as a place of banishment for officials who fell from favor. The Crusaders held onto Akko for a hundred more years, but finally it fell as well.

The Mamluks made allowances for Christian pilgrims. In 1333 the Franciscan Friars were permitted a presence in Jerusalem, living in the Hall of the Last Supper. Jews returned to the Holy Land, escaping persecution in Europe.

1517 AD - 1917 AD Ottoman Empire

Ottoman Turks captured Constantinople in 1453, renaming it Istanbul.  The Ottomans were on the increase.  After they ousted the Mamluk's, Suleyman the Magnificent restores the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem, and rebuilds the city walls (which are the current walls of the Old City.) Jews continue to move to the Holy Land, joining the Sephardic Jews who fled from Spain to Galilee during the Inquisition (1481.)

Europe started showing interest in the Holy Land. Napoleon sieged Akko in 1798.  Egypt too. Jews were returning from eastern Europe and Russia, due to growing anti-Semitism. 

1917 - 1948 British Mandate Period

The weakening Ottoman Empire chose to support the losing side in World War I. The League of Nations selected Britain  and France as overseers of much the dismantled Middle Eastern section of the Ottoman Empire.  The British land included Palestine, and Iraq as well. 

  The principal Allied powers drafted a mandate, which was formally approved by the League of Nations in 1922. Britain would administer Palestine on behalf of the League of Nations. 

The preamble of the mandate declared:

"... the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, it being clearly understood that nothing should be done which might prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country."

Big riots by the Arabs in 1929 and 1936.

 In 1947, the UN resolves to partition the Holy Land into a Jewish state and a separate Arab state. Jerusalem itself would be under international administration. 



1948 - now    Modern Period

David Ben Gurion declares the birth of the state of Israel the night before the British were to leave. The Arabs launched a combined attack, with Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Jordan and Egypt's aid.

The result, after the fighting, in 1949, was Israel gained large land area, much larger than the UN General Assembly's Recommended Partition Plan. Neither side completely controlled Jerusalem.





 


In 1967 and 1973 again major wars broke out. 

Six Day War.

Yom Kippur War.

 In 1979, Camp David Peace Treaty was signed.

But today, still attacks, bloodshed. 

Doesn't stop.

In a  monumental UN vote November 2012, the State of Palestine has been recognized as a non-member state by 70% of the countries. The United States and Israel voted against recognition, joined by Canada, the Czech Republic, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, Palau and Panama.

Palestine does not recognize Israel as a country.



 

The State of Palestine is comprised of two land areas, The Gaza Strip and the West Bank. They do not connect. 





Am I correct in thinking this all started over access/ control of a rock?  A very important rock to three major religions.

Jerusalem is a question mark to me as to who actually governs it. I realize it is divided into quarters. I will learn when I am over there, I suppose.

Here ends my history of the Holy Land. Phew.

History of the Holy Land. Part 2.

730 BC - 539 BC Neo-Assyrian and Neo-Babylonian Periods

In about 730 BC Tigleth Pileser III led the Neo-Assyrians to conquer the Kingdom of Israel. He mandated the Jewish people relocate to towns throughout his Empire, where they assimilated and lost their cultural heritage. These are called the "Lost Tribes of Israel."

The Neo-Assyrians were in turn defeated by the Neo-Babylonians. The Egyptians come north and take over all, but were ousted by the Neo-Babylonians four years later.  Good try Pharoah.

Big item coming next. . In 586-7 BC Neo-Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar II fought off Egyptian Pharaoh Apries.

Jerusalem was mostly destroyed in this fighting, including the destruction of the First Temple (which was built by Solomon.) This First Temple housed the Ark of the Covenant, which housed the stones containing Moses' Ten Commandments. There's agreement among Christian, Jewish and Muslim scriptures that the Ark existed. There's thought that it was carried off to Babylonia and is still there. Or it is in Mt Nebo? Or in Ethiopia, Southern Africa, Rome, King Tutankhamun's tomb, Chartres Cathedral, or several other suppositions. This eternal mystery fueled the movie, Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Jerusalem's prominent Jewish people were taken as exiles to Babylon. They were allowed to maintain their identity as a cultural nation, even in captivity.  Thank you Babylonian Kings...

Persian empire

539 BC - 332 BC Persian Period

In 539 BC Cyrus the Great conquered the Babylonian Empire. This new Persian Empire was also known as the Achaemenid Empire.

 Cyrus the Great allowed the Jewish exiles to return to their homeland.  They did.  Work began on constructing a Second Temple on the same spot as King Solomon's.  It was completed and dedicated in 516 BC, the 6th year of Persian King Darius' reign.


332 BC - 164 BC Hellenistic Period

Alexander the Great swallowed up the entire Holy Land in his march to Egypt. In contrast to the Persians who had allowed the Israelites to keep their culture, the Greeks wanted all their peoples to adapt Greek culture. So the Holy Land was Greek for about 8 years.

Seleucid Empire

After Alexander's death in 323 BC, his empire was divided among three generals. Years and years of war.  The Holy Land was finally conquered by Antiochus III the Great,  ruler of the Seleucid Empire.

His son, Antiochus IV Epiphanes, went so far in his Hellenisation of the Holy Land as to rededicate the Second Temple in Jerusalem to Zeus, and make observance of Hebrew law punishable by death.

Not a way to maintain peace and harmony.


164 BC - 63 BC Hasmonean Kingdom

Hasmonean  Kingdom

In 164 BC, Judas Maccabeus led the Jewish people in revolt. They defeated the Seleucids, took control of Jerusalem, removed the Greek statues from the Second Temple, and rededicated the Temple to their Jewish God. Hanukkah celebrates this event.

 Judas' family, the Hasmoneans, ruled until 63 BC They expanded the Hasmonean Kingdom beyond the old Kingdoms of Israel and Judah. This was a period of independent Jewish rule over the Holy Land.

During these centuries of the Jewish people being ruled by Assyrians, Babylonians, Greeks, and while exiled in Babylon, and while watching their sacred Temple's destruction and reconstruction, there arose factions amongst themselves. Two of these factions gained strength during the time of Second Temple, and  their conflicts solidified during the Hasmonean rule.

The Sadducees were the High Priests of the Temple. As the Temple was the center of Jewish society, it made sense that the Sadducees' influence would grow to extend outside the temple walls, into politics and business. They were the wealthy elite of society.  Priestly caste.

Yes, the Sadducees had high social status. They were responsible for performing sacrifices at the Temple, the primary method of worship. They also presided over the three festivals of pilgrimage to Jerusalem. They followed the Torah literally, the first five books of the Bible. Conservative, they didn't acknowledge any additions to the Torah's teachings, any new interpretations. They stood on the Jewish Theology established under King Solomon's reign. Nothing added. Only the written word, literally understood. Keep things as they are.

Pharisees

Many governmental roles were performed by the Sadducees. They had command of the army, represented the government to foreign states, collected taxes, and participated in the Sanhedrin (court dealing with religious and civil matters.)  They embraced Greek culture. They wanted to get along with the emerging Romans.

The Pharisees were a political party of mainly scribes and laymen. Regular people. Well, intellectual regular people. They believed in the evolution of the Torah law as interpreted by them, by rabbi. And they believed in strict adherence to each and every one of these hundreds of laws.

Pharisees developed the synagogue as a place of worship beyond the temple. Synagogues were houses of prayer, studying and fellowship. Not sacrificial worship.

Synagogues amplified the class difference between Judaism of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees. Through the synagogue, Pharisees taught Judaism to the common Jewish people, the Mosaic Laws and their hundreds of interpretations. In the Temple, the Sadducees maintained their elite status as the high priests with traditional rites and services.

The Pharisees were a minority in the Sanhedrin. But because they were more popular with the masses, the Sadducees often had to go along with the Pharisees' minority opinion.

The Pharisees grew in number, and influence. The Sadducees had their hold on the Temple rites. Clung to the old ways. Eventually they died out.

The Pharisees and the Hasmoneans didn't like each other.

One bit.

The Hasmoneans were influenced by the Sadducees.
So the Pharisees didn't like the Hasmoneans.
The friend of my enemy is my enemy. I think I have that wrong, but you get my point.

Both the Pharisees and the Hasmoneans asked the new political and military power of the period for help.

 Rome was on the upswing. Wanting to march over the Holy Land anyway. Expand the Empire.

63 BC - 37 BC Roman and Parthian Influence (not rule)

Pompey in the Temple

Rome jumped at this chance, and in 63 BC Pompey took Jerusalem for Rome.

There followed 26 years of Roman procurators (governors) and a blip of time of Parthian rule.

You get the feeling the Holy Land was really important to the Jewish people. Really important because God had told them this was their home. This was their land. The land was important.

The land itself was not as important to the their neighbors. It was just 8,000 square miles of land on the way to somewhere else.

At this point, in 63 BC,  the Jewish people and their homeland had been ruled by a dozen different foreign powers over the past 1,000 years.

The Holy Land is geographically in the middle of so many powerful kingdoms each fighting for expansion. A Crossroads. What turmoil.

Next post, we see what happens when Rome really decides to take control of the Holy Land.

History of the Holy Land. Part 1.

I will go through the land-known-today-as-Israel's history.
The Holy Land.
 Land of Canaan.
 Southern Levant.
 Palestine.

Not even I know what to call this land exactly. Each name holds political overtones. So I will go with The Holy Land.

Then I will pull in anything from the Bible that was missed. Anything I think interesting and applicable.

I don't know that much about the Holy Land's history, so this will be fascinating to me.


1,500,000 BC

Remains of Homo Erectus, homonoid from Africa in the Pleistocene Era, were found just south of the Sea of Galilee, in the Jezreel Valley.

I am more interested in the past 4,000 years so we will just jump forward. And also, I am most interested in man's history in the Holy Land.


10,000 BC Neolithic Revolution

Jericho, ruins from 10,000 BC

Stone Age hunters abandoned nomadic life. This is called the Neolithic Revolution. Those smart guys domesticated animals, planted crops. We think this started globally in Mesopotamia. Just a hop, skip and a jump from the Holy Land.

They've found ruins of settlements from 10,000 BC near Jericho (north of Dead Sea.)  Small farming villages grew in this area.

The Egyptians ruled the Holy Land for 150 years

3,500 BC to 1,000 BC Canaanite/ Egyptian Period

Several of these small farming villages grew into independent city-states. Mud-brick defensive walls were their main defense.

As an aside, Jericho is one of the oldest continuously-inhabited cities in the world. Trade was part of their life, with Egypt and Syria.

For 150 years of this time, the Canaanites were vassals to Egypt. That ended in 1178 BC when the Sea Peoples (including the Canaanites) defeated the Egyptians (under Ramses III) at the Battle of Djahy.

Honestly, "the Sea Peoples" has to be one of the best names for an ancient confederation. Or modern one, even. They were the inhabitants of the northeastern Mediterranean. Greece and Asia Minor. I think.



1,178 BC to 732 BC Israelite Period

Two groups of people invaded the Holy Land about the same time. 1,200 BC to 1,000 BC.

The Philistines came from Greece or Asia Minor, settled in the southwest part of the Holy Land. Right on the coast. They integrated with the native Canaanites.

The name "Palestine" means "land of the Philistines." You can see their kingdom on the map to the right, Philistia.

Goliath the Giant was a Philistine.

The Hebrews rose up in power to control the larger part of the Holy Land, the northern part, which they called the Kingdom of Israel.

Israel was Jacob's God-given name after he struggled with the angel (see prior post.) He was the father of the Twelve Tribes of Israel. One of the big three Patriarchs (with his grandfather Abraham and his father Isaac.)

For about one hundred years, 1030 BC to 930 BC, under Kings Saul, David, and Solomon these two were united as one Kingdom... we now call it the United Kingdom of Israel, to avoid confusion. It's in blue on the map to the right.

King David

In my mind, King David and King Solomon laid the foundation for the Jewish Nation.

Yes, God promised Abraham a nation, and Isaac, and Jacob.

He empowered Moses to save His chosen people from slavery in Egypt, gave us the 10 commandments through him, and also the concept of Passover.

I see your point.

But  it was David who truly ruled as a King anointed by God. He captured Jerusalem, wrote lots of Psalms. He slew the giant Goliath. Was really nice to King Saul, even when I would have given up. He did have an affair with an army officer's wife and then had that officer killed. So right, no one is perfect. Thank you David.

King Solomon

It was Solomon who built the first Jewish Temple in Jerusalem. When asked what gift he wanted from God, he asked for wisdom to rule. Not riches. And who anywhere isn't in awe of his decision on the two women, both claiming to be the mother of a baby. "Cut the child in half and share." What mother would do that? He was wise.

These two are so fascinating, I want to write on them in a future blog post. Back to the history, Jack.


There is much discussion and differing of opinions on the Holy Land's history in this era.  Wars are still being fought.  Many take the Bible or the Torah as fact. Many don't, and go to the opposite point of view.  This paragraph is a great understatement of the GINORMOUS chasm separating beliefs. Differing religious beliefs really matter when land and/or resources are involved. The concept of "you do your thing, I'll do mine" is followed much more easily when each side has their own land and money, separately.

Merneptah Stele, 1209 BC

From what I read, archeological evidence agrees with many of the biblical events. There is not evidence to support everything recorded the bible, but that is also the case in other civilizations when you are going back three thousand years.

Here's the Merneptah Stele, from 1209 BC in Thebes, Egypt.  Celebrating Egyptian battle victories. First it talks about fighting with the Sea People. (Again the Sea People!) Then a mention of the Egyptians fighting in Canaan, which they controlled. They "laid waste to Israel." This is the first archeological find using the word "Israel." Pretty cool.

King Solomon died about 930 BC.  The United Kingdom of Israel split into two kingdoms.  Ten tribes of the Twelve Tribes of Israel broke off the northern two-thirds of the old United Kingdom from King Solomon's son, to establish the Kingdom of Israel.  Their first king was King Jeroboam I.

The remaining two tribes remained under King Solomon's son King Rehoboam, and became the Kingdom of Judah, the southern one-third of the old United Kingdom.

The Kingdom of Israel had 19 Kings until it fell to the Assyrians in about 730 BC.  The Kingdom of Judah had 20 Kings and many prophets (Isaiah, Daniel, Micah, Ezekiel, Jeremiah) until it fell to the Babylonians in 586 BC.

divided Kingdoms, after King Solomon's death

The Kingdom of Israel was comprised of ten of the Tribes of Israel.

If you are wondering why Ephraim and Manasseh are a Tribe of Israel even though they were Jacob's grandsons not his sons, you get a prize. I am smiling at you and nodding my head. Jacob gave these two sons of Joseph each status as independent tribes. Yes.

Their capital was Samaria.

Reuben
Simeon
Dan
Naphtali
Gad
Asher
Issachar
Zebulun
Ephraim
Manasseh

The Kingdom of Judah continued to be ruled by the house of David. David's grandson King Rehoboam. 
The Tribes comprising this southern kingdom had their capital at Jerusalem. Levi was the Priestly tribe, so they were allowed cities but not land.  

Judah
Benjamin
Levi (technically scattered in both Kingdoms, but mostly present in the Southern Kingdom)

More tomorrow.