Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Something old, something new

Something old:  more pictures coming soon.
Something new:  Check out this site:  http://stuffchristianslike.blogspot.com  .  Hilarious.  If that didn't work, go to www.stuffchristianslike.net  

Sorry, nothing borrowed or blue.

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Day 2: Caesarea by the Sea to Galilee

A statue at Mt. Carmel depicting Elijah slaying the servants of Baal.


This tomb is right next to the road. They stumbled on it when they were planning on widening the road. Notice the stone that covers the entrance.



Megiddo. This city has been destroyed since the Assyrian invasion 8th century B.C.E. if I remember correctly. The round pile of stones in the middle is an altar that was used for sacrifices. This city sits right in the middle of the Fertile Crescent, the only way to get from Europe/Asia to Africa on land without dying in the desert.



This picture (and the above one) depict the remains of the city bath houses. Any Roman citizen was allowed to go to the bath house. They had a hot water bath and a cold water bath. Instead of soap, they would hop from bath to bath to open and close their pores. Then they would scrape the junk from their skin with a special knife. Apparently it was pretty effective.


Aqueduct that brought freshwater into the city


A Sarcophagus: Basically a big stone coffin.



This is a replica of a rock they found near the palace. It is incredibly significant because it explains that Pontius Pilate was here. One of the only evidences outside the Bible that proves the guy was real.


Remnants of Pilate's old palace. You are actually looking at a pool. He had a great view from his palace. The pool actually had heated freshwater. They had to bring it in from a nearby spring via an aqueduct. (See above)



Bill and Sara



This is the remains of a hippodrome. The head hauncho (in this case Pilate?) would sit on top of the wood terrace. He had the best view here, and was in the perfect spot to witness the bloody crashes. When Paul gives his defense to Felix and Festus (Acts 24), he could very well have been standing right in front of this very platform.


Panoramic view of hippodrome



A well preserved 2nd century ampitheatre. People used to think this is where Paul gave his defense, but it was later proved to be built too late. There was a huge wall built behind the stage for acoustics. Also, it was originally 33% bigger than what is left.



John Nelson is a serious Bible student in this picture (and in real life).










Friday, April 11, 2008

Joppa-where Simon the Tanner lived.


A mosque.  You can tell by the crescent on top and the green lights.  Apparently green is one of the colors of Muhammed.  Generally speaking, after the crusades, Arab muslims began building mosques on top of all Holy Sites, Christian/Jewish/or Muslim.  They did this for money purposes.  People are willing to pay big bucks to visit holy areas, even though many of the areas have little significance for Islam.  



A sculpture.  This one tells three Bible stories.  I forget which three, though.  I know one of them is the story of Abraham and Isaac.  It's the part where the old guy is about to kill the young guy ;).



Good view of Tel Aviv. 




I think this is a monastery in the area, but am not sure.


Thursday, April 10, 2008

More London at Night

This time without the blur.






PICTURES!

Here are the best of the best with necessary descriptions, starting in London.







Most of these were taken from the London Eye, since it moves and my camera had a slow shutter speed, they ended up blurring a bit. Great view though.

Thursday, April 3, 2008

In Israel

will post pictures soon.