July 12, 2010
I thought Hippo was a cool Roman archaeological dig? Beth She'an blew it away today. It had a huge main road, a complete hippodrome that is still used for events (we tested out its projection abilities and we could hear someone sing perfectly all the way from the furthest seats). They had complete bath houses, rows upon rows of columns, and it just... felt like a complete city. It was large enough that I really could imagine people living there and using it. Originally, it was a Philistine city where they hung the head of Saul after killing him and his sons (See the last chapter of 1 Samuel). Our next stop was bet alpha, an honestly lame mosaic of various biblical events—though the best preserved of just about any. Next we swam for two hours at the natural spring of Gan Hashelosha. We then went to a church built at Nain which commemorated Christ's raising of the widow's son there. Our last stop was Mt. Tabor, one of the two claimed spots for the Mount of Transfiguration. Besides the Garden of Gethsemane and the Garden Tomb, this was one of the most important spots in all of Christianity—hopefully I can talk more about that later.
I thought Hippo was a cool Roman archaeological dig? Beth She'an blew it away today. It had a huge main road, a complete hippodrome that is still used for events (we tested out its projection abilities and we could hear someone sing perfectly all the way from the furthest seats). They had complete bath houses, rows upon rows of columns, and it just... felt like a complete city. It was large enough that I really could imagine people living there and using it. Originally, it was a Philistine city where they hung the head of Saul after killing him and his sons (See the last chapter of 1 Samuel). Our next stop was bet alpha, an honestly lame mosaic of various biblical events—though the best preserved of just about any. Next we swam for two hours at the natural spring of Gan Hashelosha. We then went to a church built at Nain which commemorated Christ's raising of the widow's son there. Our last stop was Mt. Tabor, one of the two claimed spots for the Mount of Transfiguration. Besides the Garden of Gethsemane and the Garden Tomb, this was one of the most important spots in all of Christianity—hopefully I can talk more about that later.
Overlooking Beit She'an
The Cordo, or principal road in any romanesque city
The Bath house...
The Church at Nain
The Church of Transfiguration
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