Bethlehem is much cooler than where we were the day before!
The Herodium is between Bethlehem and the Dead Sea. King Herod built the Herodium as a pleasure palace between 23 and 20 BCE. "Originally there were two mountains at the site. One was leveled to reinforce the other for the Herodium. One can imagine Jesus' disciples standing on the Mount of Olives, from where the Herodium is visible, and recalling their Lord saying that if they had faith only the size of a mustard seed, they could move mountains (Matthew 17:20). If the scoundrel Herod could, why not the power of God?" pg 133-134, An Illustrated Guide to the Holy Land by Lamontte M. Luker
The Upper Herodium
The Lower Herodium
The swimming pool. You could boat in it!
I don't remember what all these views are, but from the Herodium you can see the Mt. of Olives in Jerusalem, Bethlehem (Jesus was born in the shadow of the Herodium), the Kingdom of Jordan, the wilderness of Judea, Tekoa (where the prophet Amos was from)....
An illegal Israeli settlement (we are in Palestine).
During the revolts the rebels held out here and at Masada. They used the dining hall as a synagogue.
Herod's private box was plastered and painted with brilliant colors. Up high he had windows painted with views of the rolling green hills of Italy. This was just discovered in 2009-2010!
Herod's Tomb
This site was first escavated in the 1970s by Ehud Netzer. He spent his lifetime looking for Herod's tomb. He found it in 2007!
The Dead Sea
The base of the tomb
The part below the black line is all that remains today.
Way ahead of the group
No comments:
Post a Comment