After Megiddo, we headed to Gideon's Spring at the foot of Mt Gilboa. We read Judges chapter 7 about how God decreased the size of Gideon's army based on how they drank from the spring.
David drank from the spring too.
On the way back to our bus, we passed this tree that looked like it was growing cucumbers!
Next we went to Beit She'an - another incredible archaelogical site. Here's the model.
It is another of one of the oldest cities in the world, being 20 layers of cities deep.
Looking out over the city - it was HUGE! (And only about 10% has been excavated.)
Jesus would have passed by the city gate here when he was going to be baptized by John. Beit She'an was renamed Skytopolis. People trek up the steps of the hill in the distance - we did not.
The details are beautiful to me - all the stone carvings and tile work - beautiful.
Heading in to the Roman baths
They sat on these little pedestals under the water
There were some humorous signs that explained situations around the baths.
Similar to a private bath
This was also a bath, but was later converted into a Byzantine baptismal. That is the original 5th century paint.
amphitheater
The cordon. Where we get the word corridor, it's the center road - the heart of the city.
An earthquake destroyed the city in 749 AD - as they have uncovered the ruins, most of the columns that fell were restored to their original positions. These were left to show the level of destruction.
We ate lunch at the cafe on the site - more falafel (yum!) and a sprite(yay!)!! I was so sad there was no Dr. Pepper anywhere to be found in all of Israel :(
And some Nok-Out ice cream for dessert!
This is one of my favorite pics from the whole trip - you'll have to click on the picture to enlarge it so that you can see why. On the far side of the parking lot (of what resembled a Taco Bell) a camel was parked :)
From our balcony overlooking the Dead Sea!
From the beach at the Dead Sea!!
It was a little cold at first, but I adjusted pretty quickly!
I'm floating - it's the craziest thing! You just pick your feet up and, since the water is so heavy with minerals, you float! 1300 feet below sea level, 32% salt.
Before dinner, I had a mud wrap with super hot, mineral enriched mud - it was fabulous! As it began, an elevator music version of "We are the Champions" was playing!
Dinner was good, and it was fun to talk to all the girls about the different treatments we had.
There is also a lot of barium in the water (what they use to make Valium) and I slept great that night!
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