Trips

After lunch in Bethany we drove to look at the 5th c. Monastery of St. George. The original monastery was demolished in 614 by the Persians. It was rebuilt during the Crusader period between 1099 and 1291. St. George is located on a spectacular cliff-side site in the valley of the Wadi Qelt.

Wadi Qelt - Monastery of St. George	Wadi Qelt - Monastery of St. George
Wadi Qelt - Monastery of St. George	Wadi Qelt - Monastery of St. George
Monastery of St. George - Solar panels	Monastery of St. George - Bridge over Wadi Qelt
Monastery of St. George	Near Wadi Qelt
Near Wadi Qelt	We visited the Nabi Mosa mosque that was built for Islamic pilgrims on hadj. There were/are 100 rooms, like cells. Some believe the tomb of Moses is at Nabi Mosa, but it is not. We looked at the dead stump of a sycamore tree that Zacchaeus might have climbed to see and listen to Jesus. Jesus told him to come down and he would have dinner at his house.
Jericho - Nabi Musa Mosque - entrance	Nabi Musa Mosque - courtyard
Nabi Musa - graveyard	Nabi Musa Mosque
On the way back to the hotel, we visited a new Romanian Catholic Church that was built in 1999. Its official name is: the Church of the Nativity of the Lord and All Romanian Saints. The walls and ceiling are all painted with pictures of saints and prophets. The iconostasis has images of Jesus and Mary. It was very ornate.
Jericho - Romanian Orthodox Church	Romanian Orthodox Church
Romanian Settlement (or Pilgrims' House) building adjacent to the Church	Romanian Orthodox Church
Romanian Orthodox Church - Interior	Romanian Orthodox Church - Interior
Iconography	Romanian Orthodox Church - Interior
Romanian Orthodox Church - Interior	Romanian Orthodox Church - Floor
Romanian Orthodox Church - Floor	Jericho - Appliance store
Fri., 2/10/23 - Nablus and Sabastia It is a one-and-a-half hour drive north from Jericho to Nablus. Nablus is in an A region. It is known for furniture making, limestone quarries, and olive oil. It is also a city with piles of stripped automobiles.
Nablus - Ruins from antiquity (and lots of trash)	Nablus - Ruins from antiquity
Nablus - Shopping area	We stopped at a factory where Tahini, a sesame seed paste, is produced by a Samaritan company
Tahini - sesame seed paste	It was Sunday - nobody working at the factory
We drove up Mount Gerizim, the sacred mountain of the Samaritans. From the top we could look down on Nablus. At least one of the Palestinian refugee camps could be seen. These camps were established in 1950 to house refugees displaced during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war. While we were standing at the vantage point, an Israeli military drone flew over us to check out what we were doing. They have a base on top of Mt. Gerizim.
From Mount Gerizim	Nablus - From Mount Gerizim - Site of Palestinian Refugee camps
Nablus - From Mount Gerizim- Site of Palestinian Refugee camps	White wrapped objects are solar hot water heaters
After our visit to the Yosef Vantage Point on Mount Gerizim, we went to visit the Samaritan Museum in the Samaritan village of Kiryat Luza, on the slopes of the mountain. The Samaritans are described as an ethnoreligious group of people who originated from the Hebrews and Israelites of the ancient Near East. Samaritans are indigenous to Samaria which is an historical region of ancient Israel. Samaritans are adherents of Samaritanism, that is described as an Abrahamic, monotheistic, ethnic religion. Samaritans believe that the Jewish Temple Mount was on Mt. Gerizim, not in Jerusalem. Samaritans believe they are the “True Jews” who came across the Jordan River with Joshua after wandering in the desert for 40 years. As of 2024, there were only 900 “true, pure” Samaritans, 380 at Kiryat Luza and 460 at Holon, south of Tel Aviv. They can only marry within the sect to maintain the pure heritage. However, recently a girl can convert to Samaritanism and marry a Samaritan boy. Samaritans have passports from both Israel and Palestine/Jordan. They are neither Jewish nor Arab. We viewed the site where Samaritans hold their festivals where sheep are slaughtered and roasted in holes in the ground and then feasted on. Then we went into the Samaritan Museum that contains extensive information and history about the Samaritans and their religion. Also on display are many artifacts, original texts, and memorabilia. This was a very interesting visit! If all you know about Samaritans is the biblical parable of the "Good Samaritan," you should read one or more of the links below. Links to information about Samaria and the Samaritans: Samaritans; Samaritanism; Samaritans of Nablus
At Samaritan enclave at Kiryat Luza - Samaritan Museum	Samaritan Museum - Genealogy from Adam to Moses
Replica of the original Abishua Scroll The original scroll is regarded (by the Samaritans) to be the oldest Torah in existence	The current Samaritan High Priest: "Aabed El Ben Asher Ben Matzliach", 133rd generation since Elazar the Son of Aaron The Priest, from the line of Ithamar - with Gale
Samaritan Museum - Tree of alphabets	Ancient text
Ancient containers	At the Samaritan enclave at Kiryat Luza - Entrance to the Samaritan festival site
Samaritan festival site	Samaritan festival site - roasting pit
On the way out of Nablus, gun shots were fired from one house to another, over the top of our vehicle. A Palestinian man in a face mask came out of his front door and fired off 12 to 20 rounds from an automatic rifle. He fired into the air and then directly across the street above our minibus. Our driver slammed on the brakes, backed up a little and we all got down on the floor. The man evidently went back inside and our driver sped on down the street. This incident caused the Israeli military to respond by closing the check points on all the streets out of Nablus. So we were stuck in traffic for about 20 minutes until our driver and Ahmad told them they had American tourists in the bus and please let us through - which they did. They opened their gate but at least three times we had to stop at a checkpoint with army men sitting behind sandbags pointing the AK47 rifles at each passing car. It was scary but a common experience for the citizens here. After leaving Nablus, the next stop was at the site of Jacob’s Well in a church first built over the “well” in the 4th c. by Constantine’s mother, Helena, who attempted to preserve many Christian biblical sites. “Jacob’s Well” is perhaps the well that a Samaritan woman drew water from to give to Jesus. An earthquake ruined the church in 1927. It was rebuilt but the Jews wanted the site because Jacob was a Jew. It started, or was part of the cause of, the 1967 war. In 1979 Jews killed the monk who was the caretaker of the well at the church. He is buried in the church and it is still a Greek Catholic Church. The well is 41 meters deep and, for a price, you can drink from the well or buy a vial of Jacob’s Well water.
	Jacob's Well site - Church of Jacob's Well - Church of St Photini - Gr. Orthodox - wall mosaic
Jacob's Well site - Church of Jacob's Well - Church of St Photini - floor mosaic	Jacob's Well site - Church of Jacob's Well - Church of St Photini
Church of St Photini - windows	Church of St Photini
Church of St Photini - Stairs to the crypt	Jacob's Well
Jacob's Well	For a description location of our final visit of the day, please read the second paragraph of the following link. We are going to title this visit: the Ruins at Sebastia. These ruins are primarily Roman from the rebuilding of the city by Herod, ca. 27 BCE. There are some ruins from the palace of Ahab, the seventh king of Israel, who ruled from c. 874-853 BCE. The site is very rough and not reconstructed or looked after. It was interesting, however. Additional link: Samaria;
Roman colonade	Roman colonade
Roman Amphitheater	Roman Amphitheater
Remnants of a Hellenistic-era round tower	Steps to the Herodian-era Temple of Augustus
Round bases for columns	Remains of the palace of Ahab, the seventh king of Israel
Also the lunch stop	Camels at the Samaria ruins
Wonder how old the tractor is?	Samaria - protecting the crops

At the end of this very long day, we had our "farewell" dinner and went to our room to pack and nap from 9 PM to 12:45 AM in preparation for the 1:15 AM taxi pickup for the ride to Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Avi for our 5:50 AM flight to Athens.

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