Sweat, sweat, and more sweat.

That's about all we did yesterday... and it was AWESOME! Brother Muelstein told us that it was nothin compared to Egypt. Just preparing us... 5 days until Egypt!!!! 
We went on our "Conquest Field Trip" yesterday. I can't wait to tell more about them! 
This first picture is the museum that is believed to replicate the Inn where the Good Samaritain took the wounded man to stay.  It was so cool to see the comparisons. Seeing these actual places makes the scriptures come alive!

 Rachel, Amy, Myself, Jaquelin and Cherysh

This story of the Good Samaritan is such an important story because the land of Samaria is the capital of the northern kingdom and it is believed they aren't full Israelite because they would marry outside of their race. They started worshiping false gods and were looked down upon during Christs time among the Jews. The Samaritan that helped the wounded man was looked down upon and he was the one that ended up helping the wounded man after being passed by a priest and a Levite.(Luke 10: 30-42)

The actual size of the inn the good samaritain brought the wounded man to.

Bedouin (bed-owen) people that wander the desert sheep herding, trading, and selling odds and ends. These are everywhere! I can't imagine living a life where we'd get up and move around the desert when the seasons changed.

 
These donkeys were all over the place! I kinda feel like they were stray cats.

Cute Cherysh and Me
On top of a hill overlooking the road to Jericho. The road that people used to travel on was so so dangerous. It had turns and twists throughout the whole trail that many robbers would be hiding behind. This road went from Jerusalem to Jericho and dropped over 4,000 feet in elevation. Each person to travel this road had to have their own donkey just to hold the water necessary to make it through the desert, let alone all of their belongings. This was a beautiful wasteland. When we got to the top we could look over the hills and see trails that would cross about every 3 feet on every hill. We found out it was the grazing trails for the sheep or ram. The mountain sides were sheer cliffs at points, and I'm just glad i'm not a sheep in the Jericho dessert.

Jericho
1. What three Assets made Jericho ideal for agriculture?

1. Warm weather

2. Oasis (Elisha’s Spring)

3. Good, rich  soil           

2. What made Jericho an Ideal Spot for ancient settlement?
            It was a gradual ravines rather than steep.
3. Compare the findings of Yadin to those of Keyon relating to Joshua’s conquest at             Jericho.
            Keyon- Believed it was Middle Bronzes walls (2200 BC) Debunk the BIBLE
            Yadin - Believes it was Middle Bronzes,but the stones were reused or were still standing                                     during Joshua's time. Verified the BIBLE

Also, this is where Satan tempted Christ when he had been fasting for 40 Days and 40 nights. So amazing to think this is the area!

First experience up close to a camel. They make some pretty scary noises i thought only dinosaurs made. This guy was right on my tail when we hiked up the mountain... I hiked quicker than I think i ever have before.

This picture is BEAUTIFUL! This is unseen in this desert wasteland. These plants struggle so hard to grow and they're so beautiful when they can make it!

This is one of Herod's palaces dug up by archeologists. He was very unpopular among the jews during his time and build palaces all over just in case there was an uprising between the people he'd run away to one of them.

Herod’s Winter Palace
1) What three factors made Jericho so productive agriculturally?
            Good soil, a water supply, and enriching (and uninterrupted) sunshine
2) What are the two ways Herod sought political legitimacy?
            Marriage ( to Mariamne), and builing sacred buildings (improving Jerusalem’s temple)
3) Describe at least three examples of Herod’s behavior that demonstrate his growing paranoia.
            He kills family members (any who are supposed to be plotting against him), constructs lots of military fortresses throughout his kingdom, and orders his servants to burn the wise men of Judah alive after he dies
4) How did Herod finance his many building projects?

Taxes, rent, treasure, mines, and crops

5) Where was Herod’s grave found?
            The Herodium

Dr. Chadwick ,one of the best middle eastern archeologists and we got to have him on our tour! These are the pools of Herod. The pool to the left of the picture is the one that he was playing "Games" with his brother in law in and "accidentally" drowned him. Later in his life he became really sick, and set up a system to round up all the popular Jewish people. He ordered people to kill all of them the day he died so that the Jewish people would mourn.

This is called the tree of Zacchaeus, the last place Christ went before heading back to Jerusalem for the final week of his life. Luke 19:1-3

This tower dates back to the Neolithic period... 8,000 BC and is considered the oldest man made structure in the world.

Also, this is where Satan tempted Christ when he had been fasting for 40 Days and 40 nights. So amazing to think this is the area!

Jordan boyer and I
Standing on the tel of Jericho over looking todays city of Jericho

This picture you can see the layers of all the cities built on top of one another.

The wall behind Hannah and I is the actual wall that once was the place where Joshua lead his people around the city for 6 days and 7 times on the seventh day when the priests blew their rams horns and the people shouted causing the walls to fall, allowing Joshuas army to overtake the city. (Joshua 6: 8-27) This story really is so incredible because they weren't to take anything from these people. Usually they would take all their silver and gold, but Joshua commanded that they take nothing, because the rest was consecrated to the Lord. When archeologists uncovered this, they truly did find piles of gold and silver.

The red brick in the bottom of this dig away hill is the actual wall of Jericho.  

Jericho springs- this has sustained them for THOUSANDS of years and still does today. 1,000 gallon of water per hour comes out of this spring even today.

Tasting of the Jericho water.

I can't even explain to you how happy this ice cream bar made us. I've never been so hot in my life. If you look closely I have a big chunk of chocolate that smeared all over my shirt. It was totally worth it.

Myself, Cherysh, Perry, Chelsea, Katie, Amy, Tahna and Meredith