Still Loving the Shephelah

 Last Monday we joined the students on a field trip to the Shephelah or low hills area to the west of Jerusalem.  If this sounds familiar, it's because we've visited this area several times.  It's a fun area to visit, and we've been two other times with friends and family.  Besides being fun, we are able to see firsthand how the ancient inhabitants of the land dealt with everyday challenges, like heat, hunger, thirst, war, and death.

Megan and Carrie didn't come along this time because they were swimming and playing tennis with other LDS youth from Tel Aviv, Haifa, and Galilee.

The first place we went was Tel es-Safit or Gath.  This is in an area of soft, chalky limestone caves, such as this one behind Emily.

 The hike to the top of Tel es-Safit was enjoyable because of the cool breeze blowing up the hill.  Emily, Tashara, Sabrina, and Amanda stopped in the hollow of this rock.

 At the top, we could see the excavation site where Jeff Chadwick spends his summers.  Gath means press, as in Gethsemane, which means press of richness or oil.  This was the hometown of Goliath, and David later found refuge here from King Saul.  This tel is a good example of multiple layers of civilization built up the side of a hill on top of earlier structures.  The crusaders built a tower on top, as well.  Click here for a site where you can learn more about Gath.

 A signpost points the way to the 4 other major cities in the Philistine pentapolis: Gaza, Ashkelon, Ashdod, and Ekron.  In general, the cities on the west of the five main valleys were originally under Philistine control, and the cities on the east were controlled by the Israelites, and these two jockeyed for position until the Assyrians and Babylonians swept through.  I had always seen mountains as a symbol of strength and communion with the divine, and certainly back home mountains are a place of recreation.  But here in the holy land, I think it's fair to say that throughout history, mountains have primarily represented military might.  A community could flourish under the protection of a strong defense.

On the way down from the summit, the sun was out in full strength.  By June, this area is pretty dry, but the thistles are still in bloom.

The cacti are also happy this time of year.  Amanda is worried because I asked everyone to pose closer to the cactus patch. 

 The occasional shade tree was also a welcome relief.  This one grew nearly parallel to the ground.

After Gath, we were happy to find a cool underground hang-out, like this columbarium, or dove-cote in Mareshah.  The dove's holes are up above.  It's hard to get great photos in this dark, mossy, cruciform cave.  

 Troy Terry wanted to get a dove's eye view.  Centuries ago, the doves raised here were useful for food, for producing fertilizer, and for export to Jerusalem for sacrifices. 

The brightness of the outside world made a good contrast with the dim cave. 

Emily finds another refuge from the sun.

 Here in another cave, students learn about the olive press. 

Emily measures the compressive and tensile strength of the limestone.  She enlarged a natural hole and played with the dust.

 Carrie gets bonus points for sharing her hat with Amanda.

Emily loves posing with students.  Jamie is wearing the traveling orange shirt that gets worn by a different student every day. 

 Jarrett and Emily hit it off in the bus, with Emily taking pictures of Jarrett's silly faces. 

 This cistern would have collected runoff water for the community around the olive press.  Centuries ago, it was discovered that boiling the soft limestone in water would yield a waterproof stucco with which they could coat the inside of a cistern.  But as Jeremiah 2:13 points out, cistern water was always second rate compared to spring water.  This is a powerful lesson about the importance of always partaking of the living word of God.  Especially as we get older and our minds become more like a leaky cistern.

 The house behind the trees covers the dual entrances to a huge cistern complex.  There was storage for enough runoff water to support a very large community.   If the winter rainy season was very wet, the larger cisterns would mean farmers could keep their plants producing longer into the summer season.

Do we ever have seasons of overflowing spiritual experiences, followed by times of trial?  What do we do find and capture the Living Water? 

Mareshah has a nice gift shop with cold treats.  We learned that the taller the ice cream bar, the harder it is of the child when it breaks and falls.    

 Inside this cave, people were buried in niches along the walls.  Emily loved these little holes and filled her hair with chalk as she explored.  This is a Hellenistic style burial tomb, with paintings of animals and people.

Drew and Amanda pause at the shady entrance to the tomb.

Emily plays hide and seek with Jefferson. 

Lisa was feeling cool in the shade.

 At the Bell Caves, a hole in the hard limestone ceiling made a spotlight below.

Emily said this spot reminded her of the Holy Ghost.

Amanda says,  "It's like you're in the light and all around you is the darkness."

 After singing several hymns in the bell-shaped caves, the students made the most of the lighting, posing as Joseph Smith receiving the First Vision.
 

 Lisa describes this photo, "I feel alive!"

And this one below is captioned, "The aliens are taking away my hat!"

 After Maresha, we went to Lachish, where Israelites in 586 B.C. watch the Babylonian troops come closer to Jerusalem.  Letters on potsherds found here reveal that guards were watching the signal fires at Azekah, and when the signal fires stopped, they knew they were next to be conquered. 

 Not even the tall walls or thick doors of Lachish could save them from the invasion.  Emily poses near the threshhold of the gate.

At the Valley of Elah, Emily filled my pockets with rocks, and Lisa and Amanda practiced slinging. 

 Amanda was the star of the reenactment of David and Goliath, playing the role of Goliath's head.  Scott Rowley played the rest of Goliath.  Amanda said she loved being taller than everyone.

Lisa enjoyed the part when David (Julie Rencher) held up Goliath's head (Amanda).

After a long day on the bus and in the sun, we were tired but grateful for the chance to drive and climb and walk through biblical history.