Israel, Part 4: Caesarea and Megiddo

Caesarea was the Roman capital of Palestine, home of one of Herod the Great's many grand building projects. It was the place where Pontius Pilate governed, where Peter converted the Roman, Cornelius, and where Paul was imprisoned for a few years before being sent to Rome.

I can't believe we didn't get a photo of the Roman ampitheater, but here's a side arch with a few of the seats:


A photo of the harbour Herod built here as well as the remnants of his palace complex (in the foreground) and the hippodrome where chariot races were staged (the large empty spot with the shore on its left and the seating on the right).


They think Herod's palace jutted out into the sea as in this diagram. On the right are the remnants:














A piece of the mosaic floor from what archaeologists think was the Judgement hall next to the Palace. If so, this is where Paul would have stood in his hearing before the governor.


Suzy getting ready to dip her hands into the Mediterranean :)


Some vestiges of the mosaic floor and marble from the Roman baths:














This was the amount of sediment washed up on the beach over the centuries. Can you imagine having to clear all that to get to the ruins underneath??


From Caesarea, we turned inland bound for the Sea of Galilee which is in the northeastern part of Israel. Along the way, we stopped at Megiddo, one of the most disputed pieces of land in the world. Archaeologists have uncovered 25 different layers in har (hill in Hebrew) Megiddo, each representing how it was destroyed and rebuilt. John in the book of Revelation even refers to har Megiddo, translated as Armageddon, as the gathering place for the final battleground of the Apocalypse. Here's a photo of the mound from the road:


Egyptians, Assyrians, and Israelites all left their mark here and it was difficult to see where one layer ended and another began!














Megiddo looks out on the Valley of Jezreel. The hill in the center of the photo is Mount Tabor, where some think the Transfiguration took place. We drove between these two hills on our way to the Sea of Galilee region, our destination for the next few days.


We stayed in the village of Amirim. Amirim is a moshav, a cooperative community sort of like a kibbutz with the main difference being the farms and homes are privately owned. Our apartment had a balcony which looked out on to the Sea of Galilee, so this was our view upon arriving that evening.....a beautiful teaser of what we'd be exploring the following day.