Pisteuomen - πιστευομεν - T. Michael W. Halcomb

So, in just a few hours, I head off to the airport to return home.  My time in Israel has simply been amazing!  I came here alone, not knowing a soul, and made a lot of great friends.  I took no travel tours and managed to hike through the Old City and countless other biblical sites on my own (though, a new-found friend graciously helped me with transport from time-to-time).  I navigated the bus routes and shops, studied Greek like never before and experienced the Holy Land in so many special ways.  The mixture of rich cultural and topographical landscapes here in Israel has enriched my life.   Tonight, I watched the sunset just a few feet up from the barbwire fence that separates the West Bank from Jerusalem.  The irony is that while I stood there in that place denoting such a historical divide, I was also watching the sunset behind Bethlehem.  Even more, I was standing in the very field where the shepherds were keeping the flocks by night d...

A couple of days ago I had the opportunity to head out to the Dead Sea area.  There are many things that the Dead Sea is most known for but two of them, at least in biblical circles, are 1) The Dead Sea Scrolls found at Qumran, which rests beside the sea, and 2) That the Dead Sea, the lowest point on earth, contains no types of animals (e.g. fish, snakes, etc.) and in it anything can float.  Legend has it that when Lot's wife fled from Sodom & Gomorrah in the Dead Sea region, Lot's wife turned into a pillar of salt and this is how the Dead Sea became so salty.  King David, when fleeing from Saul, did so to Ein Gedi, another location in the Dead Sea region.  The Dead Sea also connects to the Jordan River, where Jesus and many others in antiquity were baptized.  Of course, it is also the region which is home to Masada, which I recently wrote about HERE . In this brief post, I just want to share a few pictures of the Dead Sea region and give some very shor...

Today in Israel was a very full day.  I started the morning by heading out of the city of Jerusalem and into the Judean wilderness.  I must say, the scenery was wonderful!  However, I imagine that after wandering around in the wilderness for 40 or more years, the "awe" might wear-off just a bit.  I went by Jericho and then, instead of heading on in to Jordan, I made a first stop at Qumran.  Following the coast of the Dead Sea, I made a stop at Ein Gedi and then south a bit to Masada.  I will show photos of the other places later but in this post, I just want to show some of the shots I took at Masada and say a few words about them.  Of course, I took hundreds of pictures, but, only a tiny fraction are shown here.  Enjoy! (These two photos above are shots of Masada at a distance.  In the first one, just in the middle of the photo, if you look closely, you can see a white zig-zag path up and down the mountain side.  This is call...

So, my schedule here in Jerusalem is very full and intense, which means that blogging is difficult to get around to.  With so many photos and video clips taken, I thought that I'd be selective here and offer just a few shots of the Wailing Wall (or Western Wall or Solomon's Wall) within the Old City (the term "Old City" is used to refer to ancient Jerusalem, which was a walled city and which is different, of course, than modern Jerusalem, which surrounds it).  So, here are some photos and a videos with brief descriptions. (This is a picture from near the old German hospital looking diagonally towards the Wailing Wall. The Wall is located just below the Muslim Dome of the Rock, which is related to the near Al Aqsa Mosque (which would be just off to the right of this picture). The Wall is known as the Western Wall as it is located on the Western portion of the temple mount in 2nd Temple / King Solomon period. It is nick-named the Wailing Wall because Jews can of...

So, it's after 3am here in Jerusalem and I find myself awake and flipping through photos and writing a blog post...go figure.  I spent all day Wednesday hiking through the Old City exploring the sites, taking in the culture,  snapping photos and letting my imagination run wild.  As evening rolled around I attended orientation for the class I'm taking and then, headed over to Hebrew University with my host to hear a lecture on life during the Ottoman Empire, which was overseen by the renowned Dr. Shimon Gibson.  It was a very full day.  In about 5 hours, my class sessions will begin and they will run from around 8:30am - 4:00/5:00pm every day; it is going to be quite intense!  If I'm not completely exhausted, I hope to post some more photos, videos and even explanations of what's going on in my brief time of study here.  Yesterday alone I snapped a few hundred photos but of course, I have not had time to upload them all or post anything significant as ...

So, I arrived in Israel last night and as soon as I exited the airport, I caught a "Sherut" (Shared Taxi) to Jerusalem. My short stay here has me in East Talpiot, home to the Talpiot Tomb (which I hope to see today, at least its location anyway). It's a little after 5:15am. I slept about 6 hours and pretty much went right to bed once I arrived at my hosts' home. I will head out to see some of the old city today before attending an orientation in the evening for my class. I am glad that I have internet access, so, I will be able to blog and post some while I'm here. I don't have much so far but here are some pics I took of the Middle-Eastern sunset (click on the image to make it larger). Enjoy!