357.January 09

Tiberias, Israel

Saturday morning in the Jordan River Hotel was a late one. We had breakfast at 8:50, a lecture at 10:00 and lunch at lunchtime. We went on a hike to the Horns of Hattim, at 13:30, which took us 2 hours to reach. This is the place of a great battle, and the pass is a bottleneck. After we talked about the area, we had the option to catch a ride back, or stay, hike to the caves, and walk back, which would be a total of 15 km. About 7 of us stayed, and we hiked up into the prehistoric caves. They were probably used by shepards for sheep, but also as homes. We reached them as it began to rain.

Our walk to the Horns of Hattim is, I am sure, going to be one of the most memorable parts of this trip. I felt sorry for those who did not climb to the caves. When I found out we weren't going up there all the way, I was disappointed with the long walk we had taken. But when I got to the top and saw the caves, I could not believe where I was. People had lived in those hollows, and they had hardly changed since the time of their inhabitation. The other places we have seen have been rebuilt or filled in with mud and sand. But something like these caves have been around since the earth formed them. It seemed as if God actually provided these as a home for creation. And we were inside one of the original dwellings of the prehistoric man. On these cliffs, these same caves are being roamed by sheep. Some of them have probably held sheep off and on since the domestication of the animal. We took pictures in the caves and descended in running rivulets.

We reached the hotel at 18:00. Dinner was at 19:00. A group of us went to Petro Pub, which is in the ruins of the Norman castle built on this site. Vaulted ceilings and incredible atmosphere. Melissa, Becca and I went on to Big Ben for ale, and we stayed up until 1:30 tomorrow morning.

1993