[caption id="attachment_513" align="alignright" width="179" caption="Map shows critical location of Scythopolis"][/caption]   We drove south from Galilee to where the valley of Jezreel cuts through to the Jordan River Valley. We visited the spring that Gideon drank from at En Harod.

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="243" caption="Hill of Moreh (Nain on the other side)"][/caption] On the other side of the valley is the hill of Moreh where the Philistines were encamped, and on the other side is the city of Nain. For the first time I understood the logistics of Saul's death. His body was taken to Bet Shean, a pagan city just to the east.   [caption id="attachment_510" align="alignleft" width="270" caption="Paul sitting the box seats at the Scythopolis theater"][/caption] We visited Bet Shean next. It was a fairly intact Greek city state, the capitol of the Decapolis that is mentioned in the Gospels. I'd read that scholars had discovered that in Jesus' day that Israel had a very strong presence of Gentile/Greek culture. That was really clear at Bet Shean which was renamed as Scythopolis.   [caption id="attachment_512" align="alignright" width="270" caption="Scythopolis Theater"][/caption] It was a very Greek city right in the heartland of Judaism. It just gives me a different feel for a lot of gospel accounts. I'd always assumed that the Greeks who wanted to see Jesus in John 12 had come from Caesarea on the coast, but they could have come from a dozen different sites in Palestine. It greatly increases the possibility that Jesus used Greek in addition to Aramaic. [caption id="attachment_506" align="alignleft" width="270" caption="Jill sitting in Roman latrine (at Scythopolis)"][/caption] [caption id="attachment_503" align="alignleft" width="270" caption="Earthquake in 749 AD destroyed Scythopolis"][/caption] I have a much greater sense of how 'mushy' the ethnic groups were in Palestine. That is, there was a lot more mixture that I thought. The New Testament talks about it, but it didn't dawn on me until I actually saw how close Gentile cities are to Jewish ones. it reminds me a lot of Philly neighborhoods: just five blocks away might be a whole different ethnic community. Then we traveled south after lunch while  Jill swapped parrot jokes with our tour guide who has a great (and uniquely Jewish) sense of humor. We traveled through the West Bank beyond Jericho to the community at Qumran where the Dead Sea scrolls were discovered. It was fascinating to see this community close up after having read so much about it. [caption id="attachment_567" align="alignright" width="270" caption="Cave where dead sea scrolls were found"][/caption] [caption id="attachment_511" align="alignleft" width="270" caption="Steps into ritual bath at Qumran"][/caption] The discovery of Qumran has enabled skeptical scholars to get a clear triangulation on a lot of New Testament themes. For instance, the theme of dark and light in John is strong in the Qumran documents.       It was an early monastic-like community for men only that (like Jesus and John the Baptist) was opposed to the corruption of the Jerusalem temple. So, suddenly you have triangulation on Jesus. It also gives us a context for John the Baptist. Ritual washing or Mikvah's that we'd seen in Chorazin are all over Qumran. Twice a day they were "baptized" ritually by walking through a pool. Then they went into their communal mid-day meal where they ate in silence...right during the time of Jesus. [caption id="attachment_509" align="alignleft" width="243" caption="Moab is to right of ravine"][/caption]   Then we headed south to a Dead Sea hotel about half way down the Sea. It is the Feast of Purim (from Esther) this weekend so lots of folks are dressed in costumes. [caption id="attachment_507" align="alignright" width="240" caption="Leaving the West Bank"][/caption]