Just a few miles from our hotel are the ruins of the ancient city of Magdala, the home of Mary Magdalene. We started with Bob explaining the mikveh, Jewish ritual bathing. Christian baptism has its origins in the mikveh. We saw the pools used for mikveh. Suddenly it made more sense why John the Baptist would have used pools alongside the Jordan River for baptism. Bob explained that for men a Rabbi would stand there for someone's mikveh, serving as a witness, but not touching the person. He also explained that the mikveh is a deeply spiritual experience of forgiveness. It is likely that the people John was baptizing were actually self-immersing and John served as the witness.
In Magdala there is an Opus Dei Catholic Church. The major sanctuary looks out on the Sea of Galilee. The pulpit is shaped like a big wooden boat.
There are eight columns in the foyer. Seven of them have the names of women of faith from the Bible. The eighth one is blank and represents women of faith today.
The foyer is surrounded by small chapels. Zandra entered the chapel which had a painting of the healing of Jairus' daughter. The priest had her stand in the spot of Jairus and reach her hand into Jesus' hand. Then he prayed.
Downstairs was the Encounter Chapel. First century stones from the excavation site were used to create a synagogue that was similar to that time period.
Across the front was a depiction of the woman with the flow of blood touching the hem of Jesus' garment.
Our final visit at the site was to the oldest synagogue that has ruins. It is from the first century CE.
The Seat of Moses, from which the Torah was read, is a reproduction. The original found at this site is in a museum. Notice the menorah on the side.
Our second stop was to see the Galilee Boat, commonly referred to as the Jesus Boat. In 1986, during a drought time around the Sea of Galilee, two brothers found the remains of a wooden boat in the sediment near the shore. It took eleven days to pull it out from the mud because when the wood hit the air it became powder. It was a painstaking process to keep it wet while excavating it. Then how would they move it? They covered it with a fiberglass and polyurethane foam before floating it to the Galilee Miracle Center where it was submerged in a pool specially built for it.
The wood had a bacteria in it that needed to be removed and so they brought in St. Peter's fish to eat it off. Next they covered it in a resin that protected the wood. It took eleven years to preserve it. The boat is firmly dated to the first century CE. I want to believe that it belonged to the Zebedee brothers.
Outside the building that houses the boat is incredible artwork created by Muslim and Jewish youth working together for peace.
The plan then was to head up the hill to the Mount of Beatitudes Church. Unfortunately for us, they close down at noon. So we headed in to Korazim, a city that Jesus condemns in Matthew 11. We visited the synagogue, complete with a carving of a Medusa head.
We found a table in the shade and ate fruit and nuts we had brought along. We were fascinated with the lizards and rock badgers (coney) that moved around us.
Capernaum was next on our itinerary and it was really getting hot now so we moved through the site with an eye for shade. Capernaum is known as the home of Peter, disciple of Jesus. Excavations have found a first century home on which was built a fourth century house church on which was built an octagonal church in the fifth century.
A Franciscan church on stilts is built over the site and includes a glass floor. So basically you have a home with three churches on top of it.
We toured the first century village part and for the first time realized that stables were inside homes. The biblical story of Jesus’ birth should read: "Mary gave birth to her first born son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the guest room of the ancestral home." We can quit casting the innkeeper in the Nativity play.
We took a quick peek in what is called the White Synagogue because it is built with white limestone. It was probably purchased by wealthy Capernaum citizens and moved there.
By this time we were all beginning to feel the impact of the heat. We went to the snack bar and got some refreshments. Then we headed for Tabgha. Actually there are two Tabgha sites. The first one memorializes the place where the resurrected Christ fed the disciples breakfast on the beach and then told Peter to feed his sheep.
A small church sits on the site. A large rock from the beach is incorporated into the inside and outside of the building.
On the way back up the hill to the car we found a sign that says that rock badgers are quoted three times in the Bible. It should say that they are mentioned three times but I prefer the sign the way it is. I am trying to come up with possible rock badger quotes: "Thus sayeth the rock badger, 'God is merciful and shelters us in the cleft of the rock.'"
The next Tabgha site memorializes the feeding of the 5,000. There is, of course, a church on the site. A priest was saying Mass but we were allowed to enter any way. The central floor Mosaic, near the altar, has a basket with four loaves of bread flanked by two fish.
The side mosaics are covered with animals from the Nile. Looking for meaning in all symbols I asked Bob why that would be. He said, "Those were images popular at the time the mosaics were created." Oh right. Not everything has to have significant meaning.
By this time we were done with the heat. We decided to forego the rest of the itinerary and head back to the hotel. At dinnertime we drove around the southern part of the Sea of Galilee headed for dinner in Ein Gev. We have reservations at a restaurant that serves St. Peter's fish.
After dinner we enjoyed the sunset and the Galilean breeze. It was magical.
Back home around the northern side of the Sea of Galilee. We need to rest. Tomorrow is another day of adventures!
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