Israel Part 4: Tel Megiddo and Nazareth Village

Next stop was a day trip to Tel Megiddo and Nazareth Village. Megiddo, also known by the Greek name Armageddon, and is the prophesied location of where the final battle of end times will occur in the Book of Revelation. Overlooking the beautiful Jezreel Valley, it has been a strategically important and battle-ridden city throughout history, as excavations have unearthed 26 layers of ruins!

For such a war-torn place, it was a peaceful and beautiful place to be, and the weather that day was amazing!

We walked through the site and read about the many ancient structures from different civilizations. This was the entrance to the city gate.

View of the valley, this reminded us of Illinois!

Getting ready to enter into the water system tunnel, which was one of the most interesting and scientifically fascinating things about this place. In the 9th century BC, King Ahab constructed a water system to get fresh water from the spring that is outside the walls of the city, especially during times of war. It is 30 meters deep and 70 meters long! Entering the shaft...

Going down, down, down

And across...the tunnel was dug from both sides, and when they met in the middle, they were only off by 1 foot!

The tunnel exits outside the walls of the Tel, and there is a nice hike to get back to the entrance.

What an interesting place, beautiful day, and nice to get outside!

Next stop was Nazareth Village, where we stepped back into the Bible to explore what first century life was like during the time of Jesus. 

The village was opened only in the year 2000, and excavations revealed the site contained an over 2000 year old wine press, vineyard, watchtowers, terraces, irrigation system, and stone quarries. The hillside was well preserved by the Nazareth Hospital in 1906, until it was excavated in 1996.

There were so many old olive trees.

First stop on the parable walk learning about Jesus and the lost sheep. Benjamin enjoyed feeding the sheep and he found the hay stash.

Caleb exploring a replica of Jesus's tomb

The almond trees were starting to bloom.

Hi sweet boy :)

We had a very sweet guide, a Palestinian Christian lady named Rima. It was so interesting to hear about life in Nazareth as a Christian, and her perspective on many things. She was so patient with the kids and did a great job engaging them with all the Bible stories.  She and Benjamin hit is off pretty well :)

At the olive press, learning how to turn olives into oil.

Stop at the carpentry shop

Next was the kitchen..

Last was learning how yarn was made from shearing sheep and what things were used to give the yarn their natural color.

Checking out the Temple

Rima and Benjamin :)

After the tour, we walked downtown to and ate the best schwerma we had the entire trip! We really enjoyed our day trip to Megiddo and Nazareth village...final stop around the Galilee area.