Israel vs the Philistines Field Trip / Lachish

Lachish was a greatly fortified citadel-palace, with a double

wall, by the divided Monarchy Kings of Judah. When Hezekiah ceased paying tribute to Assyria, in 701 BC, Assyrians under

Sennacherib attacked and took Lachish before Jerusalem.

Quruntul Monastery in Jericho

After visiting the Jericho tell, a highlight was visiting a monastery. We enjoyed a nice walk up the steep path to a monastery located literally on the mountainside. It was on the cliff-side of the traditional Mt of Temptation. The monks welcomed us into the monastery, which commemorates the area where Christ spent 40 days fasting in the wilderness. The students were incredibly respectful of the site and that led to a very thought provoking time contemplating the many monks over the centuries that have sought solitude in their quest to find God.

Jericho

This week we went to Jericho and saw the remains of the old city. We blew a ram’s horn and sang the favorite, “Joshua fit the battle of Jericho.”

The great pyramids of Giza & the Sphinx

We are still reflecting on our experiences of the past two weeks. In Egypt we saw places and discussed events that covered the whole of Egyptian History. It was like taking a cram course in one week that covers American history ten times over. That is, the history of Egypt covers 5000 years from 3000 BC to the present. Craig rekindled that old desire to be an Egyptologist that first inspired him over 20 years ago on our first experience in Egypt. But that will have to be a hobby only, as there are so many other important things that need his attention.

Notice the storm clouds in the bottom picture. We had wind, rain, and we thought hail, but later thought it could of been sand blowing that stung as it hit our faces. As we arrived in Egypt we were welcomed with this greeting, "Welcome to Alaska". Burrr!!! Can you beleive coats in Giza. We were told we were lucky to be there on one of their 3 stormy days of the year. We were happy to see the sun the following day.

Karnak and Luxor Temples

Highlights of the sites in Egypt we visited were the pyramids, the Karnak & Luxor temples, the decorative tombs in the Valley of the Kings, including King Tut’s Tomb, a camel safari through a village on the west side of the Nile River, and two historic mosques in Cairo. One of the most surprising finds was when the guided tour in the Luxor temple concluded and we went with David Seely (the Ancient Near Eastern Studies professor) and his family to a room off to the side of the main corridor of the temple. On the walls the reliefs depicted an account of God begetting a Son that read much like our nativity story in Luke or the visions of Nephi in 1 Nephi 11. There are echoes of the gospel everywhere in Egypt. We surmise that their knowledge comes from the time of Noah’s posterity settling tin Egypt, to Abraham, and later the years that the children of Israel spent there. In fact, the theme that reoccurred over and over was that of eternal family relationships and the resurrection. The messages of the scenes on the walls of the temples and the tombs were hauntingly familiar from the temples in the restoration of the gospel. For example, they have doors leading to the spirit world and make many references to life after death being family oriented.

Camel safari through a village in Luxor

We had a camel safari through a village on the west side of the Nile River. We were gone for about 2hours, winding through the beautiful farms, fields and small villages. Our camel guides were young boys 10-16 years of age. It was a wonderful afternoon ride.

Jan 31 - Vallley of the Kings & King Tut's Tomb

We had beautiful weather at the Valley of the Kings. It's a new experience visiting this Valley in the winter with 60 degree temp instead of 120 degrees in the heat of Summer.