Friday, May 2, 2008

In the land of the Philistines.


Today we headed southeast to tel Maresha. Much of the land we traveled over was in biblical times the land of the Philistines. Though some were Isralite territories, such as Beit Shemesh one of the borders of Israelite territory, where the ark eventually wandered back after Philistine capture (I Samuel 6). Also Among the places we crossed was the valley of Elah where David slew Golaith (I Sam 17:2)


At Tel Maresha, We actually did some Digging, I unearthed a small pottery shard and several pieces of charcoal about 2300 years old. While waiting for our group to get together I find laying on the ground beneath my feet a weight used for weaving. The whole experience was mind Blowing, hold such things from Hasmonean times in my hand.

From there we went to Yaffa for Lunch and took a stroll around, and from there to the very crowded market to see everyone shopping for Shabbat.

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