Stunning Negev Desert – One of Our Favourite Places

We start with comings and goings - we have been truly blessed with lots of visitors recently. Merle Heggie, one of the early Australian Bahá’ís, was on pilgrimage with her son Adrian, and we had a delightful morning tea recalling inspiring memories. This photo is with Jeffrey Safajou – a long term staff member in Haifa.

Shervin Tosif also breezed in – he is riding his push bike across Asia/Europe and flew into Haifa for a break before riding through Austria.

Hooman Zahrai visited his delightful daughter Shade and we were invited to dinner, and had a most wonderful time.

It was also our wedding anniversary in late November and some friends joined us for a luncheon here in Haifa.

Robin Stott of Perth and her daughter Diane were on pilgrimage and we had a delightful day at the Sea of Galilee.
Apart from these dear friends, the real gem of the past few months has been a return to the Negev desert in southern Israel. We scouted out the region in January 2008 and decided that a return visit—this time with 5 additional couples—was well worth it. This map will help identify some of the locations we visited (click on the map to enlarge it).

Being Aussies, all activities revolve around morning and afternoon tea, and we took a small gas burner with us to make delicious Arabic coffee and heat soup for lunch.

No camping with this group, we travel in style! We even took a rice cooker and a microwave oven to cook and heat up delicious food for dinner.

Three friends—Mark, Brian, and Khosrow—took many of these wonderful photos that will give you a glimpse of the remarkable terrain and ancient civilizations that inhabited the region.

First stop was Paula and David Ben-Gurion's home at Kibbutz Sede Boker. Ben-Gurion and his wife moved into their desert home in 1953.

During his twenty-year residence there, the house was enlarged to meet the needs of his work and the reception of the couple's numerous guests. The home dates back to the 1960s and remains exactly as Ben-Gurion left it when he passed away in 1973. Its structure and furniture exude modesty, physical simplicity, and frugality.

The garden landscape has been expanded and is carefully maintained; pathways have been paved for visitors' comfort; maxims from Ben-Gurion's philosophy, and blown-up photographs from the early years of Sede Boker decorate the walkways.

An exhibition entitled "The Negev is the cradle of our nation, dangerously vulnerable and dazzlingly prospective" includes short videos of Ben Gurion's life. One can trace Ben-Gurion's early years in the Russian town of Plonsk; his aliya [immigration] as a pioneer to the Land of Israel in 1906; his rise to Zionist leadership in 1935; and his role as head of the political and military struggle for the establishment of the Jewish state in 1948.

Close by to this desert home are the graves of David and Paula Ben-Gurion which overlook a magnificent valley;

they rest in a landscaped garden in the desert, inhabited by many ibex.

The Nahal Zin is 120 km long and 1550 sq. km. It is the largest wadi (canyon or deep gulley) that begins in the Negev. The Nahal Zin was created by reverse erosion as the great height difference between the Negev Highlands and the Jordan Rift caused the under layers to erode during the rainy season, resulting in the collapse of the harder strata of rock above. The landscape is mostly limestone, consisting of some brown-black layers of flint.
Magnificent rock formations abound, as do the ibex.

The park has a bubbling brook, a waterfall, and pools. Many animals, including birds, reptiles and ibex, are attracted to the fertile banks with their lush vegetation. The park has limited its visiting hours to minimize the adverse impact of human guests on the resident animals.

It is so amazing to hear the sound of running water in an otherwise quiet desert, and to see a waterfall is even more spectacular, even if it is a trickle after a long dry summer.

Not quite Abbey Road (for those Beatles fans who remember the famous album cover) but the name of the game was "follow me"

A group photo

The riverbed has a grove of Euphrates poplars, trees often seen in oases and known for their amazingly diverse-shaped leaves.

The trail through the park is designed so as not to damage the landscape. It runs past caves which were inhabited by monks during the Byzantine period. The complete trail leads from the lower entrance along the river-bed to the upper entrance. On one stretch of the trail, hikers must climb up iron rungs hammered into the rock.

This time a hardy group climbed to the top of the deep gorge at the Ein Avdat National Park – including two vertical ladders fixed to the stone walls of the canyon.

Avdat is a Nabatean city that has bridged the centuries. It sits on the ancient Spice Route between Petra and Gaza. The city was named after the admired monarch Avdat [‘Abdah in Arabic].

It is an enormous city that housed an army of some 2,000 soldiers; caravans of several hundred camels bringing their riches were easily seen from a distance.

These wine vessels date from that period.
Its good to join the locals
and participate in local sporting activities

Avdat is a world heritage site and is larger and more interesting that the smaller city of Mamsheet which we also visited.
It had a natural fortification at the back and a clear view of any approaching army from the front.
No match for the Romans though, who had no great difficulty in occupying the city. With their traditional livelihood gone, the inhabitants of Mamsheet found another way to make a living—raising horses. The residents bred the renowned Arabian horse, which brought great wealth to their city.
The crater at Mizpe Ramon (Makhtesh) is an unusual formation.

The vigorous process of erosion, which swept away the upper strata of the Ramon anticline, penetrated deep into the ground, creating a "window" onto the layers of rock. Makhtesh Ramon also contains evidence of long-ago volcanic activity.
After the obligatory afternoon tea,

we watched the sun go down over the crater and saw a group of Jews celebrate the start of Shabbat with song and readings. Such a spectacular spot in which to reflect on our tiny place in this vast universe.

Brian got up at sunrise to take this photo, while the rest of us slumbered on!

Rain in this desert environment is a very precious and welcome gift. Fortunately, after several dry winters (it does not usually rain between May and October) we had some welcome rain in November and December; these storm clouds attest to the sudden change that can occur from the bright blue skies normally seen over Haifa to this stormy and angry canopy overhead.

Still, we are in the worst drought the country has ever experienced. Even with a little rain the country quickly "greens up" and we hope to travel in the coming weeks to see some northern parts of Israel in winter.

Our warmest greetings for the festive season

and all the very best for 2009.

The many delights of the Galilee

We traveled with a few friends to the Galilee recently, and as luck would have it, it was a spectacularly clear day – one of the top 20 for the year!

We found a nice spot, with a superb view of the northern Galilee

for an Arabic coffee and Anzac biscuits morning tea, and then we drove down to the actual historic site in Capernaum.

Although we have driven around the other side of the lake, we had not previously visited the sites around the western Galilee, so this was a trip to a new region in Israel. First stop Capernaum.

Archaeological evidence shows that Capernaum was a fishing village inhabited continuously from the 1st century BC to the 13th century AD. It is frequently mentioned in the Gospels and was the main base for Jesus during His Galilean ministry, and was the home of Peter and Andrew.

We looked down on the remains of the house belonging to the disciple Peter. We are told that Jesus had no home of his own, and He often stayed with Peter’s family. It was very special to visit this octagonal structure which had been blessed by the presence of Jesus—indeed the whole area has been blessed by His footsteps.

There is a Synagogue nearby that is dated at between the 2nd and 5th centuries AD.

There is a black basalt foundation beneath the white synagogue, probably an older synagogue that was destroyed or demolished.

Between the Church and the Synagogue and all around, lie the remains of very small dwellings belonging to the city’s inhabitants (either the people of those early days were very tiny or else they slept standing up!).

In the 5th century, the site was razed to the ground and a grander church was built in its place, indicating an increased Christian population. The new church was octagonal in shape and had an ambulatory; this layout is identical to churches of the same type in Italy and Syria and similar to the Dome of the Rock mosque in Jerusalem. Both the church and synagogue were destroyed prior to the Islamic conquest in 638 AD. The current church has an interesting, if unusual “sci-fi” design! It even includes the words "Peter" made into lattice work.

Most of the shore of the Sea of Galilee is rocky, but there are a few places where a sandy beach can be found.

Currently the water level is critically low—even further below sea level than usual.

A beautiful Orthodox church was built right near the sea,

and has recently been completely refurbished. It has an amazing display of paintings all over the walls and ceiling.

Outside behind the church is a lovely shaded spot, with a small aviary and benches and tables; ideal for our picnic lunch. Fresh home made bread, garden fresh salads, hummus, cheese and cold meats, brewed coffee and sweets—a veritable feast! We lingered and did it justice.

Close by is the area where Jesus preached the “sermon on the mount”; there is a small cave at the top of the hillside outside of which Jesus would have stood so the followers could hear Him.

We sat on 2 wooden benches set in this cave and looked out on a most beautiful view of the Sea of Galilee, surrounded by hills at the most eastern side of Israel.

Some 10 km further south, at the Yigal Allon Museum in Kibbutz Ginosar, we came across something quite amazing. In 1986, an ancient boat was pulled from the mud along the northwestern shore of the Sea of Galilee. It was a very exciting find that gives an idea of the sort of fishing boat used 2000 years ago in these waters. The boat appeared after a long drought during which the lake receded. The timber did not rot but was very soft and was would crumble if touched.

Pulling the boat from the mud without damaging it was a difficult task and lasted 12 days—it was “wrapped” in a casing of fiberglass and floated to safety. The boat was cleaned then submerged in a chemical bath for 7 years before it could be displayed—this process ensured that a wax compound replaced all the moisture in the wood.

The boat has been dated to the 1st century AD based on pottery and nails found in association with the boat, radiocarbon dating, and hull construction techniques. Evidence of repeated repairs indicates the boat was used for several decades, perhaps nearly a century. The boat is made of 12 different types of wood and measures 8.2m long, 2.3m wide and 1.25m high. It would have had a crew of five (four rowers and a helmsman) and could carry about 15 additional persons. This seems like a lot for such a humble boat, but people were much smaller 2,000 years ago, apparently. It is known as the “Jesus Boat” and more accurately, the “Galilee Boat”.

There is a narrow windy road on the southwestern side of the Galilee that is called the "zigzag" road to "Switzerland". It is one of the most scenic roads in the upper part of Israel. It is autumn now in Israel, still quite warm but the days are rapidly shrinking.

As we started our drive back to Haifa, the sun was westering and the colours were changing on the hills as we stood to watch; we had to drag ourselves away from the peaceful beauty of the lake and hills, so enchanting now with the moon rising over the Lake. We all knew we had been gifted with this special visit to a Holy spot on a most beautifully clear day, and we returned serene and replete both physically and spiritually. Thanks to Mark for these photos.

Back in Haifa, some lovely friends from Perth visited their daughter Ella recently – Wendy and Jerome Wisniewski. Also Lobna Rohani breezed in for a very short visit; it was nice to catch up. We had a lovely morning tea with Julia McPharlin from Perth who is serving here as well.We also received this wedding photo of a sweet lass, Soriah (pronounced “Sorayyah”) who commenced her service in Haifa at the same time as us and left after the wedding with hubby “Anis” (they met here) to live in Brazil. She would like us to visit them there; as would Jenny Marshall who left for New Zealand recently. By the time we leave this Holy land, we will have close friends in all corners of the globe to visit (Korea, USA, Canada, Argentina, New Zealand, Africa, etc. etc…) Wouldn’t that be lovely…..