Friends and family visiting

We start this update with a rather unusual awakening one morning recently - a woodpecker pecking at a tree branch outside the window. At first we thought it improbable, but the pecking continued and sure enough, there the bird was. Then some finches later came and seemed to be pecking away at the same spot. A few days later the woodpecker was back. It’s so nice to have trees and birds outside our windows.

A wonderful friend, Edna Wallace from Bridgetown in Western Australia was on pilgrimage recently and we had a chance to catch up with at dinner in our flat. After so many years Edna finally saw the great beauty and experienced the deep spiritual impact of the Bahá’í holy places.

Muna’s brother Sam and his wife Laal and daughter Lena (from USA) visited for two weeks in late November and early December. It was a great opportunity for the five of us to visit various scenic spots around Israel. Apart from Nazareth and the Druze village, we spent a lovely day visiting Zippori and bet She’arim - two very significant historical sites. Muna and Allan had previously visited these places with friends. Here is some background on them. Ancient Zippori - also known by its Greek name Sepphoris - is mentioned in Josephus Flavius' description of the reign of Hasmonean king Alexander Jannaeus and became the most important city in the Galilee. In 37 B.C.E., Herod conquered Zippori but after his death in 4 C.E., the citizens began to mutiny and eventually the soldiers under Roman governor Varus captured Zippori and destroyed the city. Soon after it was rebuilt and Herod Antipas did such a fine job of restoring and beautifying the city that Josephus dubbed it the "glory of the entire Galilee." When the renowned Rabbi Judah Hanasi moved to Zippori from Beit She'arim, he brought with him the Sanhedrin (assembly of 71 ordained scholars, which served both as legislature and a supreme court).

Zippori is known for its amazing mosaics - illustrations from the life of Dionysis, the Greek god of wine, and also what is known as the “Mona Lisa of the Galilee”. The Roman-period city with its carefully laid-out series of parallel and perpendicular streets – you can still see the grooves in the stone streets where the wagons and chariots rode up and down. The Nile Mosaic building, a large fifth-century structure with an ornate mosaic floor depicts the festival held when the level of the Nile River reached its highest point, thereby showing the importance of this city to many civilizations.From the fifth century on, Zippori was inhabited by both Christians and Jews. The Crusaders built a church in memory of Saint Anne at Zippori, as they believed that Mary's parents, Saint Anne and Saint Joachim, had lived here. Parts of the Crusader church are still standing.

On a previous occasion, Anja, a dear friend from Germany, sang a most glorious rendition of a song from Les Miserables while we sat in the amphitheatre. She has a glorious voice and the acoustics were amazing. After a sumptuous lunch at the Herb Farm Restaurant, which specialises in country cooking and fine food, we went to Beit She'arim. Built on a low hill in the western part of the lower Galilee, Beit She'arim flourished from the second through the fourth centuries C.E. The residents dug an ornate necropolis deep into the ground. Courtyards, corridors, and staircases lead to the catacombs with their burial chambers and stone sarcophagi. The chambers and sarcophagi are decorated with bas-reliefs, epitaphs, and frescoes. The mouths of some of the caves were closed with hewn stone doors, shaped to resemble wooden doors. The bas-reliefs and drawings are representative of Roman-period Jewish folk art. The artwork in all the caves contains Jewish elements, such as the seven-branched candelabrum, the Holy Ark, a ram's horn (shofar), and a palm branch. Secular themes, including boats, animals, human figures, and geometrical designs, also appear. Although most of the epitaphs are in Greek, the lingua franca of Eretz Israel at the time, there are some in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Tadmoerite.
During a previous visit with another group of friends we stopped at this area and had a moving memorial for Muna’s mother who recently passed away. We later found out that this was a place used from ancient times to remember those who have passed to the next world.

We also visited Akka and our favourite Arabic sweets place – not the sort of things that Muna’s Yankee brother and sister-in-law get very often.

November and December rains have fallen and this is a real blessing in this desert country. The gardens are looking absolutely beautiful.