Bethlehem and the Burden of Knowledge

Hey Blog Readers, Josh here for the last time. :(

Well we are back in the U.S.! The plane ride from Amman to Chicago was great and we split up from there to travel to our homes (or in some cases the Burg).

We had an amazing four days in Bethlehem. The first day we arrived turned out to be the 170th celebration of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Israel. And the celebration presentation just happened to be 2 floors below our hotel rooms in the Lutheran guesthouse/media center. It was a pretty big event and the highlight was speeches by Mitri Raheb and Bishop Younan- who are both head honchos in the Lutheran church and two of the strongest voices for peace and justice in the Middle East.

The rest of our days we spent touring Bethlehem and talking with the locals, here are some highlights from our stay:

Our hotel was connected to Mitri Raheb’s church and a college! Every day we met some people our age from the college and had a great time chatting about politics, life in the Middle East, archeology, and the Bible.


It was incredibly moving to be in Bethlehm, the birthplace of Jesus. The Church of the Nativity was very interesting. One oddity though was the milk grotto. It is a place where Mary supposedly spilled some breast milk while feeding baby Jesus and where it landed a flower grew. It may not have been true, but it sure was interesting ( I always get a kick out of Catholics).

Majdi is a good friend of Dr. Bouzards and we had a lot of fun visiting with him, buying from his shop, and we were even invited to lunch at his house one day. He has traveled the world and knows many different people and languages. He could be off doing anything he wanted but he is a very humble shop keeper, raising his sons, and using his very precious free time to talk with us. He is unlike anyone any of us had ever met. I wish I could describe him in this blog, but you’ll just have to talk to one of us in person if you want to learn more about him.

Another “highlight” of our stay in Bethlehem was a visit to a refugee camp. They were Palestinians who had their land stolen… I mean occupied by the Israelis. These people, through no fault of their own, lost everything because of the Israeli occupation. And now for almost four generations these refugees are still living in poverty and the only thing they have is the hope to return to the land they still have legal deeds to. The worst part of the visit was pictures from the time of the first occupation; they were almost identical to ones we saw in the Holocaust museum of Jewish ghettos. Does history teach us nothing? You would think the Jews especially would know what abuse and oppression looks like. And even though the visit was a little depressing we learned a great deal about biases in politics. While Israel is a nation, and one that we helped establish, we can not allow them to abuse innocent people. When we were in Israel, the locals told us that Israel soldiers never did anything wrong and that the Palestinians were to blame for the violence, anything else was propaganda. The exact opposite was said while visiting with Palestinians. But after seeing both sides (actually physically seeing it) and talking with all sorts of people we can unanimously come to the conclusion that no one is innocent. Everyone has committed faults, made mistakes, and ignored the other side. Each side has played a part in putting up walls, both physically and mentally. I think almost everyone on this trip would agree with President Barack Obama in that the only reasonable solution is to keep moving forward and to agree to a two state solution. Now the logistics of that all will be hard to settle on, be we can’t let anyone- Israeli or Palestinian, Jew, Christian, or Muslim- be unjustly persecuted. That includes traveling rights, land rights, curfews removed, etc.

Every where we visited I made sure to ask, “what is the most important thing we can do now, after talking to you and hearing your story?”, and the answer every time was “spread the new, talk about it”. So I encourage each and everyone one of you to talk about it. Pick up a newspaper, talk to your Middle Eastern friends, and especially to talk with any of the 14 people from Wartburg who went on this trip, and after- keep spreading the news. I know this was technically an Archeology and the Bible course, but the reason we learn about history is so we can know where we came from and where we are going. Mitri Raheb talks in his books about the dead stones of the past (the dig sites, the ancient Roman cities, etc.) but he stresses the much more important living stones- the people here and now, and those to come. So I beg each of you to become educated on the matter, talk with people, spread the new, pray for peace and justice, and most importantly stay hopeful.


May justice come quickly and peacefully to Israel, Palestine, and the World. :)


-Joshua Stibb

joshua.stibb@wartburg.edu

On the Sea of Galilee

Hey Blog Readers, Josh here again!

We have had an amazing week on the Sea of Galilee.

But before we start- sorry that I haven't really updated the blog at all. Turns out I was only saving my blogs to the website and not publishing them for public view. So the previous blog and this blog are just a conglomeration of a few blogs that did not get fully published.

Like I said, the Sea of Galilee was great. Did you know that the Sea is only 21 miles long and 7 miles wide? So all of the Biblical cities are very close to one another. From our hotel beach in Ginasor we can look across the water and see the large city of Tiberias. Also, our dig site in Bethsaida is a quick 20 minute drive from our hotel.

In Bethsaida we are working closely with Orna Cohen. She is a rock star of the archeology world. She is world famous for the preservation and conservations she does, her most famous work being the 1st century fishing boat discovered on the sea of Galilee. She also is currently working on the Herodium (King Herod's tomb), for more information on it check out National Geographic! She was in it! She has also been published, interviewed, and been put in charge of countless other projects. But she is also an incredibly humble person and a lot of fun to work with. She is having us repair and conserve the four chambered gate/corridor at Bethsaida (the largest four chambered corridor in Israel). All the students get up around 6:00 and get ready for the day. We are on the bus by 6:30 and unloading the dig equipment by 7:00. Around 9:30 we take a break and have breakfast for a half hour. And we generally finish the day just after noon. This may not seem like an incredibly long day to you, but it is back breaking work at times. We have to end around noon because it gets unbearably hot in the afternoon. We return back to the hotel to shower and siesta and finish the evening in lecture, touring the Biblical sites, or swimming in the Sea.

We spent most of our first day weeding and collecting piles of rocks and buckets of dirt in the hot Israeli sun! It was fun at first but it heats up really fast. We thought we had all gotten a really good tan the first day... but it just turned out just to be a layer of 2,000 year old dirt.

The second day was a lot more fun. We spent the first half of the day weeding and what not, but after breakfast we started to mix up a mud mortar to start repairing the wall. It was very messy but VERY fun and most off all very important for preserving the ancient city of Bethsaida. And that is how we spent most of our days at the site. We learned a great deal about archeology and modern day preservation techniques.

Before I end the blog I just wanted to highlight one especially interesting thing we did this week (we did way more than this, but for brevity's sake I'll keep it short). We took a tour, lead by Orna, through the bowels of the Ginosar museum. We got to see the preservation and assembly rooms, storage rooms, and a lot of unbelievably fragile and ancient pieces. At one point we were in an office shuffling through boxes of artifacts. Orna would open a box tell us what we were looking at and pass that item around the group! We got to hold and examine ancient fishing hooks, stone oil lamps, ivory carvings, and many other priceless antiquities, some of which were over 3,000 years old! And the pièce de résistance- she let us hold a fragment of the preserved wood from the 1st century fishing boat discovered in the late 1980s. This boat is literally one of a kind and a legendary find and we got to hold it! We all felt extremely honored and privileged to do all these amazing things. I'm sure Amanda will upload pictures to the blog site shortly!

We finished our Ginosar adventure with a picnic and a swim in the river Jordan. We were all really sad to leave yesterday but we all had amazing experiences that will stay with us for the rest of our lives!


As always, a brief bio of some of our classmates.

A Jolly Good Time in Jerusalem

Hey There Blogg Readers!

It's Josh here again. We have had a great couple of days here in Jerusalem! Here is a brief list of all we have done in Jerusalem:
Visited all 14 stations of the cross,
Touched the crucifixion stone,
Prayed at the Holy Sepulcher,
Visited the Garden Tomb (Gordon's Tomb),
Explored the Citadel/Crusaders Castle,
Prayed at the Western Wall,
Walked around the Dome of the Rock (weren't allowed to go in... argh politics),
Toured multiple Synagogues,
Visited the Last Supper House,
Visited King David's Tomb,
Visited a church where the Virgin Marry died... I mean ascended (silly Catholics),
Visited David's Palace,
Spelunked through Hezikiah's tunnel,
Visited Schindler's grave,
Explored multiple Roman/Greek/Byzantine ruins (houses, churches, temples, etc.)
And Much... MUCH more!

These few days have gone by in a flash and we are really sad to leave. Today we left Jerusalem and visited Masada. It is a pretty well preserved fortress/palace that King Herod had built. The highlight for me was the Roman baths which had very well preserved frescos. Then we visited Qumran, the Essen village where John the Baptist may have lived for a while. The Dead Sea scrolls were also discovered in a small cave near the village.

It was really exciting to see these two areas, not just for the Biblical connection, but also because we saw some really well preserved archeological digs. Starting tomorrow we will be actively participating on digs and preservation of historical sites.
To end the day we took a quick trip to the Dead Sea. We did not go swimming because we didn't have enough time, so we took off our socks and shoes and waded in the water for a bit. The Dead Sea is the lowest point on earth and is 30% salt. The water is oily and because of the high salt concentration it makes most things incredibly buoyant. Its was neat to see and we are hoping the legendary healing qualities of the Dead Sea affect the group, a few of us have come down with a cold.

As for the weather here... well it is what you would expect in the desert. Sunny, hot, dry... etc. But it gets surprisingly cool at night. I think we are all enjoying the food. I mean who doesn't love pita?! Some other highlights are fallafel, middle eastern pizza, hummus, foul (black bean sauce), and Magnum Ice Cream bars.

We also hope to take some of the desert hospitality back with us to the U.S. Shop owners will usually invite you in for a cup of tea, we'll sit and chat for a while, and if you want to by something you can- if not, thats okay too.

Well I better go get some rest. We have a big dig day ahead of us!

As always I plan to end the blog with brief bios of our class members.


Jess Wetherell
3rd Year, Music Ed. Major
Reason For Joining Class: She has always been interesting in archeology, especially Biblical Archeology. And she wants to experience middle-eastern culture as well.
She is most excited to ride a camel and see the site that are sacred to all three Abrahamic faiths.



Peter Watters
4th Year, Religion and Philosophy Majors
Reason for Joining the Class: Wanted to see Chip Bouzard in a travel vest.
He is most excited to go to the Dome of the Rock.



Dr. Bouzard
Group Leader
Reason for Leading: Gets a kick out of taking students to the Holy Land for the first time.
He is most excited to do the archeological work.

Well, we're about to leave Jerusalem to travel first south to the Dead Sea, then north to the Sea of Galilee. It's early and I have to pack yet, but here are some pictures of out time in Jerusalem. First is an ancient (over 2000 years old) olive tree in the Garden of Gethsemane, then a lookout over Jerusalem (the gold dome is the Dome of the Rock), then a dig site at Bethesda by the St Anne's church.

Greetings From Jerusalem!

Hello Blog Readers!
I'm Joshua Stibb, the secondary blogger for the group. I see Amanda has done some posts already, I'll try not to recap everything she has said and maybe go a little more in depth into some of the individual sights we have visited and the reactions by the class members.
But before I start the blog, I would just like to thank everyone who has made this trip possible. The Dean, President Hamm, and especially Dr. Bouzard who had worked tirelessly to make this amazing learning experience happen! And I would like quell any fears people have had about our safety. We are in the hands of the most capable people for the job. We came prepared, know exactly where we are going and what we are doing, and I feel just as safe here in the Middle East as I do walking the streets of my small Wisconsin hometown of Ripon.

We started off our Middle East Adventure in Jordan. Our first stop was at Madaba. There we visited St. George's church which holds the large mosaic map that, besides being pretty well preserved for over 1,500 years, has been a valuable tool that aides scholars in locating ancient cities of the Holy Land. It is a landmark for historians, geographers, archeologists, and religious experts alike.
Next, we continued through the Moab territory to the top of Mount Nebo. And just like Numbers 34 talks about God showing Moses the whole promised land, from Gilead to Dan, we looked out across the desert to see the Dead Sea, Jerusalem, Jericho, and the Jordan- all from one spot!
We also visited Karak Castle. It is a giant medieval castle from the 12th century that was besieged by Saladin during the crusades. We enjoyed roaming the ancient stone barracks, attack towers, and Roman baths. Some daredevils even climbed to the top of a three story rampart.
We then made our way to the ancient city of Petra, a Nabataean city well protected by a beautiful mountain range. The Nabataeans are know as the stone carvers and we enjoyed walking through the idol covered mountain passage to the crown jewel of Petra, the treasury. You probably know it as the cave from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. And if you think it made an impressive scene in the movie it is 100x more impressive in real life. Petra is also filled with tombs, temples, and other architectural goodies influenced by the Greeks, Romans, Egyptians, Byzantines, and of course the native Nabataeans- all of which was accented by the natural beauty of the pastel colored rock.
Our tour of Jordan finished in Jerash, a well preserved Roman City from the second century. The highlights include the hippodrome (chariot racing stadium), the cardo maximus (Roman main street), and two impressive amphitheaters with acoustics so refined that from the top row of seats you could hear someone drop a coin just inches from the ground at centerstage.
Unfortunately, we had to end our tour of Jordan. This meant saying goodbye to our driver, Mario, and our amazing tour guide, Zaid. We made our way through the checkpoint and into Israel. We haven't seen too much of Jerusalem, but it is already an amazing city. We are staying in a convent/guest house with wonderful accommodations located in the Arab quarter. After our fabulous dinner we had a meeting to decide our schedule for tomorrow. And at the end we were serenaded by the late night Muslim call to prayer. We walked out onto the third story balcony and listened to the enchanting music echoing off the ancient stone buildings in the cool stiff breeze. The Dome of the Rock's golden cupola shown brightly in the pale moonlight while we stared into the distance at the Mount of Olives, The Citadel, and countless other influential Churches with steeples pointing towards the heavens, Synagogues with massive decorated covings, and Mosques alight with eerie green lights. It was a breathtaking sight and we all just sat there in silence absorbing the beauty of it all. I can't wait to go to sleep and wake up tomorrow so I can go out and explore Jerusalem, the most holiest of cities.

I would like to end each of my postings with a short bio of different class members. First up is my roommate Alex Krumm.



Alex Krumm
3rd Year, English Education Major
Reason for joining the Class: He knew he wanted to visit the Holy Land sometime while he was in College and this class provided the perfect opportunity.
He is most excited to visit Petra.




Joshua Stibb
3rd Year Religion and Psychology Majors
Reason for joining class: When I found out that there was a May Term going to Holy Land I just had to go!
I am most excited for visiting the Mount of Olives and riding a camel!

That about sums it up for this post- I hope your May has started off as well as ours has! God Bless!

Petra

We began the day with a walk:

And ended up in an ancient city:

It was a great experience, although long: 6 miles round trip in and out of the valley, most of that being up or down hill. Wholly exhausting, but ultimately the most rewarding.

We are back in Amman tonight, and tomorrow will see Jerash and then go to the border, get in a different bus with a different driver and guide, and go into Jerusalem.

Arrival

Well, 6 airports, 2 shuttles, 11 layover hours, 20 in-flight hours, 2 taxis, 5 calls to the GMCS office, and several boarding passes later, and we have arrived. 

(Don't worry folks, that was mostly all my own interesting journey from BWI to Chicago, involing both JFK and Laguardia, Midway, and O'Hare.)

But we here. We've had dinner, we've explored (went to Safeway!) , and now we're resting. Tomorrow we head to Petra!