Unlike Egypt whose primary source of water is the Nile, there are springs and underground sources of water in Israel. In ancient Jerusalem, there was a tunnel built by King Hezekiah to bring water from a spring outside the city walls to a pool inside the walls where the citizens could access it more easily. The tunnel was chiseled out of rock started by workers at each end who, miraculously to us in contemplating doing this without any modern equipment, met. It is open to tourists who need to bring a flashlight or two because it is absolutely dark, for about 500 yards under the city. Here is James, leading the way with a headlamp on.
The flash on the camera was able to light up enough to give an idea of what the tunnel looked like, although the picture is a little out of focus. The water on the floor of the tunnel ranges from ankle to mid-thigh deep.
The next day we had the Browers with us to tour Bethlehem and Herodium. Here is Bruce descending into where, traditionally, the stable where Jesus was born is reserved. Bethlehem is now a crowded, busy town like all the other towns or settlements in Israel. Over the centuries and through countless conflicts, the buildings have been destroyed and rebuilt so that much of what was here at the time of Jesus or the Romans is layers down, way below where buildings today sit.
Herodium was just one of the magnificent things Herod the Great built. By the way, he is NOT the Herod who attempted to kill Jesus. This Herod was at least one generation earlier. Not too far out of Jerusalem, he had a summer palace built with a theater and Roman bath. The ruins are still being excavated. It was so helpful to have maps and small models to look at to give us an idea what it looked like originally. Here we all are, except Russ who is taking the photo, trying to figure out what we are seeing the ruins of.
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