Old Testament Sites, by Garth

These are some of the Old Testament sites we went to in Israel.

Port of Jaffa (also known as Joppa)

Jaffa (known as Joppa in Bible times) - This would be the port that Jonah would have taken the boat to Tarshish (Jonah 1:3). It is no longer used as a major port for ships but more for small private boats and tourist boats.

Part of the Broad Wall in the Old City of Jerusalem

Broad Wall - It was built by Hezekiah. The reason it was built was to defend Jerusalem from the expected invasion of the Assyrian King Sennacherib. The walls were refortified by Nehemiah when he returned from Babylonian captivity (Nehemiah 3:8). Isaiah the prophet talks about the houses that needed to be torn down to build the Broad Wall (Isaiah 22:9-10).

Ruins of Beit Shean from the Roman period

Roman ruins of Beit Shean - the city was probably destroyed by an earthquake

Looking down at a public bathroom used by people going to the theater (there weren't private cubicles)

Beit Shean - This is the site where Saul and his children were nailed to the walls by the Philistines (First Samuel 31). The site we visited was a rebuilt by the Romans in 63 BC. Most city sites had strategic importance either for trade, communication, or defense. Generally cities were rebuilt on the ruins of the destroyed city, creating many layers (called a tel). In Israel, many cities were destroyed by invading armies but many were also destroyed by earthquakes.

Ruins of an alter found in Megiddo

Ruins of the Northern Palace, probably built by Solomon

Storage cistern, possibly for grain.  On the left side are stairs going down and the opposite side had stairs going up, so people could collect dry good from the cistern

Another view of the cistern

Megiddo - It is an important tel with 26 layers, representing the number of times the city was destroyed and rebuilt. It was a very strategic location because it guarded the western branch of a narrow pass of a trade route between Egypt and Mesopotamia.  Megiddo was the site of many battles for control over the region. The last major battle in the region was in 1918 between the British and the Ottoman Empire. The defeat of the Ottoman Empire by the British eventually led to the creation of the State of Israel 30 years later.  The book of Revelation talks about the final battle between good and evil taking place at Megiddo. Megiddo was inhabited from 7000 BC to 586 BC. There are 11 references to Megiddo in the Old Testament (Joshua 12:21, Joshua 17:11, Judges 1:27, Judges 5:19, First Kings 4:12, First Kings 9:15., Second Kings 9:27, Second Kings 23:29, Second Kings 23:30, First Chronicles 7:29, Second Chronicles 35:22).

Remains of King David's palace.  Up above is the wooden flooring for where we enter this site

More remains of King David's palace

Looking up towards King David's Palace and the ruins of Jebus

Remains of King David's palace - City of David - located south of the Temple Mount. The City of David is located on the original site of a Jebusite settlement (Jebus).  Melchizedek was the first Jebusite mentioned in the Bible. He is portrayed as a priest king and Abraham gives 10% of his possessions to him (Genesis 14). David conquered the city by a surprise attack led by Joab, through the water supply tunnels (Second Samuel 5: 6-10). The water supply tunnels are different than Hezekiah's tunnels in that they are dry tunnels and the women used them to get to the outside of the city wall to collect water. On our tour you could either go through the dry tunnels or Hezekiah's tunnels.

Hezekiah's tunnels

Hannah and Kate in Hezekiah's tunnels

Shiloh inscription (replica) that commemorates the building of Hezekiah's tunnels. The real inscription is in a museum in Turkey

Hezekiah's tunnels - City of David. Built by Hezekiah (Second Kings 2:20) so that water could be diverted into the city so that the city could still have water even if it was surrounded by enemy soldiers.

Top of Mount Carmel looking down at the modern city of Haifa and the Mediterranean Sea (Great Sea)

Mount Carmel - This is the place where Elijah challenges the 450 prophets of Baal. (First Kings 18). Today the mountain overlooks the city of Haifa and the Mediterranean Sea. In  First Kings 18:43 Elijah instructs his servant to look out towards the sea  to see if there are any rain clouds.

Remains of Solomon's temple, built up the hill from King David's palace and below the Temple Mount

Remains of Solomon's palace - Jerusalem Archaeological Park. In First Kings 7 Solomon also built himself a palace. The remains of the palace are located between David's palace and the Temple Mount.