Jericho is the oldest city in the world still inhabited. We’re talking over 10.000 years here. Our tour guide, Mike, is a Jericho boy, and he had no shortage of good things to say about his home town. He says the weather is the best in the world, year round. We really did have awesome weather there, and have since we arrived in the country. The shops were selling fruits and vegetables fresh from the gardens, and we even saw a Dominoes Pizza. I already showed you the sycamore tree, the peacocks, and Sam the camel. Our stop in Jericho was at a resort with shops and a restaurant. We did a little shopping first, and then ate. After lunch and camel rides, we went across the parking lot to see this.
We walked up the hill to find an archeological excavation of mud brick walls that date back to the time of Joshua. There is one part of the wall intact…in my mind, that is where Rahab’s family lived, as they were spared from the destruction of Jericho by Joshua and the Israelites because she helped the Israelite spies. So we saw where that was. Pretty cool, right?
Across the way from Jericho is the Judean wilderness. This is where Jesus would have wandered for 40 days and nights without eating, and the mountain was the Mount of Temptation. There is a church up on the mountain that is accessible by cable cars, but we did not go up there. We could see it from where we were standing though.
In this area was also Elisha’s spring. Near here was were Elijah was taken to heaven.
The Moabite mountains are within site.
Mt Nebo where Moses died is within site.
Herod the Great died in Jericho, and to make sure the people mourned, even though he knew they wouldn’t be mourning a cruel murderer such as him, he ordered that upon his death the elderly and leaders of the Jews were also murdered. And so the people mourned. His body was then taken and buried in Herodian. Near Jericho, Herod the Great’s son, Herod Antipas, also arrested and beheaded John the Baptist. So much stuff happened here near Jericho.
OK, next we went back to Jerusalem and visited the non-Upper Room, I’ll explain that, and David’s tomb sort of. I’ll explain that too!