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Did Jesus Have Cold Feet?

A few weeks ago the media was carrying the report of a study done by the Journal of Paleolimnology that a patch of ice could have formed on the surface of the Sea of Galilee. The scientists admit that this was a very rare event and may have occurred only once every 30 to 60 years. It was a floating piece of ice that would have been difficult to see. And it’s on the opposite side of the lake where Jesus had been with his disciples just prior to the episode (he had been near Bethsaida). I’ll leave it for you to determine which is the greater miracle: incarnate God walks on water or a really moral teacher with great eyesight catches a ride on a floating piece of ice without anybody figuring it out until 2006.

Re-enactment of Jesus walking on the Sea of Galilee

The State of “Palestinian Archaeology”

You don’t read much about “Palestinian archaeology,” that is research done by Arabs in the West Bank. This article gives a little insight into why that is (HT: Explorator). One thing of note for biblical studies is the “freshly uncovered Bronze Age site called Tell Etell, a few kilometers outside Ramallah.” Certainly this must be a reference to the site sometimes identified as Ai, which is anything but “freshly uncovered” (it was first excavated in 1928). I can see why it would be an attractive site for Palestinians: 1) its proximity to the large city of Ramallah, and 2) its apparent discrediting of the historicity of the Israelite conquest when identified as Ai. For a brief note about the problems with et-Tell as Ai, see this BiblePlaces page with photos and links.

Early Bronze temple (or palace) of et-Tell

Down the Jordan River

Richard Bangs is claiming to be the first guy since Lynch 150 years ago to float a boat down the entire length of the Jordan River. If he succeeds, I’ll be impressed, and not only because it’s an international border between a Jewish state and an Arab state. But he has reached “Day 4” of the journey and I see that the trip intro was hype and not reality. He’s now driving down the road parallel to the river. Now that’s an “adventure.” Still there may be something of interest to viewers here, as in addition to his narration, there are photos and videos for each day. Unfortunately he does perpetuate the myth (see Day 4) that the Jordan is 200 miles long between the Galilee and Dead Seas. In reality, it’s closer to 130 miles.

Tagged Travels

Today is Palm Sunday AND Easter

No April Fool’s joke here; it really is. Today you could go to one part of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher and see the Easter observance and go to another part and watch the Palm Sunday ceremonies. The Western Church (Roman Catholic and Protestant) celebrate Easter today; the calendar of the Eastern Church (Orthodox) is a week “behind” this year. The picture below is from today’s procession to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher; I bet you can guess who is pictured from what they’re holding.

As if that is that’s not enough excitement for one city in one day, the Jewish people are now celebrating Passover and this morning was the “Priestly Blessing.” At least you know the police in Jerusalem aren’t bored.

Israel Museum update

I was at the Israel Museum a few days ago and construction is moving ahead on the installation of the “Holyland Hotel” model of Jerusalem. It looked like there were 30-50 workers on site and most of the model seems to be in place. Construction continues on the walkway around the model, which is elevated and affords a better view than the previous location. The museum says that the model will be open in May and I think they won’t be far behind that estimate.

You might want to skip the museum itself, if you’re interested in finds related to the New Testament. That section is greatly lacking with many of the finds now in Cleveland (pdf file) for a special exhibit. Among the missing are the Temple Scroll, the ossuary of Caiaphas, the trumpeting stone, the Temple inscription forbidding entry to Gentiles and the Pilate inscription. Too bad they can’t put the James Ossuary (forgery or not) on display in one of the empty cases.

Plans are afoot to dramatically change the museum’s layout. $50 million will move the main entrance to the display wings and create an enclosed route of passage to it. I admit that I’ve always been baffled by the two “entrances” to the museum, at either end of the campus (both with security guards to check your bags).

Tagged Jerusalem

Flash Floods in the Judean Wilderness (with Photos)

This weekend there was a big storm in Israel. I slept through most of it but realized the magnitude when I saw that my home modem was fried and a network switch at the office wasn’t working. I didn’t realize how much rain had come down or I might have done the smart thing and jumped in my van to go take pictures. The flash floods closed some roads and killed a few people, but for those with a safe vantage point, they were impressive. That evening I had a dinner scheduled with my friend Ferrell Jenkins. He had scheduled his group to spend the day in the Old City but re-routed because of the storm and thus was out in the wilderness watching the rivers run. I got to sit in his hotel room that evening as he downloaded the pictures from his camera. The shots he got were amazing. He had pictures you wouldn’t believe if you couldn’t see. Ferrell has graciously sent me a few of those with permission to post them here. I’m up north now and have only a slow internet connection, so these pictures are unfortunately low-res.

This first one shows a wider view. There are multiple “rivers” of water flowing down into the Wadi Qilt. The wadi itself has become a river. This photo was taken from a viewpoint overlooking St. George’s Monastery (which is just off to the left).

The second is a close-up of one of the “waterfalls.” Most of the year this area is brown and dead. You wouldn’t guess that it had seen a drop of water in centuries. Now you know better.

The last shows the Wadi Qilt in Jericho as it runs under a modern bridge. Normally as we cross this dry riverbed on the bus I comment to the students that when it rains this could be a raging torrent. They shrug and ask the driver to please turn up the A/C.

My thanks to Ferrell Jenkins for letting me share these photos here. If you’ve got a minute, take a look at Ferrell’s website, www.biblicalstudies.info. He has put together many excellent and helpful resources during his years of teaching.

Tagged Travels