Day 11 - Armageddon

Today was an optional day. We could sleep in and spend the day at the pool or go on a short ½ day tour. The vote was 1 for sleeping in (Samantha) and 2 for going on the tour (Sheryl was the swing vote and it could have gone either way)

So… Up early, quick breakfast and on the bus to Tel Megiddo. Now, a “Tel” is basically a hilltop settlement and Megiddo is the name of the town/city. This particular Town is over 7,000 years old and has been destroyed and rebuilt 25 times. The excavation of this dig started in 1903 and has been going on ever since. Again, there is more history than I can explain in this one blog but because of the strategic importance of this city as a major transportation route between the Middle East and Egypt, everyone wanted to control it. The Egyptians, the Israelis, the Persians, the Babylonians and several others commanded this hill at various points in history.

A model of what site looks like today

One of the entrance gates. The cobblestone pathway is over 3,500 years old

A grain silo. These silos were built below ground with 2 staircases, one for down and one for up. And you thought Save-on-Foods invented bulk bin shopping

And you had to go deep underground to get your water from the local spring

This last photo is of a valley and a farmer’s field but is also mentioned in the bible

You see Megiddo when translated is Armageddon and this is where, according the Book of Revelation, the great battle in the last of days is to happen.

Fortunatley the world did not end while we were at Megiddo, so we continued our travels to a Druze Village, ate lunch and did a little shopping

If you're a vegetarian, or a vegan, Israel is the place to be

Druze bread, paper thin and actually quite tasty

Keeping the local economy going

Back at the hotel by 3:00, some rest, some dinner and lights out early again.