Drive Thru History: Holy Land with Dave Stotts Volume 1
Standing in support of Israel, Jews, and believers in all the nations, in the name of Jesus (Yeshua). Sharing biblical truth, encouragement, news and prophecy.
Showing posts with label Judean Desert. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Judean Desert. Show all posts
Sunday, July 14, 2019
Monday, May 13, 2019
Walk With Me - Steve Martin at the baptismal location of Yeshua (Jesus) near Jericho in the Judean Desert, Israel
Walk With Me - Steve Martin at the baptismal location of Yeshua (Jesus), near Jericho in the Judean Desert, Israel
Published on May 11, 2019
Friday, May 5, 2017
On the road to St. George Monastery south of Jerusalem to Jericho, Israel
On the road to St. George Monastery
south of Jerusalem to Jericho, Israel
in the Judean desert
(Photos by Steve Martin, in my Chevy Spark rental car)
May 4, 2017
Monday, December 12, 2016
Father Heroically Holds Son as They Plunge to Their Deaths - Israel Today
Father Heroically Holds Son as They Plunge to Their Deaths
Monday, December 12, 2016 | Israel Today Staff
A grief-stricken nation on Monday laid to rest Dr. Omri Nir and his 10-year-old son, Ilai, who were tragically killed by a fall during a hiking trip in the Judean desert.
Omri and Ilai were part of a larger group including 15 other children that set out to hike the Tze’elim Stream near the Dead Sea on Friday.
During one of the descents, Ilai lost his footing and fell onto his father before continuing to roll toward a nearby cliff.
Omri did not hesitate and leapt for his son, wrapping Ilai in a protecting embrace before they plunged into the canyon below.
A medic with the group quickly descended and found Ilai still breathing. Omri was already gone.
Two days later, following frantic attempts to complete Omri’s mission to save his son’s life, doctors at Soroka Medical Center in Beersheva were forced to declare Ilai dead.
“Now you will be together forever,” one family member was quoted as saying by Israeli media, as they prepared to lay to rest Omri and the child for whom he gave his life, little Ilai.
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Saturday, November 26, 2016
Israel to Begin 3-Year Search for More Dead Sea Scrolls - CBN News
Dead Sea scroll museum in Jerusalem
CBN News 11-15-2016
JERUSALEM, Israel – Israel is set to embark on a three-year expedition to search for additional Dead Sea Scrolls and other antiquities in the Judean Desert.
The expedition, led by a government research team, will mark the first large-scale archaeological survey of the area in more than 20 years. It's set to begin next month.
The archaeologists plan to survey hundreds of desert caves near the Dead Sea, where the world's oldest biblical manuscripts were discovered in 1947.
The government initiated the expedition after looters found manuscripts in the area in recent years.
The Dead Sea Scrolls are thought of as the crown jewel of Israeli antiquities.
Recently, the Palestinian Authority petitioned UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) to deny Israeli ownership of the Dead Sea Scrolls, saying the caves where they were found are beyond the "green line," making them stolen property.
Wednesday, May 25, 2016
Israel's Judean Desert Treasures to Be Saved From Antiques Robbers [PHOTOS] By JNI Media - BREAKING ISRAEL NEWS
Israel's Judean Desert Treasures to Be Saved From Antiques Robbers [PHOTOS]
“The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my rock, in Him I take refuge; my shield, and my horn of salvation, my high tower.” Psalms 18:3 (The Israel Bible™)
Above: Volunteers at work in the archaeological excavation. (Photo: Yoli Shwartz/IAA/JNi Media)
The Israel Antiquities Authority is promoting a national plan for comprehensive archaeological excavations in the Judean Desert caves, and for rescuing the Dead Sea Scrolls, which are among the earliest texts written in the Hebrew language. The plan is carried out in cooperation with the Heritage Project in the Ministry of Jerusalem Affairs, and Minister of Culture and Sport Miri Regev (Likud).
Israel Hasson, director-general of the IAA, said in a statement, “For years now our most important heritage and cultural assets have been excavated illicitly and plundered in the Judean Desert caves for reasons of greed. The goal of the national plan that we are advancing is to excavate and find all of the scrolls that remain in the caves, once and for all, so that they will be rescued and preserved by the state.”
Minister of Culture and Sport Miri Regev said in a statement, “The antiquities robbers are plundering the Land of Israel’s history, which is something we cannot allow. The Dead Sea scrolls are an exciting testament of paramount importance that bear witness to the existence of Israel in the Land of Israel 2,000 years ago, and they were found close to the Return to Zion and the establishment of the State of Israel in the Land of Israel. It is our duty to protect these unique treasures, which belong to the Jewish people and the entire world. I will work to increase the punishment against those that rob our country’s antiquities.”
Last week, the IAA took a first step in the plan by commencing a complicated and extraordinary archaeological excavation in search of scrolls in Nahal Tse’elim. A team from the IAA’s Unit for the Prevention of Antiquities Robbery accompanied by researchers from the Caves Research Center of the Hebrew University and hundreds of volunteers from across the country is participating in the excavation, which is taking place with the support of the Heritage Project in the Ministry of Jerusalem Affairs.
The excavation is being directed by archaeologists Dr. Eitan Klein, Dr. Uri Davidovich, Royee Porat and Amir Ganor. For many years, IAA inspectors have been proactively enforcing the law in the desert, during the course of which they have made a number of seizures and foiled bands of antiquities robbers that sought to become rich through the detrimental exposure of items of great historical importance. However, these actions are a mere drop in the ocean and the IAA stresses that only by excavating all of the scrolls in the ground and transferring them to the state, will it be possible to ensure their well-being and preservation for future generations.
In November 2014, inspectors of the IAA’s Unit for the Prevention of Antiquities Robbery apprehended a band of robbers, residents of the village of Sa‘ir near Hebron, in the act of plundering the contents of the Cave of the Skulls in Nahal Tse’elim. The suspects who were caught “red-handed” were arrested on the spot, interrogated, and later sentenced and served a prison sentence, and are required to pay the State of Israel a fine of $25,000. At the time of their arrest they were in possession of important archaeological artifacts that date to the Roman period, c. 2,000 years ago, and the Neolithic period, c. 8,000 years ago.
In 2009 an ancient papyrus that was written in Hebrew and dates to the Year Four of the Destruction of the House of Israel (139 CE) was seized. The papyrus was confiscated in a joint operation by the IAA’s Unit for the Prevention of Antiquities Robbery and the Israel Police during a meeting with antiquities dealers in which the papyrus was offered for sale for the amount of $2 million. The investigation of the robbers revealed that this papyrus had also been discovered in Nahal Tse’elim. The contents of it, which mention the towns and settlements in the area of the Hebron hill-country, suggest that the papyrus was part of an archive of documents belonging to Jews who fled to the desert from the Hebron area after the Bar Kokhba uprising. Now, the IAA hopes to find similar documents.
The Cave of Skulls, where the excavation is taking place, is located about 80 yards from the top of the cliff, and about 750 ft above the base of the canyon. Because of the difficulty in reaching the site, the IAA obtained a special permit from the Nature and Parks Authority to construct an access trail, which requires the use of rappelling equipment for the safety of the participants in the excavation. More than 500 volunteers and field personnel from Israel and abroad were required for the undertaking, and they are sleeping and living in a camp in desert field conditions. Many requests by individuals offering to participate have been denied because of the lack of infrastructure to provide for such a large group of archaeologists, volunteers and interested parties. The current excavation season will end in another two weeks, assuming this will be sufficient time in order to extract the valuable archaeological information from the cave.
According to Amir Ganor, director of the IAA’s Unit for the Prevention of Antiquities Robbery, “The excavation in Nahal Tse’elim is an operation of extraordinary complexity and scope, and one that has not occurred in the Judean Desert in the past thirty years. Despite the rigorous enforcement actions taken against the antiquities robbers, we still witness acts of severe plundering that unfortunately are possible in such large desert expanses. There are hundreds of caves in cliffs in the area, access to which is both dangerous and challenging. In almost every cave that we examined we found evidence of illicit intervention and it is simply heart-breaking. The loss of the finds is irreversible damage that cannot be tolerated.”
Israel Hasson, director-general of the IAA, added, “It is exciting to see the extraordinary work of the volunteers, who have lent a hand and participated in the excavation in complicated field conditions, out of a desire to join in an historic undertaking and discover finds that can provide priceless information about our past here. The time has come for the state to underwrite broad action so as to rescue the cultural assets of enormous historical importance while they still remain in the caves. Substantial amounts need to be allocated which will allow the IAA to embark upon a large-scale operation for studying the desert, including the caves, and excavating the artifacts. After all, the Dead Sea scrolls are of religious, political and historical importance to Jews, Christians and all of humanity.”
Thursday, September 17, 2015
Israeli Judean Community: A Biblical Vision in Progress
Israeli Judean Community: A Biblical Vision in Progress
By Tzippe Barrow
Thursday, September 17, 2015
MITZPEH YERICHO, Israel -- Nestled in the barren hills of the Judean Desert, residents of a 35-year-old religious community have a new vision: to build a water park complete with ponds, trees, and foliage -- an oasis in the desert.
Residents of this friendly community envision the park supplementing the town's two main tourist attractions, bike trips, and jeep tours.
CBN News recently visited the yishuv (settlement) to see firsthand the small pond built mostly by the community's teens and young adults who, with some engineering help, managed to bring the water up to the pond.
Mitzpeh Yericho is less than a half hour drive east of Jerusalem in the West Bank (Judea and Samaria), in territory the whole world demands Israel "give back."
From the town, you have a panoramic view of the Jordan Valley rift, the Dead Sea and Jericho, the sprawling city built on the ruins of ancient Jericho, scene of the Israelites' first great victory after the Lord commanded them to enter the Promised Land."
Watch a short video of Mitzpeh Yericho below:
The vision began about a year ago when resident Raanan Alexander noticed water flowing from a pipe near Mekerot's facility in the valley below his home. Mekerot is Israel's national water authority.
Alexander, his wife and two children, live in a small caravan on the outskirts of Mitzpeh Yericho. They were intrigued at the sight and soon noticed the bountiful flow taking place three times a day. It didn't take long for the news to reach the rest of the community.
Water is a treasured commodity in Israel and residents from north to south have a built-in appreciation for it. The rainy season usually begins around Sukkot (Feast of Tabernacles) in the fall and continues through early spring.
For the next five months or so, there's no rain. It's a long, hot, dry summer. When that first rain falls, everyone's excited, the trees and animals not the least. And when enough winter rains fall in the desert, it literally blooms.
One of the water engineers who surveyed the area told residents it came from a depth of about 300 meters and there's plenty of it. But because the Health Ministry hasn't weighed in on the new water source, Mekerot is throwing away hundreds of cubic meters of good quality water every day.
Now residents have gotten word to Deputy Speaker of the Knesset MK Betzalel Smutrich (Jewish Home Party), who liked hearing about it and asked for more information.
Scripture Fulfilled
But what really has many residents excited is seeing scripture fulfilled before their eyes. Isaiah 35 speaks of some of God's many promises to Israel.
"Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then the lame shall leap like a deer and the tongue of the dumb sing. For waters shall burst forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert.
The parched ground shall become a pool and the thirsty land springs of water; in the habitation of jackals, where each lay, there shall be grass with reeds and rushes." (Is.35:5-7)
The young people in this community grew up in a harsh environment, a small town in the midst of the desert, on the outskirts of a predominantly Arab city.
They were raised with a love of the Bible. There's a yeshiva (Torah seminary) in the town, and Bible study is part of the regular school curriculum.
Not surprisingly, these young adults are some of Israel's most exemplary soldiers, bright, creative, and willing to defend their families, friends, and homeland.
That's why they're glad to be part of creating something special with the "newfound" water.
A lot of work lies ahead for Mitzpeh Yericho residents. It won't be easy and it will be costly. But they believe it's worth it. They have a God-given vision.
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