By the Sea

This internet connection is from the dark ages and I'm paying by the hour, so I'll be brief. The pictures you see are many of the places I've been over the past 3 days. Clockwise from the left:

1. Sign pointing to Jerusalem
2. The excavation site of Jericho
3. Qumran (where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered)
4. Rephadim (in Egypt - site where the Israelites battled with the Amelekites. Joshua held Moses' hands up here so Israel would prevail in battle)
5. Masada (top of a plateau in Judea where Herod built a fort)
6. En Gedi (where David hid from King Saul as he was pursuing him - this is where David cut off a piece of Saul's robe as he was relieving himself just to show that he could have killed him should he wished. It was at this point that Saul realized David was God's appointed leader)
   

1. Nile River
2. Pyramids
3. Me at the Red Sea ----very very pretty, by the way
4. Beth Shean (one of the greatest archeological Roman sites. Very well preserved because it was covered by an earthquake in the 8th century. On the top of the mound there, is where King Saul and Jonathan's heads were hung on a wall.)
   
5. Sign pointing the way to the Red Sea at a Bedwin camp (Nomads)
6. Greg and I on the top of Mount Sinai (let me tell you...after the hike up and down that mountain, I would have been mad at the Israelites, too for building a calf to worship)
   

A little about the Mt. Sinai hike....This was advertised as a "stroll." Well, it definitely wasn't. We started climbing at 12:30am and reached the top at 5:45am. We started at 1500 ft above sea level and reached 7500 ft. There were no guardrails and the terrain was very rocky and steep. Definitely a workout!!!That's all I have time for, for now, but hopefully, I'll have more tomorrow