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November 06, 2019 at 5:50 PM

We spent today in the Jordan Valley, making our first visit Beit Shean. Beit Shean was settled as early as the Chalcolithic era about 6000 years ago and has remained continually inhabited since then. Extensive excavation of a large mound in Beit Shean has revealed over 20 layers of remains from ancient civilizations. Canaanite Temples pre-date Egyptian occupation of the region followed by Israelite rule and the Philistines during the Old Testament period. Beit Shean is mentioned in the Bible several times and is best known as the site where King Saul and his sons were hung from the city walls. We then traveled on to Jericho, one of the oldest towns on earth on located on the West Bank in Palestine. We visited the summit of the Mount of Temptation, 350 meters above sea level. This is the site where Jesus spent 40 days and 40 nights fasting and meditating during the temptation of Satan. A Greek Orthodox monastery was built in the 6tg century over the cave where Christ stayed. The mountain; which from early Christian times has been called the Mount of Temptation; was referred to as "Mons Quarantana" by the Crusaders in the first half of the 12th century, and is locally known as Quruntul mountain. We continued to Qumran and visited the caves where the famous Dead Sea Scrolls were found. Then we followed along the shores of the Dead Sea, the lowest spot on earth, over 400 m below the Sea Level reaching our hotel mid afternoon. That’s it for another busy day visiting the holy land. Please click below to see todays blog.