| Traveling north from Jerusalem,
one first passes through areas that are currently part of the West
Bank. Known as Samaria during the periods after the destruction of
the Northern Kingdom, this area separates the southern region, once known as
Judah or Judea, from Galilee. |
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Located to the north and slightly west of
Jerusalem, Bir Zeit University is the largest of five major Palestinian
universities in the West Bank. Education is valued highly among
Palestinians who have been one of the most educated groups of people in
the world. |
| Shechem was an ancient city,
established before the existence of Israel as a nation. It became
the first political and religious center for the tribal confederacy.
Joshua led the people in renewing the Sinai covenant here after the
Israelites established themselves in the land. Later it served as a
temporary capital for the northern kingdom and was rebuilt in 350 BCE,
after the exile, as the high, holy place of the Samaritans. |
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Mt. Gerazim is outside of the
ancient city of Shechem, modern city of Nablus. This is the holy
mountain of the Samaritans. |
| Sebastiya or Samaria was the
capital of the Northern Kingdom during the time of Ahab and Jezebel and
the prophet Elijah. On the left is the view of the valley from
Sebastiya. To the right are the ruins of Ahab's palace. |
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To reach Nazareth, one travels
through the West Bank and returns to Israel upon reaching Galilee.
While many of the residents of Nazareth are Palestinian, they live in the
state of Israel.
The Church of the Annunciation in Nazareth
commemorates the coming of the angel Gabriel to tell Mary of her
pregnancy, a story told only in the Gospel of Luke. |
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Lying to the east of Nazareth
and rising steeply from the Plain of Esdraelon, Mt Tabor was the scene of
several Old Testament battles and has been identified since the 4th
century as the Mount of the Transfiguration. |
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In the picture above the Sea of Galilee is shown looking east. On the far side are the Golan Heights. In the picture to
the left is a church at what is called St. Peter's landing, the traditional
site of Jesus' resurrection appearance to the disciplines at the end of the Gospel of
John. |
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One of several towns along the Sea of Galilee
mentioned in the New Testament, Capernaum was the center of Jesus'
Galilean ministry. This synagogue with three entrances is typical of
the Jewish worship centers of the Roman period. |
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While the old spiritual sings of the Jordan
River as "deep and wide," it is much more comparable to Blount
County's Little River than to the Tennessee or other larger streams.
This picture was taken just south of the Sea of Galilee where the water
supply has not yet been significantly depleted by irrigation. |
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