What Is This World Coming To?

Beth She’an is one of the oldest cities in the Holy Land, having been first settled in the 5th millennium B.C.  You can tell by the wide streets, mosiac floors,  and marble pillars, this was once a very important city.  It is where the corpses of King Saul and his sons were hung on the walls, after the Philistines defeated them at Mt. Gilboa (1 Sam. 31:10).  In 732 B.C. it was destroyed by the Assyrian Army.  When the Greeks conquered the area, they rebuilt the city and named it Scythopolis.  Then in 749 A.D., during Muslim occupation, an earthquake totally destroyed the city.

                 Model of City                                                                                                    

After this, we proceeded down the Jordon River Valley and through the Judean Desert on our way to Bethlehem.  We saw the militarized border with Jordan and many Bedouins’ camps (Nomads).

   Jordan River Valley        Jordanian Border        Bedouins