Israel - Day 6 - Jericho

We found a Popeye's at Jericho!  How funny is that!?!

After visiting Qumran, we made our way to Jericho to visit

"The Oldest City in the World!"

We all know the story of Joshua & Jericho found in Joshua Chapter 6:1-20

"So the people shouted when the priests blew with the trumpets: & it came to pass, when the people heard the sounds of the trumpet, & the people shouted with a great shout, that the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, & they took the city."

We also know the story of Zacchaeus in Luke 19:

"And Jesus entered & passed through Jericho.  And behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus, which was the chief among the publicans, & he was rich.  And he sought to see Jesus who he was; & could not for the press, because he was of little stature.  And he ran before, & climbed up into a sycomore tree to see him: for he was to pass that way.  And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up, & saw him, & said unto him, Zacchaeus, make haste, & come down: for today I must abide tat they house."

This is the sycomore tree in the center of the city that people believe was the tree Zacchaeus climbed.  It is VERY VERY old & quite beautiful.

We continued to drive through the city of Jericho.  Jericho is owned by Palestine like many other things we had visited so far.  I was a little surprised at how dirty everything is here.  There was garbage everywhere.  It made me sad.  Even Canyon noticed & asked me why they didn't throw away their garbage into garbage cans.  He told me Germany is nice because we know how to take care of garbage.  It's amazing the little things kids pick up on.

We drove through the city & stopped a little rest stop below a large mountain.  As we got off the bus, a little street vendor offered each of us the most delicious date I've ever eaten in my life.  It was amazingly sweet & soft.  I loved it because I knew instantly my kids wouldn't eat it which meant I got to eat 5 yummy dates!

The mountain our guide brought us to was the Mountain of Temptation.  This is the mount that Jesus fasted for 40 days & was tempted of the devil.  You can find this story in Matthew Chapter 4 & Luke Chapter 4.

On the side of the mountain stands the Sandarion Monestary that was built in 1897, & on the very top of the mountain sits the Dok Fortress.  We didn't visit those places, just saw them from below, but it was a great little rest stop for us. 

There was a great little shop there & Trek bought the girls necklaces & bracelets (for Christmas).  Then it was back into the bus to we could head to the Mount of Olives & Gethsemane!