The Greco-Roman city of Pella (named for the birthplace of Alexander the Great) was a Decapolis city, one of 10 centers of Greek culture established on the eastern fringes of the Hellenistic Greek world. Pella is located about 80 miles north of our mystery country’s capital city Amman (built on the site of another Decapolis city, Philadelphia).
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waters of the Banias Spring (one source of the Jordan River), with Pan’s Cave, aka the Gates of Hades, in the background – For Greco-Roman pilgrims to the sanctuary, the gaping cave, with its seemingly bottomless pool and flowing stream, marked an entrance to the underworld or “Gates of Hades.” The spring no longer flows out of the cave but rises from the ground below.
In or around the last decade before the Common Era, the city of Caesarea Philippi was commissioned by Philip the Tetrarch, a son of Herod the Great. The site already had a long history as a religious sanctuary. For over two centuries it had been known as Paneas, a major sanctuary for the Greek god Pan. The modern Arabic name Banias derives from the Greek Paneas. Before the Hellenistic period, the area was sacred to the Canaanite god Baal. Sheltered in the foothills of Mt. Hermon, the region’s highest mountain, with abundant water and a lush, garden setting, it does feel like hallowed ground. Continue reading
A few snaps from Abu Simbel…
The “blue city” of Chefchaouen is a meditation on the divine, often represented by the color blue in Jewish tradition.The village was founded in 1471 by Jews and Muslims fleeing the Spanish Reconquest. Jews also fled here prior to World War II, but most left upon the founding of Israel in 1948.
Chefchaouen is tucked into the Rif Mountains in the northwest of our mystery country, a compact maze of narrow lanes framed by crisp blue and white Andalusian architecture. Although it’s several hours from the population centers and tourist hubs of the country, more and more visitors are making the trek to experience the crisp air and relatively low-key charms of this mountain jewel.
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the incomparable Jacob, one of our guides in Israel, at Capernaum
After leaving his hometown of Nazareth, Jesus made Capernaum, on the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee, the center of his ministry. The Gospels tell many stories of Jesus teaching and healing there.
the synagogue at Capernaum
Today, you can see the remains of a 4th-century synagogue, which stands on top of an earlier synagogue that is likely the one where Jesus preached. The remains of Peter’s House and the 5th-century church built around it can be viewed through the glass floor of the modern church built over the site. The tradition that the house belonged to Peter (the disciple of Jesus also known as Simon) goes back to the middle of the 1st century.
Grand Mosque, Muscat, photo by Ya’lla traveler Sallie Volotzky
Muscat cornice, photo by Ya’lla traveler Sallie Volotzky
ship building in Nizwa, photo by Ya’lla traveler Sallie Volotzky
traditional boat in Muscat harbor, photo by Ya’lla traveler Sallie Volotzky
ships of the desert, photo by Ya’lla traveler Sallie Volotzky
In 1947, local Bedouins found the first cache of what came to be known as the Dead Sea Scrolls in a Judean Desert cave. Eventually, eleven caves would yield pieces of some 800 ancient manuscripts, the last found in 1956. It’s generally accepted that the scrolls were collected by the Essenes, or a similar Jewish sect, which had a community living at Qumran, in the shadow of the caves.
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Wandering through the Medina in Fez, you see craftsmen of all sorts at work, their workshops often open right onto the narrow alleyways. The leather tanneries are slightly less accessible; you’ll smell them long before you see them. The tannery works can only be seen from upper floors of the leather shops that surround them. Continue reading
Meknes walls
Fez medina
Bou Inania Madrasa, Fez
Fez medina
Fez
The ceremonial solar boat pictured above is one of several found buried at Giza, near three of the largest and most famous royal tombs ever known. The boat may have been used to carry the body of the deceased king down river to his burial. Or, the boat may have been meant for use in the afterlife, to carry the king across the sky with the sun. The ancient people of our mystery country believed the afterlife mirrored life as they knew it before death. They were buried with items from their lives that would ensure them a comfortable and successful existence in eternity.
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