Jericho and the Mount of Temptations

After lunch, we traveled to Jericho -- the oldest city in the world. It is 800 feet below sea level. Important archeological digs have occurred here discovering several layers of rebuilt cities. It was around 1250 B.C. that Joshua encircled the town seven times bearing the Ark of the Covenant - the first place conquered by the Hebrews. Herod the Great built a winter palace here sometime in the 1st century B.C. The Crusaders built a castle here in the Middle Ages.


Jericho is not the city it once was. It lies in the Palestinian jurisdiction with a population of 25,000, mostly Muslim. Summer heat gets to 110 degrees, but the winters are pleasant. We stopped to see the sycamore tree that Zaccheus climbed to get a view of Jesus. Vendors were ready at the spot with fresh fruit, souvenirs, religious articles.


We ate lunch at a restaurant on the Mount of Temptations where Jesus was tempted by the Devil during his forty days of preparation. A Greek monastery called Quruntul Monastery is built into the side of the mountain. We then left for Nazareth, the boyhood home of Jesus.


On the way, we were stopped at an Israeli checkpoint. We had heard that there had been a bombing in Jerusalem the day before, and one was killed and about 20 people wounded. The soldiers (one was a young girl) boarded the bus and checked passports of our guides, and required a random search of the luggage and persons of two on the bus. Two men were selected; one of whom was sick at the time. The luggage was removed, and the two men taken into the guard house. After about 20 minutes, they were allowed to return to the bus with their luggage, and we left. Neither of the other two buses were stopped in this manner. We understood that our local guide, Bassem, had a Bethlehem ID; the others had Jerusalem IDs. This is why we were stopped. A few tense moments here.