October 6, 2011
Evelyn, Steve, and I traveled overland by bus with our Israel driver Amitai from Tel Aviv to the city of Ariel where we transferred to another bus, driver (Lufti), and guide. Abdel (A’be) Rachman, our guide, then began the Palestinian Discovery adventure by taking us to Nablus (Shechem) which is between Mt. Gerizim and Mt. Ebal (see Bible references) and then to Sebaste (Samaria).
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| Mount Gerazim |
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| Mount Ebal |
Also this day we visited Jacob’s Well; “it is situated a short distance from the archaeological site of Tell Balata, which is thought to be the site of biblical Shechem” within a Greek Orthodox Monastery; we each drank cool water from the well.
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| Jacob's Well Greek Monastery |
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| Jacob's Well Greek Monastery |
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| Jacob's Well Greek Monastery |
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| Jacob's Well Greek Monastery, Mosaic |
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| Tell Balata |
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| Nablus City center |
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| Old Nablus, Cultural Heritage Center: Soap Factory |
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| House Door Paintings, Cultural Heritage Ctr, Nablus |
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| Cultural Heritage Center: Bev, Merva, Evelyn |
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| Nablus |
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| Roman amphitheater, Sebastia |
In Sebaste we visited very ancient ruins of the ancient royal city of Sabastia (of a Samaritan temple and citadel on Mount Gerizim) in the Samarian hills, dating way back to Old Testament times, but also Greek and Roman ruins. My observation (confirmed when we later visited archeological ruins in Palestinian Territory) is that ruins in Palestine are not as researched and developed and restored/persevered as those in Jordan and Israel, perhaps due to insufficient resources (my theory).
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| Roman ruins, Sebaste |
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| View from ruins, Sebastia |
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| ByzantineChurch ->Mosque, Sebastia |
And also: http://www.proterrasancta.org/sebastia/
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| Sebastia |
We ate lunch at Samaria Restaurant in Sebaste, including wheat soup and excellent chicken (seasoned with the herb sumac) with pita. Bev also bought a long sage-green scarf and chatted with the restaurant owner who travels periodically to the U.S. and sometimes to Minnesota. His English is very good because he lived in the U.S. for awhile.
Google "wheat soup" to find recipes and then experiment!
- Soak wheat in water (time?)
- Cook chicken with preferred seasonings and onion to make broth
- combine wheat and broth and add sumac, salt, and other herbs.
Following our trip to Sebaste, we drove to Jericho, arriving after dark to the Intercontinental-Jericho Hotel where we would stay two nights. The drive was down a steep and narrow path (from the north), though not as steep as Steve and I (with Jeanne, Jim, Pat, and George) experienced as we drove to the Allenby (King Hussein) Bridge border crossing from Jordan to Israel.
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