Into the Hills of Judea

The Judean Hills in the background

On our day off this week, we took the Garden Car and drove to the Judean Hills. We visited Sataf that was first settled about 6,000 years ago. 1,500 years later the inhabitants began to build terraces to garden. The land is rugged mountainous rocky with little water and very poor soil. The Israelites constructed terraces along the steep hills with solid permanent walls that helped hold the soil in place. The end result was fertile farm land and the area prospered. A delightful place to visit with incredible views.

An Almond Tree in full bloom

We drove further South (yep towards Gaza) to Bet Guvrin-Maresha. We visited this area 28 years ago with Liberty Seminary. There are man made caves (as the result of quarrying stone) that date to the 4th and 5th century B.C. We drove through the Valley of Elah to get to Maresha. Yep the valley where David killed Goliath. We had lunch on the return trip at a restaurant in the middle of nowhere and had steak for lunch. The meal was great and consisted of more red meat than we have eaten in a month ... and we did not complain! It was wonderful.