Friday, February 18, 2011

Tour of Israel, Feb. 18th

Tabernacle at Timna

We concluded the first 10-day portion of our tour yesterday, so today 3/4 of the group who are staying for the 4-day Israel extension continued on. We traveled down along the coast of the Dead Sea (shown here) towards Timna and eventually Eilat, at the southern tip of Israel. We didn't visit as many sites today since we had a good deal of travel time.



In the desert city of Timna we got to visit a replica of the Tabernacle. The Tabernacle has been recreated as exact as possible based on detailed Biblical descriptions as given to Moses. There is so much that could be said about how each piece of the Tabernacle represents a picture of the coming Messiah, Jesus Christ, that it would take many pages and verse references to describe everything. So instead of that, we'll just post a few pictures for you to enjoy:











And here is the view from outside the tent on our way out.


Solomon's Pillars


Part of the same area of Timna included a site called “Solomon's Pillars”, which were caused not by men excavating the rock but by water erosion. Solomon's name is in the picture since the area around Timna is rich in copper and it is thought to have been mined back in the days of Solomon (although there is no scriptural or archaeological evidence suggesting Solomon mined in this area). Either way, these are a magnificent natural wonder to bestow!



The land around the pillars.


An acacia tree...we have seen these all over Israel.


Eilat Mines


Eilat is supposedly known all over the world for its diamonds and other kinds jewelry, but Joanna hadn't heard of it before so how great can they be...


We got a "tour" inside the "factory" to see how they take the rough stone right out of the ground then cut, polish, and set it into a piece of jewelry. There was even a short film to brainwash you into wanting to buy jewelry. Despite their best attempts, including forcing you to walk through a 6000 square foot showroom before you can leave, we didn't take the bait.

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