in the middle east

We flew from Istanbul to Athens on Sept 16 and stayed for 3 days exploring all over. The city has been inhabited for over 7,000 years, but it is really the last 3,500 years that Athens has exerted its influence on world history. Located on the coast of the Aegean Sea (click here for a map), it has been in a prime location to export its culture to both the Middle East as well as Europe, and it has been doing so for millenia. Ancient Greece has been called "the cradle of western civilization," for in terms of philosophy, education, mathematics, political theory, most of Europe and thus America stands on the shoulders of the achievements of the ancient Greeks. Today, Athens is the largest city in Greece (10.5 million). The country has been a member of the European Union for some time now, so it felt much more culturally familiar than Turkey, much more Western. We spent most of our time walking about the city, doing the major tourist sights as well as trying to get a bit off of the beaten path. Our hostel ended up being in a really sketchy neighborhood, so that got us more into the city life of non-tourist Athens. In many ways, it felt like being in New York, or some other large American city. We ate mostly out of grocery stores in Athens, knowing that our travels in rural Greece would probably expose us to more traditional food. The best part was just to walk slowly through the markets and streets that have been bustling with culture and food for over 3,000 years. It was surreal to hang in the same parks that Aristotle, Plato, and Socrates would have so long ago. Another striking thing was the multiplicity of temples and shrines to the ancient gods that still survive. I can now understand the apostle Paul's bewilderment "that the city was full of idols" (Acts 17.16). Religious life was closely tied to civic and political life here in Athens (as it remains today in our world), and the ruins still speak of the rich heritage of religion, culture, and life of the ancient Greeks. For a bit more of our adventures, just follow the link.

We arrived in Ataturk airport on the evening of Saturday, Sept 10, outside of Istanbul. After a complicated series of light-rail transfers, we made it to downtown Istanbul, and were instantly captured by the charm and amazing history of the city. The country of Turkey (for a helpful map, clike here) is home to 65 million people, and is a today a modern republic founded in 1923. The majority of the population is Sunni Muslim, but the government does not enforce any kind of religious rule. It is a very westernized country, offering a mix of East and West. The stretch of land now called Turkey was the theater of some of the major events of world history. The ancient Hittites had their capital in the SE. The famous battle of Troy (remember, the trojan horse?) was fought over 3,000 years ago on the western coast, which also houses the ruins of some of the most famous ancient cities, particularly Ephesus. Modern Turkey contains much of the territory where missionary journeys of Paul and Barnabas took place (Galatia, Cappadocia, Bythinia, Ephesus, Colosse). The largest city in the country, Istanbul (for a helpful map, click here), is a modern city built upon the ancient city of Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine empire for a millenium. In fact, one night our hostel manager was offering free pints of Turkish beer down in the basement lounge. We got talking about the history of the neighborhood, and he opened a trap door in the floor, and showed us the hallway of the emperor Constantine's ancient palace that lay right beneath the hostel! So amazing. If that were not enough, the great Ottoman Turkish empire captured and ruled from the city from the 1500's to the last century. And the sultan's gigantic palace still stands today. We rather exhausted ourselves trying to see all there was to see, but it was so worth it. We were in Istanbul for a total of 4.5 days, along with a day and a half trip to ancient Ephesus. We stayed at a hostel right in the heart of downtown, which did not make for much quiet time, but we were a short walk from everything. Our pictures don't do justice to the rich sights and intriguing culture here in Turkey, but we hope you can get a feel of this amazing country. To see more just click here.

On Sept 10 we leave for our first adventure outside of Israel as we spend the next two weeks exploring Turkey and Greece.
Since we won't be taking our computer with us, we won't have any posts with lots of pictures and such until we get back. If you're interested, here's an overview of where we're going:
Sept 10-13: Fly to Istanbul and explore
Sept 14: Day trip to ancient Ephesus
Sept 15: More of Istanbul (there's alot to see!)
Sept 16-18: Fly to Athens and explore,
Sept 19-20: Travel north of Athens to see ancient Delphi and the monestaries of Meteora
Sept 21: Go south of Athens to ancient Corinth and Mycenae
Sept 22-23: Go west for two days of hiking in Lousios Gorge (the 22nd is Jessica's B-day!)
Sept 24: Go further south to the old city of Monemvasia
Sept 25: Back north to Athens and fly home
This should be a great adventure. Just Jessica, me, two backpacks, and two weeks. We'll share all about it when we return!
Shalom (Hebrew) / Hosh-kha-ka-lun (Turkish) / Antio (Greek) / Goodbye (English)

Our last set of adventures in the Dead Sea took us from the southern to the northern edge of the Sea. At the southern edge is the region of ancient Sodom where it was way to hot and there was literally nothing to see. Dirt, dust, rocks, and hot winds. We didn't stay long before we took off for a more pleasant setting. After our night's stay at Masada, we continued up the coast to the ancient springs of En Gedi. This place was amazing. These ancient springs turn the desert into a green oasis that is a beautiful place to hike. We encountered some of the most dramatic scenery on our hikes here, and even saw some really cool animals. After En Gedi, and a rather unrefreshing swim in the Dead Sea, we headed to the site of Qumran, where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found. As a student of biblical manuscripts, this was thrilling for me to experience. At the end of the day, we were covered with salt, from the Dead Sea and our sweat. Hiking around the Dead Sea is great, but the desert sun has a way of eeking every ounce of liquid out of your body. We headed back to Jerusalem in our rental car, and crashed for about 10hrs of sleep. A great weekend! To see more of the adventure, see here: https://mywebspace.wisc.edu/tpmackie/web/pictures/deadsea...

On the second day of our Dead Sea road trip we started at the desert fortress of Masada. On the east side of the Dead Sea one immediately runs into a high wall of mountains and hills, and among these sits the high plateau of Masada. This large oval plateau rises 1,100 feet above the desert floor and served as an ancient palace for king Herod and later as a fortress for the Jewish resistance movement against Rome. While there had been fortesses here before, Herod was the first one to make this isolated plateau into something like a desert resort for himself and his guests (near the end of the 1st cent. BC). As you'll see, he spared no expense. After his death, the Romans used it as a center for exerting their authority in this region. Jewish rebels siezed it in AD 66, just before the Romans destroyed Jerusalem. This desert plateau became the location of the last stand between Rome and the Jewish resistance. The Roman army encircled and besieged the fortress for two years, unable to get enough manpower up the cliffs to stage any attack. After two years, the Romans built a gigantic siege ramp rising almost 900 feet up to the fortress wall. The night before the wall was breached, the Jewish resistance fighters and their families decided that it would be better to die than to have all the males killed and the women and children sold into slavery. The staged a massive group suicide: lots were drawn to select who would slay whom, until only two were left, and they finished each other off together. The lots with names were found in one of the rooms we visited. Pretty eerie. Thus, this plateau is not only an amazing natural formation, but has an important history behind it. Join us for a bit of the experience at this link: http://mywebspace.wisc.edu/tpmackie/web/pictures/masada/i...

Last weekend Jessica and I took our first weekend road trip. We rented a small car, and cruised in the central and eastern parts of Israel/Palestine. Since we can't publish all of our adventures in one entry, we'll take the next few days to share what we experienced. The first day we drove South for about an hour and a half, until the central hill country runs out and the southern desert begins. Our first stop was the city of Beersheba, a large modern city (the 4th largest in the country) where just outside of town lies the ruins of the ancient city of Beersheba, with origins dating back to mid-3,000's BC. This city was around when Abraham travelled through these lands (see Genesis 22:19-31) and it played an important role in many biblical stories (Hagar, Genesis 21:17; Elijah, 1Kings 19:15). The town had it's peak in the 10th-8th centuries BC, during the reigns of the kings of Judah. We were the only people there that day, except for the really cool lizards scurrying about. After travelling East, on the way to the Dead Sea, we went to the ancient Israelite fortress of Arad. This place also has a long history: the people that inhabited the area before the fortress was built were apparently hostile towards the Israelites (Number 21:1; 33:40). Later, in the period of Solomon, an Israelite fortress was built here that lasted almost 400 years. This place too has a rich history, and many ancient Hebrew texts have been found here as well. Follow this link to see more: http://mywebspace.wisc.edu/tpmackie/web/pictures/aradbeer...

The Western Wall and the Dome of the Rock are two of the most well-known places in all of Jerusalem. They are located right next to one another, a symbol of how closely united the histories of Judaism and Islam are in this city. Both sites have an amazing history behind them, leading back to some of the most important moments in the heritage of Judaism and Islam. The Dome of the Rock is the third holiest site for Muslims, second only to Mecca and Medina, because it is believed that here Muhammed experienced his important visions that lay at the origins of Islam. It sits upon a large elevated platform (called Haram al-Sharif in Arabic) which is also the general location of the 1st Israelite temple built by Solomon (in the mid-900's BC), the 2nd temple built by the Jewish returnees around 525 BC, and the renovated temple constructed by King Herod in the early decades AD. Herod's temple is the one Jesus went to on many occasions, and whose destruction he predicted before his death. It was destroyed in AD 70, and no Jewish temple has stood here since. However, these places are not important only for their rich religious heritage. They are also at the center of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict today. A number of Palestinian neighborhoods were bulldozed in the 1960's to create the plaza for the Western Wall, one act of many which has sparked the vicious cycles of violence that plague this country. Thus, standing here brings mixed feelings of awe and sadness.
To see pictures and video of our experience at the Western Wall see this link: http://mywebspace.wisc.edu/tpmackie/web/pictures/westernw...
To see pictures and video of our experience at the Dome of the Rock see this link: http://mywebspace.wisc.edu/tpmackie/web/pictures/domeofth...