Benjamin, The Land of

Wednesday was a day marked by heat, dirt, views, and following Todd. The focus of the day was the land of the tribe of Benjamin. This includes cities such as Jericho, Ramah, Gibeon, Gibeah, and Gezer. We left Yad HaShmonah at 7:30 in the morning and didn’t return until just before 7pm. It was long, but I wouldn’t want to be doing anything else.

The day started at the ancient city of Gezer, where an IBEX alumni taught us about the significance of the city. Although hard to describe on paper, I will try and do so. The central part of Israel is the tribe of Benjamin. The western part is composed of the Ajialon Valley which stretches from the Hill Country and opens up in the coastal plain. In the middle of the Ajialon Valley standing between the coastal plain and the rest of the country is the tell of Gezer. A tell is a mound of layers of civilization. Over the thousands of years, different people groups have stayed at the same sites, building on top of the previous civilizations. After all the years, the remains begin to build up and create a hill or a mound; this called a tell.

Gezer has been important throughout history and there are many things that are testament to that. One evidence is that Gezer is mentioned in many ancient texts, such as the Amarna Letters. The name Gezer means “to divide.” It was the crossroads for the International highway and the route up to Jerusalem from the coast. It was captured by Egypt and then given to Solomon as a dowry gift for his daughter. Solomon then fortified it. One of the major remains left there today is the gate constructed by him (picture on upper left). The gate had four chambers and the sewer system ran underneath the gate. The city was destroyed again by Egypt after Solomon. Gezer boasts of having the largest defensive tower of the Middle Bronze Era, this was connected to a wall that surrounded the city. The standing stones at Gezer were used for occultic purposes and were something that God forbade in the Old Testament (picture on right).

After Gezer, we went to Emmaus. Emmaus is the city that Jesus walked to with the two disciples after His resurrection. There is a debate about where the actual site is because there is a difference in the manuscripts as to the distance away from Jerusalem that Luke describes in chapter 24. Two of the sites that have been suggested for the location are recent traditions and are thus not trusted. The other two sites are a considerable distance apart and so, due to a re-evaluation of the text and the practicality of the situation, the site that is closest to Jerusalem seems the best choice. The Emmaus that we went to is not a practical location of the biblical Emmaus. It used to be an Arab village and now all that is left is fruit trees and a building that commemorates an important Arab man (picture on left). We climbed all around the building and went on top of the dome. It was lots of fun, plus we got a great view of the Ajialon Valley and Gezer to the west of us in the distance.

Through Benjamin, there is only two main routes, because it is filled with wadis. The only way to travel through the hill country is to go along the ridges. There only two routes from the Ajialon Valley and the coast to Jerusalem. On our way down to Gezer we traveled along the Kiriath Jearim Ridge Route, the southern of the two routes. From Emmaus up to Nebi Samwil, we went along the other route, the Beth Horon Ridge Route. On this route, Joshua chased the Canaanites and he asked God to have the sun and the moon stand still, which God granted (Joshua 10). I was privileged to read this passage up on the roof of Nebi Samwil and it was so easy to see how the events took place so many years ago because of the geography.

Nebi Samwil is the traditional place of the burial site of Samuel the prophet. It is a wrong tradition, but it has been suggested that it is the high place of Gibeon where the Lord appeared to Solomon and he asked for wisdom. From the top of the mosque, we could see all of the Central Benjamin Plateau (picture on right). Going right through the middle of the plateau is the Way of the Patriarchs. This route follows the Watershed Ridge. The use of this road is shown in the story of a Levite and his concubine in Judges 19. They travel from Bethlehem, north. The cities that are mentioned are all of those of the Way of the Patriarchs: Jebus (Jerusalem), Gibeah, Ramah, and Mizpah. Through a series of events while they are in Benjamin, a civil breaks out between Benjamin and the other 11 tribes. There are three battles between the two armies. The Benjamites win the first two, but are nearly annihilated in the third.

In 1 Kings 15:16-22, the story is told of how Baasha, the northern king captures Ramah and begins fortifying, blocking traffic in and out of Judah. Asa calls for help from Assyria, Baasha backs out, and Asa then fortifies Mizpah and Geba, securing the other routes into Jerusalem and the rest of Judah. Ramah is the crossroads because it sits on the Way of the Patriarchs, the highway going north and south, and controls traffic east to Jericho and west to the Ajialon Valley.

We ate lunch on top of the mosque at Nebi Samwil. It was warm, but there was a breeze keeping us cool. We celebrated Erin’s birthday up there as well. Becky had made chocolate cupcakes for everyone that were very good!

After Nebi Samwil, we traveled east toward Jericho. On the way we stopped along the side of the road and climbed up a hill to give us a view of Michmash, Geba, and The Pass that connects the two cities. This was the site of a battle of Jonathan and Saul against the Philistines. Jonathan came from Geba and climbed down into the Wadi Qilt and then surprised the enemy on the other side at Michmash, causing a panic and they all fled. It worked because the Philistines were watching the Pass, a break in the steep sides of the Wadi Qilt for about a mile, the only place where an army could cross. On this hill we saw cisterns that are used to hold water for livestock. I had the privilege of taking a drink from this water. It was amazingly cool and fresh-tasting. The hill was also home to a sheepfold, where a shepherd would keep his sheep for night.

Next, we drove through the Judean wilderness and then came into Jericho via the TOE Ridge Route. When we arrived at the tell, we saw the supporting wall (picture on right) that held up the wall that Joshua and the children of Israel knocked down according to the commandment of the Lord. It was also neat to be able to see the archaeologist Kathleen Kenyon’s dig that I had heard so much about in archaeology class. We saw the Neolithic tower that is the oldest structure of that size in the world. A couple of us were able to walk down to it and go in the tower, down the staircase. Jericho is only 10 acres and so this presents a problem with the whole Israelite camp coming against the city. If there were 600,000 Israelite men, why didn’t they just attack the city of 2,000 people? That questions is, as of now, still unanswered.

Todd, being the great Land and Bible professor that he is, took us up in cable cars, above the city of Jericho. We walked along the cliffs over looking the city and up to a monastery carved into the rock. Todd went crazy with the picture taking because this was a place that he had never visited before.

On the other end of the city, we stopped and saw the Hasmonean and Herodian palaces that sat on either side of the Wadi Qilt. It was the site of Herod’s summer palace and had huge swimming pools and gardens.

The last stop of the day was over looking the steep sides of the Wadi Qilt with a monastery carved into one of the sides. It was very windy and warm as we looked out over the wilderness and read about Jesus being tempted in such a desolate place. Only after seeing the wilderness, do I truly understand what it means to fast for forty days and forty nights and then being tempted. It is comforting to know that the same Spirit that led Jesus in the wilderness resides with me as a believer. May I rely on that power and not my own.

Nate and I in front of the Wadi Qilt.