David and Goliath

Picture 1 - ancient Gath
Picture 2 - ancient Gath
Picture 3 - me on top of Lachish with a rainbow in the background!
Picture 4 - a baby turtle someone found at the top of Lachish!

Last Monday we took the whole day and travelled through the valleys east of Jerusalem. The area where these valleys are is called the Shephelah (pronounced sfelah) and means low land. Our focus of the day was mostly from stories in Judges, and we talked a lot about the Philistines. (Just a hint – the second person in my title was a very famous Philistine.)
We started the day off at Tel-Tsafit, or ancient Gath. This is the town where Goliath would have grown up. Gath was much larger than Jerusalem was, so we said that Gath was a big town where a big man grew up! Then we head to Tel-Maresha where we saw an old olive press, a large dovecote (an underground area where doves were raised), an ancient cistern where water was kept, the Bell Caves. The Bell Caves were really cool caves that are shaped like a bell because they were likely the product of plaster mining during the early Islamic Period.
Following these cool sites we went to Lachish, which has some well preserved walls, gates, temples, fortresses, that were excavated awhile ago. It started raining when we got on the top, but don’t worry – I had my rainbow umbrella and was prepared!
Our next site was the Elah Valley, where the battle of David and Goliath occurred. Each of us was given a slingshot and we got to practice slinging rocks into a nearby field. (I didn’t do very well…) Our next stop was on top of Tel Azekah, which was the site of an Israelite fortress probably constructed during the era of the Judges, but best associated with the story of David and Goliath. From the top of the hill, we could look into the valley where the battle of David and Goliath happened!
Our last stop was Bet-Shemesh, which was the fortress city that guarded the Sorek Valley. By this time it was getting pretty late and chilly, but we were all happy with our day.
It’s funny, because for each field trip we keep saying, “This is the best field trip ever!” Every field trip we go on is so carefully planned out and we get to see the coolest stuff. This next Monday we’re going on a field trip where we will get to see what life was like during Biblical times…and rumor has it we’ll be herding sheep!