June 23

Last night we stayed at a youth hostel in Mitzpe Ramon. This hostel was very nice. Clean, two to a room, private bath rooms.Here is picture from the outside.

Below is a reassembly of a typical four room house that was found in the desert by the military when clearing the land for military facilities. These houses were common all over Israel.

At least one of the rooms on the right or left were probably used for livestock. Think - Jesus born in a manger in a stable.

From here we went up to Avdat, a Nabatean city built in the 1st century BC to control the trade route from Arabia to the Mediterranean. By control, I mean tax. There were at least five other cities dotted across the region. Avdat was amazingly high. From the city you could see for miles around. No one could get through without being detected.

This is an early Christian church - 5th century at Avdat. There is some evidence of a monastery having been here. The pews were pretty hard!

Don and me at Avdat. This picture gives you some idea of the view from this city.

We then visited the Wadi Zen near Avedat and saw numerous ibexes and on long horned ram. Here is a picture of the water that drains through this wadi.

We left here and went to Beersheba, the ancient home of the patriarchs. There is a modern city of Beersheba 3 - 4 miles away. Abraham is specifically mentioned in the bible as coming here. But other cultures and people occupied this city as well. An ancient cultic altar was found here.

Here is a panoramic view of Beersheba from atop a platform.

We stayed that night in another youth hostel in the modern city of Arad. Below is a picture of the courtyard. Very nice place.