A Day in Jericho

Early this morning we headed to the Damascus Gate to find the Arab bus to take us to the West Bank town of Jericho. We ended up going to Bethany where we then found an Arab sherut (shared taxi for 8) to take us on to Jericho. Once in Jericho we met up with a friend of a friend who had a car and had agreed to drive us to some spots we wanted to see. Steve, originally from Texas, is a missionary to the Muslims and has been living in Jericho for the past two years. He certainly had stories of miracles in his ministry to relate and we enjoyed being with him as much as being in the world's oldest city. Although we had had a quick trip to Jericho 10 years ago, seeing it with Steve opened up new visions as we had lots of time to sight see as well as enjoy a walk through town and lunch at his favorite swarma joint. The sun was blazing and the temperature was around 100 - something we haven't experienced in Jerusalem. Thank Heavens there was a cable car that we could take to the Mount of Temptation.
This excavation represents 10,000 years of continuous settlements. Of course there is nothing left of the walls of Jericho that we know from the book of Joshua. Now that would have been exciting!

The Lion of Judah looking out over Jericho.

The Mount of Temptation from a distance - Matthew 4: 1-11

Mount of Temptation with Qurantul Monastery (Greek Orthodox) built on the side.

Caves on the Mount of Temptation.

The rock that Jesus supposedly stood on while being tempted by Satan.

Icons that are inside the monastery.

Children of Jericho.

Children of Jericho - I was sitting on a rock resting when the children came up and were ready subjects for the camera.

Zacchaeus Tree - Luke 19: 1-10

Jericho was our fourth city to visit in the West Bank and we have found travel in and out of there to be quite easy. We did have to show passports today when we went through a check point getting back into Jerusalem but there is so much to see in the Palestinian territories that it has been worth any challenges of actually getting there.