Here's a few of the things we've seen in Israel
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On top is a picture of the ampitheatre at Caesarea. Needless to say, it's been rebuilt. Apparently concerts are held there. For example, at center stage we see a world-famous opera singer and Andrea Bocelli protoge. The bottom photo is on the north bank of Lake Kinneret, or the Sea of Galilee. Notice that the shoreline is made up of rocks, and pretty big ones two. The coastline around the rest of the lake seems to be the same. In the distance you can see the Golan Heights. We would have had a better picture, but this fat guy wouldn't get out of the way.
The picture on the left is a statue of St Jerome in the courtyard of Catholic Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. He translated the Bible from Greek and Hebrew into Latin. Notice the skull near his feet. Monks used to work with a skull in their rooms to remind them of how short life is and how little time they had. Maybe that's where the term "Deadline" came from. On the right is the tomb of Rachel , the wife of Jacob. The way the building is designed, men go down one hallway and women down the other to worship at the tomb. That way, men and women worship on opposite sides of the tomb and never see each other. This is obviously the women's side.
While we were visiting Ein Karem, the home town of John the Baptist near Jerusalem, we visited the Church of the Magnificat, where Mary visited Elizabeth. Inside the church are several paintings of great women of the Bible and of Christianity. On the floor are mosaics of several animals, among which are two of turtles like this one. There are also two mosaics of jellyfish! By the way, do you think these are pancake tortoises?
