Day 4 – Sunday, June 9: Gamla, Qatzrin, Hippos/Sussita, Khirbet Cana
Today was a southern Golan Heights day. Because of the northern conflict with Hezbollah in Lebanon, we could not travel any further than Katzrin for safety reasons. But we substituted other sites for the ones we were not able to see. It was another great day. We even ended the day with an adventurous experience to Cana! The weather was predictably sunny again, with afternoon high temps around 95. We read from Matthew 4 as we left the hotel at 7:30.
Gamla
We started the day by driving north on this eastern side of the lake. We ascended into the Golan Heights and stopped for an overlook of the northern end of the lake and the area of Bethsaida. We read from Mark 8 and Luke 9 about the Feeding of the 5,000 that happened right below us.
We then continued to Gamla, our first site of the day. Gamla was a Jewish city that played a significant role in the First Revolt (66-67 AD). The Romans came here and defeated the city run 67 AD. Almost everyone in the group walked down (and then back up) the difficult trail to the excavations. We entered the 1st century synagogue where we read from Matthew 9. Even though Gamla is not mentioned in the Gospels, there is a high probability that Jesus taught from this rectangular synagogue!
Katzrin
Following our hike back up Gamla, we drove further north to Katzrin. Here is an ancient Talmudic Village that dates from the 3rd-7th centuries AD. Among the ruins we saw the synagogue and house structures, including a partially-restored house. However, in the completely reconstructed stone house we gathered to hear the story of Mark 2. We could see the story unfolding before our very eyes! Before leaving Katzrin we enjoyed an “extra” stop at the olive oil factory. There has only been a few groups in the last seven months.
Hippos/Sussita
We then turned south on the east side towards Hippos/Sussita. On the way we made a brief stop to see the cliffs mentioned in Mark 5. It is a transformational story of the demoniac. The demon-possessed boar (pigs) ran down this cliff. At the site of Hippos (a Decapolis city), we saw many Roman ruins. During the Byzantine Period (4th-6th centuries AD), there were no less than a half a dozen churches were built here.
“It was an adventurous day. We saw four sites, and three of them required some hiking (Gamla, Hippos, and Cana). To sit in the 1st century synagogue at Gamla was special. To visit biblical Cana was incredible. We were only the 4th group Dr. John has taken there!”
Khirbet Cana (Biblical Cana)
To end the day, we drove west towards the Lower Galilee. We then made our way through the Arab city of Arrabe to get us to the northern side of the Beit Netofa Valley. We then took a dirt road to get to Khirbet Cana. When we arrived, we climbed up to the top of this very “off the beaten path” archaeological site. While standing in what was possibly a 1st century synagogue, we remembered the story from John 2 about Jesus turning water into wine here and the story from John 4. We were only the fourth “DeLancey group” to ever to come here. No doubt no other groups come here let alone know where this true site of Cana is located. It was quite an adventure!
About 6 p.m., we began our drive back to our hotel where another great dinner was awaiting for us. We got back at 7:15 p.m. We enjoyed a free evening and a good night’s sleep!
Day 5 – Monday, June 10: Arbel, Yardenit, Magdala, Capernaum, Sea of Galilee Boat Ride
