Itai picked us up and we left Jerusalem towards the Judean Desert. The Judean Desert is the smallest Desert in the world. Stopped by to see the Jordan River where many tourists go in the water to be baptized.
Our next stop was Beit She’An National Park which is situated at the intersection of the Jezreel Valley and the Jordan Valley. It has the most extensive Roman-era ruins in Israel and was leveled in a massive earthquake of 749 CE. Colonnaded streets, a 7,000 seat theatre, two bathhouses and huge columns are what remains of these extraordinary ruins.
When the members of Kibbutz Heftzibah were digging an irrigation channel in 1928, they uncovered a Byzantine-era mosaic floor. The excavations revealed the Beit Alpha Synagogue. The three mosaic panels depict traditional Jewish symbols such as a Torah ark, two menorahs, and a shofar alongside a spectacular 12- panel zodiac circle. At the bottom, above inscriptions in Aramaic and Hebrew, Jacob is shown about to sacrifice his son Isaac.
