Legacy of Mary, Mother of Jesus

In the eyes of the Catholics, Mary is probably the only human perceived as someone more than human and a little below supernatural or divine. She was after all the mother of Jesus. 

There are countless of churches, schools, institutions and organizations in many countries across the world named after St. Mary. My wife was once the school principal of a secondary school called SM St. Mary Papar. A good friend of mine who now lives in Vancouver was once a student of one of the oldest secondary schools in Sabah, SM St. Mary Sandakan originally built in 1883. Therefore, it would be unthinkable not to have a church named after St. Mary in Israel.

We visited the Church of Annunciation in the old city of Nazareth which is one of the churches dedicated to Mary. The Church with magnificent design and architecture was built over a site believed by tradition to be the house of Mary. The Church was completed in 1969. The name "Annunciation" suggests that this was where angel Gabriel appeared to Mary and announced that she would conceive and bear the Son of God, Jesus.

At the ground level of the Church of Annunciation, grotto of Byzantine time is believed to be where Mary grew up.

The main church hall at the level above the grotto.

The uniqueness of this church is that there are many paintings and portraits of Mary in various nationalities.

Mary in Chinese costume and in Japanese costume.

A statute of Mary is prominently placed at the front of the Church of Annunciation. Similarly, a statute of Joseph, the husband of Mary is also erected in the courtyard of the Church of St. Joseph which is at one end of the church. The Church of St. Joseph built in 1914 is built over ruins of a 17th century AD crusader church.

A signboard in the church compound provides a good visual understanding of the Church of St. Joseph in relation to the Church of Annunciation. The Church of St. Joseph at the far end is significantly smaller compared to the Church of Annunciation at the near end.

Underneath the Church of St. Joseph is a series of rock-cut cavities and caves. The left photo is said to be a Byzantine era baptismal pool. The staircase in the right photo leads to a cave said to have been used by Joseph.

Leaving The Church of St. Joseph after the tour.

The Dead Sea

This blog is a continuation of the recent entry on the Tour of Israel in late May to early June 2014 (Read here). 

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A dip in the dead sea is not one of my bucket list. Still, that dip on 30 May 2014 in the saltiest natural water body in the world was considered once-in-a-life-time experience. Dead Sea is shared between Jordan and Israel. We accessed it from the Israelite territory.

We had a rather busy morning that day. After visiting Lazarus Tomb (Read here), we continued our journey to the Baptismal Site at River Jordan or Qasr el Yahud (Read here). After that, we proceeded to the Mount of Temptation (Read here) which is at Jericho (Ariha in Arabic). By the time we reached the Kalia Beach at the Dead Sea after our lunch, it was passed 2pm.

In Jordan, there is a sign board that shows the water surface level of the Dead Sea at 390 m (1,280 ft) below the sea level. However, with the annual receding rate of 110 cm which is 3.6 ft per year, the latest surface level is reckoned to be at least 430.5 m (1,412 ft) below the sea level. Some predicted that the sea will be dried up by 2050. With current global warming, this probably will come earlier rather than later!

The water surface area naturally is also shrinking fast. It has shrank by 42% since 1930 from 1,050 km2 to just 605 Km2 after 90 years.

This receding of water line is causing major problem to both amenity operators and visitors. Some hotels have to be abandoned because they have become too far away from the water edge. Nowadays, visitors have to walk much further from the car parks to reach the water body.

At the Dead Sea, we did all the rituals liked most visitors. We swam or rather floated at the sea which has an unusual and bizarre buoyancy.  The dip was just sufficiently long before the skin was irritated by the high concentration of salt and minerals. Then, it was plastering of the body with mud dug from the sea bed. Promotors of the mud bath list a host of benefits: soothes itchiness and inflammation, relief back pain, improve psoriasis, reduce skin dryness, smooths wrinkles and fine lines etc. It was exaggerated to be almost a perfect cure for all skin problems! Incredible!

Our tour group leader, Stephen Tee preferred to sun-bath in mud-plastered body by the sea side!

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The outlet by the Dead Sea was having a booming business with the many visitors like us. They sell many products derived from the Dead Sea - sea salt, salt body rub, mud packs and a host of others.

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Sabah too is not short of mud pond. In the 1990's when I was involved in the construction of a timber jetty at Pulau Tiga, we visited the mud pond in the island but did not venture into the pond. In those days, taking a mud bath was still at its infancy. But this has since changed and it is now one of the tourist attractions in the island.

Mud bath in Pulau Tiga.

Legacy of Mount Nebo

This blog is a continuation of the last entry on the Tour of Israel in late May to early June 2014 (Read here). 

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We left Amman for Tiberias in Israel by road on 27 May 2014. On the way, we had stops at Madaba and later on at Mount Nebo (Read here). 

Mount Nebo has two peaks, Siyagha and al-Mukhayyat. The memorial of Moses is on Siyagha. In 6th century AD, Catholic monks built a Byzantine monastery on Siyagha which lasted for almost 600 years. The site was abandoned by the 16th century. In 1932, Mount Nebo was purchased by the Catholic Franciscans who carried out extensive excavation of the ruins and monastery and restoration work of the site.

Today, the old Byzantine building is long gone. At the time of our visit, mosaics excavated from that period were on display.

The Memorial Church of Moses.

A serpentine cross sculpture is erected on top of Mount Nebo. The sculpture is a symbol of a combination of a bronze serpent created by Moses with a cross where Jesus was hung. The inscription at the base of the pole reads: "Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, the son of man must be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life".  

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We last saw the Memorial Church of Moses on Mount Nebo more than seven years ago. Now, this can easily be viewed on the google map.

A recent photo captured on Google Map.

The serpentine cross sculpture is visible at the left.

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Today, items and mosaics excavated from the ruins of the Byzantine monastery are on display inside the Church.

Courtesy of Madainproject.com.

Courtesy of Madainproject.com.

Megiddo Spring - An Ancient Water System

After attending a series of webinar talks on "Bible Lands Walkthrough Series" by KL Ng of KL Ministry in July and August 2021, I have decided to revisit the many places I visited in Israel and Jordan back in 2014 from 26 May to 2 June with a group of Malaysians. This documentation is also a brain stimulation exercise in learning and recollection.

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Water is the most essential thing for the survival of the inhabitants within a city. This is even more so when the city is under siege. A proper water storage system is therefore a key fundamental consideration in city planning and design.

After our visit to Mount Tabor, our next destination was Megiddo National Park. In Megiddo National Park, we were let to see an ancient Canaanite Water Reservoir System. Huge water storage underground chamber or cavity was created by chiseling away layers and layers of soil and bedrock deep down below the ground surface. The cavity is then slowly being filled up with rainwater collected from the immediate catchment at the surface opening and also partly by underground spring water fed through cracks and crevices on cavity walls and base. In ancient time, access to the underground storage was via a rock-hewn staircase which allowed people to descend to the level of the lowest water table.

Today, visitors walk along series of man-made staircases that spiral down from the top and sloping boardwalk to the lower platform.

There is still debate on the exact dates when this water system was built. Some say it's King Solomon's era in the 10th century BC and some say it's King Ahab's era in the 9th century BC while there are some who concluded it's King Jeroboam II's era in the 8th century BC. Whatever it is, it may not be wrong to say that the water system is at least close to 3,000 years old!

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A simpler version is just an excavated open pit to collect rain water. To draw water, one needs to walk down a series of spiraling steps formed along the inner perimeter wall. 

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The more complex water system is The Water Tunnel which we visited. The base is accessible by descending 183 steps and then a climb of 83 steps to the exit.

The Israelite tour guide stopped in the tunnel
to brief the visitors.

Lowest platform we were led to.

The exit.