2006 Israel

Photo Journal of my visit to Israel in 2006. It includes images taken at the Westbank, the Dead Sea, the Masada plateau, Nazareth, Tel Aviv and the Sea of Galilee.
Westbank, Israel. : Israel, SNMG2 Deployment 2006 Westbank, Israel. : Israel, SNMG2 Deployment 2006 Desert transportation on Westbank, Israel. : Israel, SNMG2 Deployment 2006 Desert transportation on Westbank, Israel. : Israel, SNMG2 Deployment 2006 Westbank, Israel. : Israel, SNMG2 Deployment 2006
Shores of the Dead Sea - Israel. : Israel, SNMG2 Deployment 2006 Shores of the Dead Sea - Israel. : Israel, SNMG2 Deployment 2006 Dead Sea salt deposits - Israel. : Israel, SNMG2 Deployment 2006 The Dead Sea - Israel. : Israel, SNMG2 Deployment 2006 Salt deposits on the Southern shore of the Dead Sea - Israel. : Israel, SNMG2 Deployment 2006
Salt deposits on the Southern shore of the Dead Sea - Israel. : Israel, SNMG2 Deployment 2006 Ein Gedi (goat's spring) desert oasis on the shore of the Dead Sea - Israel. : Israel, SNMG2 Deployment 2006 Ein Gedi (goat's spring) desert oasis on the shore of the Dead Sea - Israel. : Israel, SNMG2 Deployment 2006 Traffic signs on the Southern shore of the Dead Sea - Israel. : Israel, SNMG2 Deployment 2006 Traffic sign on the Southern shore of the Dead Sea - Israel. : Israel, SNMG2 Deployment 2006
View from the cable car to the Masada plateau, Israel. : Israel, SNMG2 Deployment 2006 Remnants of Roman camp A, B and C and the snake path as seen from the cable car to the Masada plateau, Israel. : Israel, SNMG2 Deployment 2006 The Dead Sea as seen from the Masada plateau, Israel. : Israel, SNMG2 Deployment 2006 The Dead Sea as seen from the Masada plateau, Israel. : Israel, SNMG2 Deployment 2006 The Dead Sea as seen from the Masada plateau, Israel. : Israel, SNMG2 Deployment 2006
The Masada plateau - Israel. : Israel, SNMG2 Deployment 2006 View from the Masada plateau - Israel. : Israel, SNMG2 Deployment 2006 The Masada plateau - Israel. : Israel, SNMG2 Deployment 2006 Remains of the Northern Palace on the Masada plateau - Israel. : Israel, SNMG2 Deployment 2006 Remnants of Roman camp F near the Masada plateau - Israel. : Israel, SNMG2 Deployment 2006
The Masada plateau - Israel. : Israel, SNMG2 Deployment 2006 Following the Snakepath down from the Masada plateau - Israel. : Israel, SNMG2 Deployment 2006 Following the Snakepath down from the Masada plateau - Israel. : Israel, SNMG2 Deployment 2006 Following the Snakepath down from the Masada plateau - Israel. : Israel, SNMG2 Deployment 2006 Wall between Eastern and Western part of Jerusalem, Israel. : Israel, SNMG2 Deployment 2006
Dome of the Rock as seen from Mt. of Olives - Old City Jerusalem, Israel. : Israel, SNMG2 Deployment 2006 Dome of the Rock as seen from Mt. of Olives - Old City Jerusalem, Israel. : Israel, SNMG2 Deployment 2006 Dome of the Rock as seen from Mt. of Olives - Old City Jerusalem, Israel. : Israel, SNMG2 Deployment 2006 The Sacred Jewish cemetery on Westside of Mt. of Olives - Jerusalem, Israel. : Israel, SNMG2 Deployment 2006 The Sacred Jewish cemetery on Westside of Mt. of Olives - Jerusalem, Israel. : Israel, SNMG2 Deployment 2006
White-Russian Orthodox Church of Mary Magdalene on Westside of Mt. of Olives - Jerusalem, Israel. : Israel, SNMG2 Deployment 2006 White-Russian Orthodox Church of Mary Magdalene on Westside of Mt. of Olives - Jerusalem, Israel. : Israel, SNMG2 Deployment 2006 Ultra-Orthodox Jews near Jaffa gate - Old City Jerusalem, Israel. : Israel, SNMG2 Deployment 2006 Old Jerusalem's citadel, known as the "Tower of David", is essentially a medieval fortress, with later additions. Despite its name, there is no connection between the Tower of David and the famous Biblical king. The root of the confusion lies in the Byzantine period (4th-6th centuries CE). A mistaken reading of the ancient historian Josephus Flavius led the early Church fathers to identify the "Western Hill" (where the citadel now stands) as the site of Biblical Jerusalem, and to associate the Tower of Phasael with King David. The Muslims who conquered Jerusalem in the 7th century CE accepted that association, and dubbed the Tower of Phasael "the mihrab of the Prophet David". Westerners who visited Jerusalem in the 19th century in search of physical evidence of the Scriptural record mistakenly identified the 17th-century minaret as the "Tower of David", thus "transferring" the earlier error from Phasael to a Turkish mosque. With time, the real City of David was positively identified at the foot of Mount Moriah, to the east. : Israel, SNMG2 Deployment 2006 View from the Tower of David - Old City Jerusalem, Israel. : Israel, SNMG2 Deployment 2006
Statue of David at the Citadel - Old City Jerusalem, Israel. The municipality of Florence offered a copy of Michelangelo's David as a present to Jerusalem marking the 3000-year anniversary of the city (in 1995). The municipality of Jerusalem, however, refused the present because it was too sexually explicit. The city council of Jerusalem feared that the naked shepherd boy would offend Jerusalem's ultra-Orthodox and Arab communities. Instead, the city accepted a replica of a bronze David by Michelangelo's Florentine contemporary, Andrea del Verrocchio - less famous, but with the distinct advantage of being clothed. The white marble Michelangelo depicts the young David, slingshot over his shoulder, after slaying Goliath. : Israel, SNMG2 Deployment 2006 Tower of David - Old City Jerusalem, Israel. : Israel, SNMG2 Deployment 2006 David Street (Suq El-Bazaar) - Old City Jerusalem, Israel. : Israel, SNMG2 Deployment 2006 Legendary Western Wall below Temple Mount (Wailing Wall) - Old City Jerusalem, Israel. : Israel, SNMG2 Deployment 2006 The "Via Dolorosa" (Street of Sorrows) - Old City Jerusalem, Israel. : Israel, SNMG2 Deployment 2006
The third station (Jesus falls) on the "Via Dolorosa" - Old City Jerusalem, Israel. : Israel, SNMG2 Deployment 2006 Following the "Via Dolorosa" - Old City Jerusalem, Israel. : Israel, SNMG2 Deployment 2006 Following the "Via Dolorosa" - Old City Jerusalem, Israel. : Israel, SNMG2 Deployment 2006 The Modest main entrance to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre (also called the Church of the Resurrection) - Old City Jerusalem, Israel. : Israel, SNMG2 Deployment 2006 The final five stations (10-14) of the "Via Dolorosa" can be found here in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre - Old City Jerusalem, Israel. This is the Stone of the Anointing, believed to be the place where Jesus' body was prepared for burial. It is the 13th Station of the Cross. : Israel, SNMG2 Deployment 2006
The final five stations (10-14) of the "Via Dolorosa" can be found here in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre - Old City Jerusalem, Israel. This is the Stone of the Anointing, believed to be the place where Jesus' body was prepared for burial. It is the 13th Station of the Cross. : Israel, SNMG2 Deployment 2006 This is the 13th Station of the Cross in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre - Old City Jerusalem, Israel. This is the Stone of the Anointing, believed to be the place where Jesus' body was prepared for burial. : Israel, SNMG2 Deployment 2006 The dome of the rotunda in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre - Old City Jerusalem, Israel. : Israel, SNMG2 Deployment 2006 The dome of the rotunda in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre - Old City Jerusalem, Israel. : Israel, SNMG2 Deployment 2006 The Edicule of the Holy Sepulchre (The Tomb of Christ) in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre - Old City Jerusalem, Israel. : Israel, SNMG2 Deployment 2006
The Edicule of the Holy Sepulchre (The Tomb of Christ) with the dome of the rotunda above in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre - Old City Jerusalem, Israel. : Israel, SNMG2 Deployment 2006 The Edicule of the Holy Sepulchre (The Tomb of Christ) in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre - Old City Jerusalem, Israel. : Israel, SNMG2 Deployment 2006 The Edicule of the Holy Sepulchre (The Tomb of Christ) with the dome of the rotunda above in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre - Old City Jerusalem, Israel. : Israel, SNMG2 Deployment 2006 Church of the Holy Sepulchre - Old City Jerusalem, Israel. : Israel, SNMG2 Deployment 2006 Damascus Gate to the Old City Jerusalem, Israel. : Israel, SNMG2 Deployment 2006
Beaches of Tel Aviv, Israel. : Israel, SNMG2 Deployment 2006 Basilica of the Annunciation - Nazareth, Israel. : Israel, SNMG2 Deployment 2006 Basilica of the Annunciation - Nazareth, Israel. : Israel, SNMG2 Deployment 2006 Artwork donated to the Basilica of the Annunciation by Christians from all over the world - Nazareth, Israel. : Israel, SNMG2 Deployment 2006 Artwork donated to the Basilica of the Annunciation by Christians from all over the world - Nazareth, Israel. : Israel, SNMG2 Deployment 2006
Artwork donated to the Basilica of the Annunciation by Christians from all over the world - Nazareth, Israel. : Israel, SNMG2 Deployment 2006 Home of Mary in the Basilica of the Annunciation - Nazareth, Israel. : Israel, SNMG2 Deployment 2006 Home of Mary in the Basilica of the Annunciation - Nazareth, Israel. : Israel, SNMG2 Deployment 2006 Lake Kinneret (Sea of Galilee), Israel. : Israel, SNMG2 Deployment 2006 The Italian Church on the Mount of Beatitudes - Shore of the Sea of Galilee, Israel. : Israel, SNMG2 Deployment 2006
The Italian Church on the Mount of Beatitudes - Shore of the Sea of Galilee, Israel. : Israel, SNMG2 Deployment 2006 The Italian Church on the Mount of Beatitudes - Shore of the Sea of Galilee, Israel. : Israel, SNMG2 Deployment 2006 The Italian Church on the Mount of Beatitudes - Shore of the Sea of Galilee, Israel. : Israel, SNMG2 Deployment 2006 View from the Italian Church on the Mount of Beatitudes on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, Israel. : Israel, SNMG2 Deployment 2006 View from the Italian Church on the Mount of Beatitudes on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, Israel. : Israel, SNMG2 Deployment 2006
The Church of the multiplication of the loaves and the fishes at Tabgha, Israel. Tabgha - an Arabic corruption of the Greek name Heptapegon (Seven Springs) - is the traditional site of the Miracle of the Multiplication of the Loaves and the Fishes. The earliest building at Tabgha was a small chapel from the 4th century CE. During the fifth century, a large monastery and a church decorated with exquisite mosaic floors was built on the site. The monastery and church at Tabgha were destroyed in the 7th century, probably during the Arab conquest of the country, and buried beneath a thick layer of silt and stones. In the 1980s, after excavation, the church was restored to its Byzantine form, incorporating portions of the original mosaics. A raised platform in front of the apse is the site of the miracle of the Loaves and the Fishes. A mosaic depicting a basket of bread flanked by two fish was found behind this untrimmed stone. It was added in the 6th century, suggesting the stone's significance; today it is displayed in front of the altar. : Israel, SNMG2 Deployment 2006 Self portrait. : Israel, SNMG2 Deployment 2006 Greek Orthodox Church on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, Israel. : Israel, SNMG2 Deployment 2006 Greek Orthodox Church on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, Israel. : Israel, SNMG2 Deployment 2006 Greek Orthodox Church on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, Israel. : Israel, SNMG2 Deployment 2006
Door to the Greek Orthodox Church on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, Israel. : Doors, Israel, SNMG2 Deployment 2006 Door to the Greek Orthodox Church on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, Israel. : Doors, Israel, SNMG2 Deployment 2006