Throughout Israel, many of the crops are covered. On the right is an uncovered field of grapes and on the left is a covered field of grapes. The cover can reduce water consumption by 20-30%.
The Assyrians conquered the Northern Kingdom in 722 BC, then turned their attention to the Southern Kingdom. At Lachish, they surrounded the hill on which the city was built. They began building a siege ramp on the South so the Israelites began building the hill higher at the ramp to stop the Assyrian conquest. We are looking down from the top of the Tel, where the Assyrians were building the siege ramp.
January and February bring rain that renews life to the land.
The inhabitants raised pigeons in this cave at Tel Maresha for cult purposes and for fertilizer. The pigeons roosted in the cubby holes cut into the walls of the cave.
"Pigeon holes" cut into the sides of the cave walls.
Steps leading to the cave where the pigeons roosted.
Looking down the valley from Tel Maresha. This will be barren in the hot summer months.
The area was a big producer of Olive Oil. This is an olive press.
Olive crusher in one of the caves at Maresha.
A restored family burial site in one of the caves at Tel Maresha.
Bell caves near Tel Maresha. The inhabitants cut a small opening through 3 feet of hard bedrock to reach the soft limestone, Then they chiseled out the interior limestone.
This is the valley where David fought Goliath. Hebron and Bethlehem are in the hills in the distance.
We simulated throwing stones at Goliath. It was harder to throw a stone than we all thought it would be. It took a while to get the hang of it. We didn't give Goliath much of a scare.
This is looking down the valley, about 30 kilometers from Jerusalem, where Samson lived. Samson had a great future, but his weakness was women. His story should have been one of great success in history, but he failed to live up to his potential.
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