Wednesday -last day in Israel on our way home

May 29, 2019

Written from Boone June 1, 2019

Dear Family and Friends,

I’m trying my best to stay awake until a reasonable bedtime in Boone. It is time for me to finish with our wonderful trip and report on our last day. Wednesday was a day that we got to make our own individual sightseeing plans. About 12 of our group of 33 went at different times to the Israel Museum. This museum is the main depository for the Dead Sea Scrolls in a beautiful and informative exhibit “The Story of the Book”. The information presented helped to make our visit to the site at Qumran more meaningful. Photography was not allowed in this underground part of the museum but the main section was covered by a white roof fountain that resembled the jar lids from the cave at Qumran.

Marie, Jane, Linda and I shared a cab ride across town and spent about 5 hours in the museum.

Outside in the very large courtyard was a 1 to 50 scale model of the Old City of Jerusalem in the First Century as Jesus would have seen it. See photos below:

This is a panoramic view with the Herod’s Temple in the center. The building off to the right with four towers is the Antonia Fortress we visited on Tuesday.

Antonia Fortress and typical housing at the time of Jesus.

Linda and I spent considerable time in the Archeology Wing and in the wing on the Jewish Life and Times. You could spend a day in either of these sections.

From the Archeology section you see a group of pottery coffins from the 13th century BC. A funeral coach from the 17th century and an illuminated copy of Hebrew scripture. The top photo is an exciting exhibit. Over 400 copper, ivory and stone ritual objects were found in the Judean Desert in 1961. They date back 6,500 years.

The Jewish Life and Times Exhibit, contained many items sent to Israel during the years before or even during World War II from Germany, Poland and Czechoslovakia. One of the prized items was a beautiful family Sukkah from the mid 19th century belonging to the Dellar Family which they smuggled out of Germany by disguising it as just lumber. This was a painted booth for the festival of booths.

I wish we had had more time to enjoy this museum but it was the perfect end to our sojourn in Israel. To finish the day we had one last trip to dinner, then on to the Airport for our flight home.

Thanks again sticking with me on this journey. I may have one or two more items to explore including the flowers of Israel. I will leave you with one funny item concerning our desserts and coffee. See photo below.

With desserts this small, its easy to stay on WW. From Ellen and Linda, we bid you goodnight!