Galilee Archives - Page 84 of 84

Water Crisis in Israel

From the JPost:

“This is the worst crisis since records started being kept 80 years ago,” Water Authority head Uri Shani declared Tuesday morning at a special press conference in Tel Aviv. “Like most countries, Israel is dependent on rainfall and the amount of rainfall is decreasing. There is a drop of 100 million cubic meters per year.”
Shani described a situation of increasing damage to Israel’s main natural water sources. The Coastal Aquifer “has dropped below its black line,” which means that it will suffer rapid damage, possibly irreversible damage, Shani said.
The water level in the Mountain Aquifer was currently a meter above its Lower Red Line, but was also expected to reach its bottom limit – the Black Line – by this year. He added that water levels in the aquifers had never been this low.
Shani predicted that Lake Kinneret [Sea of Galilee] would reach its Black Line by December 2008. The Kinneret dropped below its bottom limit on Monday, 213 meters below sea level. The lake’s Black Line is 214.87 meters below sea level.

The story continues here.

New sign in Tiberias displays the present water level in the Sea of Galilee, a main source of fresh water for Israel today

Tagged Galilee, Weather

Bike Ride Mission to Israel

Arutz-7 reports on an up-coming bike ride in Israel:

From September 21-27, 2008, athletic tourists will be able to visit and tour the country in a unique style: Bicycling their way through the upper Galilee and the Golan Heights on the Jewish National Fund’s first annual Bike Ride Mission to Israel. “Participants will traverse over 200 miles of breathtaking terrain,” the JNF literature announces, “during four days of fully supported riding (all ability levels are welcome), and will be rewarded with exclusive accommodations at the 5-star Mitzpe Hayamim Hotel and Spa and The Carmel Forest Spa Resort.” The bicycle tours will include stops in towns, army bases, and JNF sites such as security bypass roads, forests, and nature reserves. The participants will also hear talks from public officials and IDF officers, will learn about Israel’s water problems and the JNF’s efforts and successes in solving them, and will take part in rafting and wine-tasting activities. The cost: $3,600 per rider (double occupancy), not including airfare. Participants can either bring their own bicycle or rent one here…. For more information on the bike mission, visit www.jnf.org/bikeisrael.

Tagged Galilee, Opportunities

Mysterious Stone Piles in Sea of Galilee

From Haaretz:

A marine scientist has discovered a series of mysterious stone patterns on the lake bed of drought-stricken Lake Kinneret.
The man-made piles of stone, which are now above water, jut out from the freshwater lake, and sit 30 meters from each other along a 3.5-kilometer stretch of the eastern shore, from the Kinneret College campus to Haon resort.
Gal Itzhaki of Kibbutz Afikim first noticed the stones while strolling along the lake’s receded shoreline. He says the patterns are a “fascinating phenomenon” and are part of an “impressive building enterprise.”
Though they have not yet been scientifically examined, there are several hypotheses as to what functions they fulfilled. One theory postulates that they were part of a boundary between the ancient lakeside towns of Hippos, also known as Sussita, and Gadara. Both towns were part of the Decapolis, a group of 10 towns that flourished in the eastern part of the Roman province of Palestina, and are mentioned in the New Testament. Others have hypothesized that the patterns were part of a string of watchtowers or small buildings, or were used to set up fishermen’s nets.

Read the rest here. The Hebrew version includes a photo.

HT: Joe Lauer

Tagged Discoveries, Galilee

I’ve heard talk about a golf course planned on Arbel overlooking the Sea of Galilee for years, but this JPost article makes it sound like it’s getting closer to realization. (Interpreted for those unfamiliar with the Israeli system, that means that there are now less than 472,325 legal obstacles remaining.)

Here are a few numbers mentioned in the article:

2: Number of 18-hole golf courses in Galilee

150: Cost of the ultra-luxury resort (in millions of dollars)

8: Cost of water treatment plant already built (in millions of dollars)

The official website: www.israelbythesea.com

There will also is a golf course planned for Eilat, and JPost has a computer-generated image of what it might look like.

This blog post title is an allusion to the idea that Arbel may have been the mountain on which Jesus withdrew to pray (Matt 14:23; Mark 6:46; Luke 6:12). I should trademark it and trade it to the developers for one of the gazillion-dollar memberships.

Arbel and the Sea of Galilee from the west

Tagged Galilee, Not an April Fool's Joke

Earthquake Damage at Hazor Museum

I noted here a couple of days ago that the Hazor Museum is closed indefinitely. That closure apparently contributed to the delay in noticing that 700 objects in the museum were damaged in the recent earthquake. From the Jerusalem Post:

An earthquake that shook Israel 10 days ago damaged some 700 archeological artifacts displayed in a museum at Kibbutz Ayelet Hashahar in northern Israel, Channel 1 reported Wednesday evening.
Most of the artifacts were excavated at the nearby Tel Hazor site. Heavy rains have prevented researchers from ascertaining whether the site itself was affected by the quake.
The damage was discovered only several days after the event, since the museum has been closed recently due to a lack of visitors. Dr. Zvika Zur, the exhibit’s curator, told Channel 1 that while some of the items – many of which date back to the Canaanite era – could be mended, many others had been damaged irreparably.

HT: Joe Lauer

Vessels from 14th century B.C. tomb on display at Hazor Museum (before earthquake)

UPDATE (3/3): A few photos of the damage can be seen at the Hebrew version of articles at Haaretz and MSN.

Tagged Galilee

Sites in Galilee

The Jerusalem Post has an article today on Hazor, guiding the virtual visitor on a tour of the largest tell in Israel and noting that the Hazor Museum is closed indefinitely.

Haaretz’s article, “Five Stops in Galilee,” covers the new “Jesus Trail,” among other sites.

Tagged Galilee

Water Crisis in Israel

Bike Ride Mission to Israel

Mysterious Stone Piles in Sea of Galilee

Golf Where Jesus Prayed

Earthquake Damage at Hazor Museum

Sites in Galilee