Israel 2000 Visit » Israel » 1 Culture »  Viewing 6 Abraham Tent     [Image 6 of 15]  :: Jump To  
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Comment: This is what I call an "Abraham" tent. This shot is a bit dark but these tents would generally have one wall that could open up wide like you see here. They would pitch them facing the east which was regarded as "forward" (the south was regarded as to the "right" and the north "left" with west "behind" or towards the sea). Pitching the tent toward the east allowed them to open the front side and catch the morning rays to warm up after the cold night. Then as the day progressed and grew hotter the interior of the tent would be shaded by the back and side walls. The Tabernacle in the wilderness also opened to the east and the most important people, Moses, Aaron and his son's, camped in front of the Tabernacle on the east side (cf. Numbers 3:38).
This is a slide show of sights from around Israel taken during our summer 2000 visit. These next few shots are taken from a place called the Biblical Gardens, a mini biblical theme park in Ein Karem just outside Jerusalem. In this picture we see a miniature of a city gate which functioned not only to let people in and out of the city but also as a place of assembly where the elders at the gate would meet (cf. Deuteronomy 25:7, Ruth 4:11, Psalms 69:12, Jeremiah 39:3). The gate was where the important people sat, not lowly guards. It is interesting to do a search for gate in the book of Esther (occurs 11 times) and see what it indicates about Mordecai's status.

This is a crane for lifting heavy rocks in quarries or on construction sites. You can see the rock in the lower left. In this park they also demonstrated how the rocks were quarried. Unfortunately our pictures of that didn't turn out but the method was to chisel out some of the rock and hammer in wooden planks or stakes. They would then wet the stakes which would expand and slowly split the rock. Eventually they would be able to pull out a block like the one pictured here.

These are our children, Esther and Daniel, peeking out of a model tomb. At the time Esther was 2 1/2 and Daniel had just turned 4.

Here's a shot of Daniel coming out of the model tomb. My sense from the Garden Tomb is that this model is about half size.

This is Esther in the same pose.
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11/5/05 5:05 PM
This is a Bedouin tent today, shot just behind Tel Megiddo. I'm not sure which way this tent is facing but, aside from the tractor on the right and the blue plastic barrel, it looks like in many ways they haven't changed since the days of Abraham.

This is a millstone shot in Capernaum in Galilee. How would you like this hung around your neck and then have yourself cast into the depths of the sea (Matthew 18:6).

This is a miniature of a sheep pen in the Biblical Gardens. Apparently the brambles on top of the wall were to keep out the foxes that have sensitive underbellies. Notice the gate as well (cf. John 10).

This is a watch tower in an old olive grove somewhere between Bethel and Shiloh. We just saw this beside the road and pulled off to take a closer look. On this particular day we had driven down to Jericho and Qumran and then we came back up into the high lands toward Bethel and Ai. We also drove up to Shiloh (cf. 1 Samuel 1:3), had a look around Michmash (1 Samuel 13,14), visited the pool at Gibeon (2 Samuel 2:13ff and Jeremiah 41:12) and stopped off at Ramah where Samuel was from (1 Samuel 1:19). Notice the terraces. You see these all over the highlands. I suspect many date back hundreds, perhaps thousands of years.

Here's a shot of another watch tower in the same area as the previous one. This one is in better repair. Notice the ramp on the side. This winds around the tower so a person can climb to the top. From here one could throw or sling stones at birds. One could also keep an eye on a large area of the orchard or vineyard and chase away thieves who might be after the harvest.
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© Charles Grebe
This slide show is dedicated to my mother who made possible our summer 2000 visit to Israel.