Shephelah

The Shephelah is an area of low hills with wide, U-shaped valleys of rich soil, between the hill country of Judea and the coastal plains. Our first stop of the day was to the Sharrim ruins in the Elah Valley. The structure was built and used in the 10th century BC only and appears to have been and administrative centre, not a town as there is no water source. Because of its location, layout, and time of use, it is possible that this was the Israelite encampment when fighting the Philistines - the fight that ended with David killing Goliath!

Our next stop was across the valley to Tel Azekah, where our instructor gave his commentary on the David and Goliath story. Here's some of the notes:

1. The Bible records Goliath's height as about 9'9", while the Septuagint records it as closer to 6" (which is still very tall for a person from the 10th century BC). The book of Samuel is known to contain errors and this could possibly be one of them.
2. We often think of David as a small boy since he is referred to as a youth. But youth does not always refer to age and can also be a term applied to status in the family.
3. David was the youngest of 8 boys, so his family must have been wealthy (in those days, more children = more labourers = more income for the family).
4. David must have been a scrapper - fighting lions and bears takes guts!
5. After David tries on Saul's armour, he says he can't use it because he hasn't tested it - not that it doesn't fit. Therefore, David must have been around the same size as Saul.

With that knowledge, it makes a bit more sense why Saul would allow David to fight Goliath - it probably wasn't quite as one-sided looking as a small boy and a giant facing off from each other.

The military takes a lot of educational field trips! We saw them everywhere!

Our next stop was in the Sorek Valley at Beth Shemesh. This valley wasn't useful for getting into the hill country, so we don't read much about it in the Bible. This area was given to the tribe of Dan, but there was too much pressure from the Philistines, so they never occupied it. This valley is also where Samson was from and where several of the stories involving him take place, and Beth Shemesh is where the Ark stopped when returned by the Philistines.

We had lunch at Bet Guvrin before climbing the hill to the ruins of Mareshah. Back down the hill, we visited the Sidonian Tombs, the Bell caves, and a Roman Ampitheatre. Next stop was the ruins of Lachish - the second largest Judean city. The city is at the mouth of the valley so contributes to the defense against any attack from the south. The Assyrians destroyed the city in 700 BC, using a seige ramp that is still in place.

Exploring the chalk basements in Maresheh

Olive Press

Bell Caves

Lachish

We spent the night at a youth hostel in Arad - the nicest youth hostel I have ever seen! It was more like a hotel than a hostel - there were 4 people to a room and each room had it's own washroom! It was actually nicer than our hotel in Jerusalem.