After a special Sabbath worship, we depart for our tour of Petra--the ancient capital city of the Nabataeans built sometime around the 6th century BC. Petra, which means "rock" in Greek, is a fitting name for this city surrounded on all sides by rocky cliffs and its magnificent tombs, sanctuaries, and dwelling place carved out of solid rock. Our journey to this spectacular city, known to most students in connection to the movie Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, begins via a mile-long narrow gorge that emerges dramatically in front of the Treasury. The source of Petra's vast wealth was her control of the ancient trade routes that the East and the West. Unfortunately, when these trade routes shifted, Petra was deserted and forgotten for centuries. It was only rediscovered in 1812. Lunch, dinner, and overnight in Petra.

Today we head off to the place where Jesus grew up, Galilee. On our way there, we stop at the site of Herod the Great's famous man-made harbor, Caesarea. Caesarea was the only harbor in ancient Israel. In addition to sailing in and out of this harbor during his missionary journey's, the apostle Paul was also imprisoned here for several years. Caesarea was also a key location for the Crusaders in the Middle Ages. Next we travel to Mt Carmel, where Elijah defeated the prophets of Baal.  Our final stop is the little town where Jesus grew up, Nazareth. Here we will visit Nazareth village, an open air museum that reconstructs and reenacts village life in the Galilee in the time of JesusDinner and overnight at the Ron Beach Hotel in Tiberias.