Caesarea

Our official tour of Israel began Friday morning around 8:30 when we were met by our guide Shalom. As he explained to us later in the day, he was born during a time of war. He was going to be named after his grandfather, but his mother chose the name Shalom instead in hopes of peace.

We drove north out of Tel Aviv along the Mediterranean coast. Much of the coast is lined with huge sand dunes although there were numerous orchards of fruits and vegetables. Israel is small, but it has several climates and many varieties of plants have been successfully domesticated here.

An hour north of Tel Aviv is Caesarea, an ancient port city with ruins from the time of Herod the Great. Shalom pointed out that to this day, the Romans are still regarded as the most prolific builders in Israeli history.

The ruins at Caesarea include an amphitheater, palace, hippodrome and more.


From a Christian point of view, it was interesting to learn that Paul was imprisoned here prior to being sent to Rome to plead his case as a Roman citizen. It was here that he encountered Cornelius, a commander in the Roman army, who became one of the first converts to Christianity (Acts 10).

Another interesting find on the site was a tablet with the inscription of Pontius Pilate, the ruler who ordered the crucifixion of Jesus.