More Fun from the Middle East

Hey Everybody,
Cool new colors!
The first two days of our trip were spent in Egypt touring its ancient antiquities. Egyptians are Muslim and speak Arabic, since they were occupied by Arabic nations in the past, but are not official Arabs. Father Abraham had two sons, Isaac from Sariah, and Ishmael from handmaid, Hagar. Although Ishmael was older, he was not born of the primary wife, so he was not given the covenant (Priesthood). Instead, it was given to Isaac, whose son Jacob was renamed Israel from whom came the 12 tribes of Israel. The Arabs all branched from Ishmael, and their main beef with the Jews all these eons has been that they were robbed of the covenant, as it was given to the younger brother, Isaac. Egyptians however, are descendants of Ham, son of Noah who married the Cananite, Egyptus, outside the Covenant, so he was given no Priesthood. They had a daughter, also Egyptus, who migrated into northern Africa and started the earliest Egyptian civilization. Her son became the first Pharaoh. Their civilization is well documented because the dry climate there has been optimal for preserving all the old antiquities. They were preoccupied with death and the after-life. We got so sick of seeing tombs and hieroglyphs that Charlie Call waxed British as he started a new acronym: ABT - another bloody tomb. It caught on and everybody started using the concept for everything else we saw: ABM - another bloody mummy; ABH - another bloody hieroglyph; ABS - another bloody statue; ABMM - another bloody mummy museum, etc., etc. It was all very interesting though, as there were connections with the plan of salvation and the temple. Those of course were all remnants from the days of Noah, but since they didn’t have the priesthood, they quickly lost the fullness. Read about it in Abraham in the P of GP.

After Egypt, we went to Jordan, spending two nights in Amman, and then traveling south to Petra in between. I wrote a comment to mom’s previous post about the Petra picture. Check it out, because that site was about the coolest thing I ever saw.

We’re back in Jerusalem tonight. We spent last night in the town of Magdela (home of Mary Magdalene) on the shores western shore of the Sea of Galilee, just down the road from the town of Caphernaem, where Christ lived for about 18 months of his ministry. The night before, we stays in the town of Kfar Giladi, the norther-most town in Israel, just across the border from Lebanon. These are all the areas where Jesus walked. The Sea of Galilee is actually a large fresh water lake, the inlet and outlet of which is the Jordan River. It is about 700 feet below sea level. It is the site where the Savior had most of the NT interaction with the apostles, where he calmed the stormy seas, and where he walked on the water. About ten miles up into the hills from there is the city of Nazareth, which we visited today, site of His childhood, and the Mount of Beatitudes, which we visited yesterday. On the other side of the Sea is Mount Tabor, where the transfiguration occurred, as Moses and Elijah came just prior to the crucifixion, as the Savior was transfigured, and Peter, James, and John were given Priesthood keys to the Gathering of Israel and the sealing powers. It has been quite an experience to see all this. Our guide is Daniel Rona, a Jew who was born in Israel but then was taken by his father to America at the age of six. There, his father converted to the Mormonism and moved to Utah. Daniel was essentially raised a Mormon in the Church, and then served a mission to Germany. He married a Utah woman, and then around 1967, as the Zionist movement was developing and Israel was going through tremendous difficulty to be recognized as an independent state, Daniel felt driven to return to Israel. So his family went with him and he moved back here. Ultimately he developed a tour business, catering mostly to LDS people. He’s probably met just about every General Authority as they’ve toured with him. He has a very deep knowledge of the Jewish ways and the history of the House of Israel, especially as they relate to our faith. It has all been very enlightening. We’ll have to do another post tomorrow to tell you about some of the special things we’ve learned, but for now, I want to explain some of these new photos. We’ve taken hundreds, but we have to be selective since the blog will only handle 8 at a time.

When the children of Israel had escaped Egypt and were traveling for forty years in the wilderness,they passed through what is now Jordan, very near Petra. This rock, which has now been enshrined in a building is said to be the one Moses struck with his staff, causing an abundant spring to come forth to quell the thirst of the Israelites. It is the same spring which was used through aquaducts to supply water to the city of Petra. There is a spring coming from under it now, but it does not appear very abundant, not likely enough to feed 2-3 million thirsty Israelites who accompanied Moses. Maybe it was heavier back then.




Looks like Mom’s got a little thing going on with Ramses II. This is ABS found by archaeologists
in the Nile river, (Egypt). Who knows how it got there, but when they found it, they pulled it onto
dry land and built a museum around it.



Mom and Brenda Cornelison on our little camel ride through the desert. By the way, in answer to
Jason and Abby’s comments on the previous blog: Yes, I did ride the camel for about a mile through the desert, and, being an agile athlete, I did get on it myself. Actually, the handler simply says a few words to the beast, and he gets down on all four knees, making it easy to climb on. Then when he stands up is when athleticism is required to avoid falling off.


This is the Giant Pyramid and the big Sphinx you referred to Jason. He is HUGE. They said its
origins are not known, but that it has been dated to more than 10,000 years ago. But then that
would put it before Adam???


The largest Mosque in Egypt. The Muslims are expected to pray 5 times per day, when signaled by
the loud speakers coming from the nearest mosque. Muslim men are also allowed to have 4 wives.
That is probably why they need to pray so much.


These guys are father and son Bedouin camel/sheep ranchers. Bedouins are nomads who roam all over the middle east, living in tents. Some of them squat onthe same piece of land, but still live in
tents, even though they may own a car, cell phone, and satellite dish. They are mostly from the
Arabian peninsula, but claim no particular country of citizenship. We saw them in all the countries
we visited. They are allowed by most countries to come and go as they please. They are generallyfriendly and peaceful with others, although they tend to feud among themselves. These two had a herd of camels and a herd of sheep. We stopped on the side of the road to talk to them and cavort with their camels.



Mom and I on the shores of the Dead Sea, just down stream from the Sea of Galilee. It is fed by the
Jordan River, but has no outlet, thus it is extremely saline (about 27% vs. 13% in the oceans), and is
DEAD - nothing living in it. Salt has precipitated on the surrounding shoreline. It is part of the border between Israel and Jordan, along with the Jordan River. The Sea is large enough that it evaporates as fast as the river feeds it, and it has been this way since the days of the Old Testament. It is the lowest place on earth at -1300 feet below sea level. It has dropped over 100 feet in the past ten years because Israel and Jordan both use the Jordan River for increasing irrigation. There is a plan being considered to dig a canal from either the Red Sea or the Mediterranean Sea (both would flow down hill) to refill the Dead Sea with less saline water, which would also allow it to support ocean life, which would also fulfill prophecy that the Dead Sea will be “healed” in the last days.


Swimming in the Dead Sea. The water is so dense that it is impossible to sink. It is even difficult to get your feet down enough to stand on the bottom. Water tastes terrible, by the way.

More Later...
Love you all,
Dad