Our “Great River”

rtrube54's avatarBob on Books

A_Home_on_the_Mississippi At Home on the Mississippi — Currier & Ives Print

It is 2,320 miles from its headwaters in Minnesota to its outlet in the Gulf of Mexico. Its watershed covers all orpart of 31 states and parts of twoCanadian provinces. That watershed extends from the Rocky Mountains in the west to the western side of the Appalachians in the east. All told, the watershed covers 1,245,000 square miles. The discharge into the Gulf of Mexico varies between 200 and 700 thousand cubic feet per second. You have probably guessed that I am writing about the Mississippi River, a name which derived from a Native American word meaning “Great River.”

Water draining into the storm drain at the corner of our lot ends up in this watershed. Growing up in Youngstown, the Mahoning River was part of this watershed. So are the Scioto and Olentangy Rivers, within 5 miles of our…

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Cache of coins from Hasmonean Period discovered at Modi‘in

Ferrell Jenkins's avatarFerrell's Travel Blog

An excavation at Modi‘in under the direction of the Israel Antiquities Authority has uncovered a hoard of silver coins dating to the Hasmonean period (126 B.C.). The coins were found within an agricultural estate already uncovered at the site of a new neighborhood. Here are some excerpts and photos from the  IAA news release.

According to Avraham Tendler, director of the excavation on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority, “This is a rare cache of silver coins from the Hasmonean period comprised of shekels and half-shekels (tetradrachms and didrachms) that were minted in the city of Tyre and bear the images of the king, Antiochus VII and his brother Demetrius II. The cache that we found is compelling evidence that one of the members of the estate who had saved his income for months needed to leave the house for some unknown reason. He buried his money in…

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JERUSALEM in IMAX

Aerial view of Jerusalem from the east. Photo by Ferrell Jenkins.

Jerusalem in IMAX — via Ferrell Jenkins

Ferrell Jenkins's avatarFerrell's Travel Blog

Friday morning my wife and I joined three Biblical Studies faculty from Florida College, and a handful of other people, in the MOSI IMAX giant screen theater in Tampa to see the National Geographic Entertainment presentation of JERUSALEM.

The original producers of this film have been promoting it for several years, as you can see from the video that we posted nearly three years ago here. The current production is about 45 minutes in length. The thing that really makes the difference is the IMAX giant screen presentation.

JERUSALEM features three young ladies representing the three religions claiming Jerusalem as the home of their origin: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. The girls guide the viewers through the crowded, winding streets of the Old City to the various religious sites of the city. There are a few scenes in other parts of the country: Capernaum, Caesarea Maritima, Joppa, Masada, and the…

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Places to look out over Jerusalem

Ferrell Jenkins's avatarFerrell's Travel Blog

The Times of Israel has a nice illustrated article today entitled “Five Glorious places from which to look out over Jerusalem.” Aviva and Shmuel Bar-Am show photographs from the following five places. Click here for the complete article.
  1. Haas-Sherover Promenade
  2. Confederation House Overlook
  3. Mount Zion Promenade and Overlooks
  4. Mount Scopus Observation Decks
  5. Gandhi Overlook (many will recall this as the lookout from the Mount of Olives)

Our photo below slows the modern view of Jerusalem from the Mount Scopus overlook.

View of Jerusalem from the Mount Scopus Overlook. Photo by Ferrell Jenkins. View of Jerusalem from the Mount Scopus Overlook. Photo by Ferrell Jenkins.

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Visiting the shepherd’s fields near Bethlehem

Ferrell Jenkins's avatarFerrell's Travel Blog

After the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem, Luke records that an announcement of His birth was made to shepherds in the field at night.

And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. (Luke 2:8-11 ESV)

There was enough distance that the shepherds said, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” (Luke 2:15 ESV)

We do not know the exact…

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A snow house in Jerusalem

Ferrell Jenkins's avatarFerrell's Travel Blog

Elie sent me a photo he made this morning of a snow house in Jerusalem. If you know Jerusalem you know that the houses are built of stone (some of Jerusalem stone). The person building this snow house made it in imitation of the stone houses. It’s always good to have police protection!

Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, one of David’s mighty men “went down and struck down a lion in a pit on a day when snow had fallen” (1 Chronicles 11:22 ESV)

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Snow in Israel

Ferrell Jenkins's avatarFerrell's Travel Blog

Today I have been reading of snow in Lebanon and Israel. There are reports that a foot of snow has fallen in Jerusalem in the past day. Todd Bolen links to the Jerusalem Post (with photos) and other snow links here.

My friend Elie just sent a photo of his back yard. This is in Bar Giyora, a town on Hwy. 375 between Bethlehem and the Valley of Elah. The town is located in the hill country of Judea.

“For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent…

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Zondervan Essential Atlas of the Bible

Ferrell Jenkins's avatarFerrell's Travel Blog

Frequently we have mentioned and recommended the Zondervan Atlas of the Bible by Carl G. Rasmussen. Every Bible student needs at least one or two good atlases to assist them in their study of the Scriptures.

Last month I attended some annual professional meetings in Baltimore and was pleased to see that Zondervan already had copies of the new Zondervan Essential Atlas of the Bible. One of the sales reps gave me a copy for review here.

At first appearance, the ZEAB has a beautiful cover of stiff, durable paper. It is a convenient 9 1/8″ x 7 3/8″ in size. The content is basically the same as the larger hard back edition. There has been some editing of the text to condense the book from 303 pages to 159 pages.

There are two major sections to the book: Geographical Section and Historical Section. The Geographical Section includes an Introduction to the…

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40 Maps That Will Help You Make Sense of the World

40 Maps That Will Help You Make Sense of the World

From Twisted Sifter – August 13, 2013

Read more at http://twistedsifter.com/2013/08/maps-that-will-help-you-make-sense-of-the-world/

If you’re a visual learner like myself, then you know maps, charts and infographics can really help bring data and information to life. Maps can make a point resonate with readers and this collection aims to do just that.

Hopefully some of these maps will surprise you and you’ll learn something new. A few are important to know, some interpret and display data in a beautiful or creative way, and a few may even make you chuckle or shake your head.

If you enjoy this collection of maps, the Sifter highly recommends the r/MapPorn sub reddit. You should also check outChartsBin.com. There were also fantastic posts on Business Insider and Bored Panda earlier this year that are worth checking out. Enjoy!

1. Where Google Street View is Available

map-of-the-world-where-google-street-view-is-available

Map by Google

2. Countries That Do Not Use the Metric System

map-of-countires-that-use-metric-system-vs-imperial

3. The Only 22 Countries in the World Britain Has Not Invaded (not shown: Sao Tome and Principe)

the-only-countries-britain-has-not-invaded

4. Map of ‘Pangea’ with Current International Borders

map-of-pangea-with-current-internatoinal-borders

Map by eatrio.net via Reddit

Pangea was a supercontinent that existed during the late Paleozoic and early Mesozoic eras, forming about 300 million years ago. It began to break apart around 200 million years ago. The single global ocean which surrounded Pangaea is accordingly named Panthalassa.

5. McDonald’s Across the World

map-of-countries-with-mcdonalds

6. Paid Maternal Leave Around the World

paid-maternal-leave-by-country

7. The Most Common Surnames in Europe by Country

map-of-most-common-surnames-in-europe

8. Worldwide Driving Orientation by Country

Worldwide_Driving_Orientation_by_Country-(1)

9. Map of Time Zones in Antarctica

Map-of-time-zones-in-Anarctica

10. Global Internet Usage Based on Time of Day

internet-usage-of-the-world-based-on-time-of-day_2

Map by Carna Botnet via Reddit

 

Don’t mess around with nature

Ferrell Jenkins's avatarFerrell's Travel Blog

Shmuel Browns has a nice article here on Agamon (Hula) Lake in northern Israel. Perhaps we all know that Lake Hula (Hulah; Huleh) is the small body of water about 10 miles north of the Sea of Galilee.

Browns tells how the lake came to be drained a few decades back, and the reason for its reclamation. I was especially impressed with the number of “creatures” found in the area around the lake. And also of the number of species lost as a result of the draining of the lake.

Josephus refers to Lake Hula by the Roman name of Lake Semechonitis (Ant. 5.199; Jewish Wars 3:515; 4:3).

My earliest association for the site (about 60 years ago) was to identify it as the Waters of Merom (Joshua 11), because this is what Hurlbut suggested in A Bible Atlas. This identification is doubtful, and many modern atlases…

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