Dr. Blake Couey, professor in the Dept. of Religion and specialist in the poetry of the Hebrew Bible, will be returning to campus this autumn from a year’s sabbatical. While on leave, he visited Israel and the Palestinian Territories in the West Bank.
At the beginning of the summer, I was able to spend two weeks in Israel and the West Bank. I toured fifteen archaeological sites with connections to the Bible, and I saw many artifacts in the Israel Museum that I regularly teach about, including the Great Isaiah Scroll.
I was also able to visit several important religious sites, including the Western Wall, Dome of the Rock, and Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem, the Church of the Holy Nativity in Bethlehem, and the Samaritan holy site of Mt. Gerazim near Nablus.
And on a less academic note, I ate lots of delicious hummus and shawarma, floated in the Dead Sea and waded in the Sea of Galilee, drank some Israeli whiskey and Palestinian beer, and added several new birds to my life list!
(P.s. Dr. Couey is an accomplished birder. Ask him about it!)