Road to Bethlehem: Leaving Nazareth

Note: This is part of a Bible Walking Challenge to virtually cover a similar distance that Mary and Joseph would have traveled from the Basilica of the Annunciation to the Church of Nativity. I am using Google Maps and Street View to explore the region while walking similar distances at home.

It's been a slow start to the walking challenge. not for lack of time but my attention has been other places. Perhaps Mary felt the same way. With a baby due soon she probably would not have been totally focused on a trip south. Though they probably made the trip in less than a week, I'm spreading it out through the Advent season and should be covering about 4-5 km every day.

I'm now about 8 km into the trip, heading south through the Jezreel Valley. It appears to be mostly flat farmland so the walking would be relatively easy. In the distance you can see Givat HaMoreh, a small hill that is mentioned in Genesis 12:6, Deuteronomy 11:30 and Judges 7:1.

Sometimes the location is translated as terebinth or oak because of the trees found there. There are walking trails and a lookout tower at the top of the hill, but I would like to think that they skirted the hill to the east rather than climb to the top, just for the view.