Alter

I work in area J. The temple area of the tel. The middle of this area is dominated by a Canaanite alter from around 2,000 BCE. This was 1,000 years before the children of Israel crossed the Jordan to take possession of this place. The alter is made of thousands of soccer ball sized stones. It is four feet high and 40 feet in diameter. This is where the high priest of the temple (perhaps a temple to Baal) would sacrifice animals. This morning when I arrived in our area a bit after five o'clock I climbed up onto the alter, and as I looked out over many miles of the fertile Jezereel Valley drank some Starbucks coffee from my thermos, played a few notes from my shakuhachi, and said a prayer of thanks to God for allowing me to be here.