Jerusalem, Rock of Abraham

Abraham was told by God to take his son up on Mt Moriah and sacrifice his son as an offering. Abraham followed gods command and took Issac up on Mt Moriah. But as he was getting ready to kill him, an angel appeared and told him to spare his son for God was pleased that he had obeyed him. The same rock upon which he stood is still here today, persevered inside a Moslem mosque called the Dome of the Rock. Upon this same mountain Solomon built a temple where he kept his greatest treasures. In this temple he kept the Ark of the Covenant safe. But 400 years later Babylonians captured the city and the Ark and all of the other treasures disappeared. Many guesses have been made about the whereabouts of the Ark and the other treasures. One of the most famous theories is that the treasure is hidden underneath the mountain. It is true that the mountain has many caverns and caves. Many people have tried and failed to find the treasure. One entrance to the caverns is through a waterfall in the side of the mountain.

This is a picture of the Dome of Rock

Petra

Petra was a city that was famous for its dreaded robbers ans its beautiful tombs. A legend says that the king of Petra got jealous of all the other tombs so he decided to build the biggest tomb ever. They say he had a magic ring that allowed him to control jinns. He used the jinns and Greek sculptors to make a masterpiece tomb. But some of the nobles did not like this idea and had the king murdered. The jinns who hated the people were set free and they cast an enchantment upon the city. And to this day the city is still enchanted. The city of Petra lies 500 miles to the west of the Red Sea in the country of Jordan. 

We have some friends who went to Petra. Here are some of their photos:

Mecca

Mecca is a sacred Moslem city that only Mohammedans can enter. People who are not Mohammedans can only get within 8 miles of the city. It is located in Saudi Arabia. Back in the year 570 Mohammed was born in the city of Mecca. The city had a sacred cube-shaped granite temple which they believed was built by Abraham. This holy temple was being defiled by the worship of idols. Mohammed preached against this and taught the people about God. The temple is still there today. Every year 200,000,000 people take a dangerous journey to the city where they worship.

Victoria Falls

Victoria Falls was discovered by the famous explorer David Livingston in the year 1855. David was exploring the Zambezi river when he heard what the natives called the Smoke that Sounds. David persuaded his native friends to get closer. A few miles ahead David saw something that stunned him. Ahead on the river there rose a curtain of mist so large that the top seemed to mingle with the clouds. From the direction of the mist there came a loud noise. David and his band stopped on an island in the middle of the river. As David crept closer to the sound the ground at his feet seemed to drop off and disappear. As David peered through the mist he saw a giant half-concealed waterfall that stretched for half a mile on either side of the island. The waterfall stretched 340 ft down and sent up a shower of mist. But David could not see where the water went after it poured over the edge. It took him a whole other day to find where the water went. The water went down, down and finally went into a T shaped chasm where it went over the top of the T and went down through the stem. David name this wonder after Victoria, his Queen.