As promised, these are the cell phone photos of my descent to Harishe...and the Ackel house...maybe 100 yards from the Mediterranean!
click on images to make them larger! This is the nameplate on the front door of the cottage they told me was the original Ackel home...not sure what the top word means ("house of...?") but the second word is definitely "Ackel" in Arabic. Or "Ackal." When they spell the name there using our alphabet it is "Akil" or "Akl."
Saturday, May 9, 2009
The Tomb Of St. George
Family!
Food, Food...And More Food!
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Dahr Safra and Harishe, Syria
Click on images to make them larger! What an amazing and overwhelming experience...to visit the home villages of our ancestors, the villages where our grandparents were born...Dahr Safra (the village of the Michael's) and Harishe (the village of the Ackel's.) They are really just one village, Dahr Safra at the top of the mountain, Harishe at the bottom, about 100 yards from the Mediterranean!
(Left to Right): Fadya Booz (a relative to the Michael's), Craig, the priest of the village, Hamman, our "guide," and Rianda, a relative of the Joe Thomas family. We are outside of the old St. George's Church in Dahr Safra, where our ancestors were baptized and married! The entire area is Catholic (Maronite).
Inside the old St. George's Church.
A typical home in Dahr Safra.
A typical home in Dahr Safra.
On the road to Dahr Safra, looking down into Harishe.
Harishe. On the left you can see a Maronite Catholic Church, built by Joe Dow of Houston, a native of Harishe. Unfortunately I ran out of film before we actually went down into Harishe, but I captured images on my cell phone. As soon as I get them transferred, I will post them! Right next to the church is the home of the one Ackel relative I met...her husband is a cousin to Joe Dow. They took me to what they called the "Ackel Family Home" further down from their home, and told me that this abandoned stone cottage was more than likely where our grandfather, John Habib Ackel, had been born! I can't wait to post those photos! Yes, the house is right on the Mediterranean, and the vegetation is lush...
Byblos, Tyre and Sidon, Lebanon
Cana, Lebanon
click on images to make them larger!
Recent new evidence has revealed that Cana of Gallilee, where Jesus performed his first miracle at a wedding, is in south Lebanon.
Some believe these are the remnants of the six stone water jars in which the water became wine. I have to admit, I did not "feel" it! When we asked where the house of the Wedding at Cana was located, we were told "It has not yet been excavated!"
However, in another area, I DID feel the presence of God...above is a cave that some claim Jesus and his disciples slept in on their way to the wedding. The area was obviously an early Christian settlement at least, as there are many primitive carvings of the life of Christ.
Recent new evidence has revealed that Cana of Gallilee, where Jesus performed his first miracle at a wedding, is in south Lebanon.
Some believe these are the remnants of the six stone water jars in which the water became wine. I have to admit, I did not "feel" it! When we asked where the house of the Wedding at Cana was located, we were told "It has not yet been excavated!"
However, in another area, I DID feel the presence of God...above is a cave that some claim Jesus and his disciples slept in on their way to the wedding. The area was obviously an early Christian settlement at least, as there are many primitive carvings of the life of Christ.
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