The Good Samaritan: Jericho-Jerusalem Road, Inn of Good Samaritan, St. George's Monastery, Wadi Qelt

Inn of the Good Samaritan

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Location
1. The Inn of the Good Samaritan is located about 8.5 miles (13.5 km.) east of Jerusalem on Hwy. 1, and about 6.5 (10.5 km.) west of Jericho.
2. The Inn is about halfway between Jerusalem and Jericho on an ancient road that linked traffic from the Jordan Valley to Jerusalem and the coastal towns of the Mediterranean Ocean.

Historical Background
1. Interestingly, Jesus used real places and people in the story of the Good Samaritan, i.e., road, Jerusalem, Jericho, robbers, Samaritans, priests, Levites, and the Inn. Therefore, the possibility exists that the story was actually a real event that had happened.
2. The ancient road connecting the Jordan Valley to Jerusalem and beyond had an elevation difference of 3,400 ft. (1,036 m.). Jericho is at 800 ft. (244 m.) below sea level, and Jerusalem is at 2,600 ft. (792 m.) above sea level.
3. It was a dangerous road that was desolate in places, steep, curvy, with crooks, crannies, and caves where bandits and robbers could hide out and get away easily in the desert. It also lacked police protection in many places.
4. There were around 12,000 priests and Levites who lived in Jericho who used this road whenever they were summoned to serve in the temple in Jerusalem.
5. The rocky desert terrain around the Inn of the Good Samaritan was notorious for robbers. The local name for the area is Ma‘ale Adummim, which means red rocks. It’s believed the name was derived from the limestone stained red by iron oxide, but it’s also believed its name is due to the amount of blood that was spilled here by bandits and robbers.
6. Jesus and His disciples would have used this road repeatedly as they traveled between Jerusalem and Jericho.
7. The Inn of the Good Samaritan

Places of Interest
1. Byzantine Church
2. Museum (has many mosaics and artifacts from around Israel)
3. Cave 1, 2
4. Crusader Fortress
5. Hwy. 1
6. Jericho
7. Jerusalem
8. Ancient Road from Jericho to Jerusalem
9. Wadi Qelt

St. George’s Monastery
Location
1. St. George’s Monastery is located about 2.5 miles (4 km.) west of Jericho in a deep and breathtaking gorge called “Wadi Qelt.”
2. It’s just a stone’s throw from the ancient road connecting the Jordan Valley to Jerusalem and beyond. This well-traveled road was used by Jesus on a regular basis.
3. The story of the Good Samaritan took place on this road. For more on this story and event, please see the Inn of the Good Samaritan.

Historical Background
1. St. George’s Monastery is a Greek Orthodox cliff-hanging complex carved into a sheer rock wall in the Judaean Desert and is one of the most breathtaking sights in the Holy Land.
2. Starting in the 4th century, monks began to live in the many caves of Wadi Qelt.
3. The monastery of St. George was founded in the 5th century by John of Thebes, an Egyptian. He gathered a small band of five Syrian hermits who had settled around the cave where they believed the prophet Elijah was fed by ravens (1 Kings 17:1–7).
4. Tradition also holds that Elijah visited the cave by the monastery while traveling to the Sinai Peninsula as he fled the threats of Jezebel after he had killed the false prophets of Baal and Asherah (1 Kings 19:1–3).
5. However, it was named after its most famous monk, St George of Koziba, who came as a teenager from Cyprus in the 6th century after his parents died to follow the ascetic life in the Holy Land.
6. The monastery was destroyed in 614 AD by the Persians and was more or less abandoned after the Persians swept through the valley and massacred the fourteen monks who dwelt there. The bones and skulls of the martyred monks can still be seen today in the monastery chapel.
7. The Crusaders made some attempts at the restoration of the monastery in 1179. However, it was abandoned after Muslims regained control of the Holy Land and drove out the Crusaders.
8. In 1878, a Greek monk, Kalinikos, settled here and restored the monastery, finishing it in 1901.

Places of Interest
1. St. George’s Monastery
It is quite a hike to see the monastery, so only those in good physical shape should attempt it.
2. Lookout – Just to the west of the parking area is a trail that leads to a beautiful lookout area over the monastery for those just wanting to see the site without hiking down to it.
3. Monastery Upper Level – Elijah’s Cave
4. Monastery Middle Level – Main Church
5. Monastery Lower Level – Storehouses and vault where the remains of the early monks are kept.
6. Stairs from the inner court of the monastery lead to the cave-church of St. Elijah. From this cave, a narrow tunnel provides an escape route to the top of the mountain.
7. Wadi Qelt – Fertile ravine where small-scale farming and irrigation takes place.
8. Caves where monks lived.
9. Small Chapel