No 4

(Caesarea Philippi)

Caesarea Philippi is located at the foot of Mount Hermon where a sparkling stream of water pours out into the Jorden river and because the whole area is well-watered, it is one of the most beautiful localities in the Holy Land with a variety of trees, vines and shrubs. In Old Testament times, it had a shrine dedicated to Baal; later on, the Greeks built a shrine to Pan, the god of nature and the Romans also used it as a place of worship for their gods. Herod Philip, who gave the place its name, did so for two reasons. First, he wanted to gain favour with the Caesars and second, he wanted to distinguish it from Caesarea that is located on the coast of the Mediteranean Sea. It was at this quiet place that Jesus and His disciples had the following conversation : “When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am? ¹⁴And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets. ¹⁵He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? ¹⁶And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matt 16: 13 – 16). In Medieval times, the Crusaders built a castle here in 1120 AD and called it The Castle of Subeibeh. Today, there are masses of building stones with all sorts of engravings and inscriptions. Archaeological findings reveal a lot of information of times past but many secrets still remain and may never be revealed.