Tuesday, November 8

Today is Tuesday, November 8. Earlier start today! 6 a.m. wake up, 6:30 breakfast, 7:30 depart. Our drive this morning took us along the Dead Sea. Our destination was Masada. Masada is located atop an isolated, diamond-shaped rock mesa, with sheer cliffs on all sides. On the eastern side – the side towards the Dead Sea – the elevation drops nearly 1100 feet. The top of the mesa is about 1520 feet above the level of the Dead Sea. That makes the mesa a few feet above sea level since the Dead Sea is 1400 feet below sea level. We did not to take the snake path, which wound its way up the side of the mesa, but chose the cable car instead. Arriving at the top – it was quite warm. We were advised to drink 4 bottles of water today due to the heat and the elevation.

The word “Masada” is derived from the Hebrew word that means “fortress” or “stronghold”. King Herod had a number of palaces. Two of them were located at Masada. The Northern Palace is often called the “hanging palace” because it seemed to hang on the side of the mesa on three levels. The other palace – the western palace – was located on the western side of the mesa. During Herod’s occupation of the site, a casemate wall was erected around the top of the mesa – 4250 feet in total length.

Masada is most known for what happened here between 70 and 73 CE. It probably started earlier. When the Romans, in the late 60’s CE, set out to quell an uprising among the Jews, they destroyed Jerusalem and, in CE 70, burned the Temple. During this time, some Jewish zealots overcame the small Roman garrison at Masada, taking control of it. The Romans began a siege on Masada shortly after the fall of Jerusalem. At the time, there were nearly 1,000 Jews living atop this fortress. The Romans, under the leadership of General Flavius Silva, began building an earthen ramp that would extend from the valley on the west side to the top of the fortress. The ramp was built on the western side because the elevation there was much less. The ramp that was built can still be seen today. The final and successful Roman assault on Masada occurred in CE 73. What the Romans found when they poured over the top of cliffs is not what they expected to find. What we know about what happened comes only from the 1st century Jewish historian, Josephus. When the Romans took the fortress, they found only two women and 5 children alive. Almost 960 people had committed suicide. (At Masada – part of the movie set from the movie starring Peter O’Toole could still be seen at the base of the mesa.)

Leaving Masada, we were off to Qumran. Prior to visiting the ruins of Qumran – we had lunch! You guessed it falafel or chicken snitzel. Some chose salad instead.

Our tour of the ruins of Qumran began with a film that gave us a visual history of Qumran and the discovery that was found there. In 1947, two Bedouin shepherds discovered the first 7 scrolls. They were trying to find some stray goats, and thinking they may have entered a cave, they tossed some rocks into one cave hoping to scare the goats out. What they heard was the breaking of pottery. More than 825 scrolls and more than 100,000 scroll fragments were found in 11 caves total. We saw the cave where the shepherds discovered the 7 scrolls. We also walked through the remains of the community that existed  during the time of Christ. However, none of the Scrolls refer to Christ nor any of his followers. The discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls provides manuscripts that are at least 1,000 years older than the Masoretic text which was compiled in 916 CE as the Hebrew scriptures. We saw a copy of the one of the Dead Sea Scrolls. The originals are in the Shrine of the Book in Jerusalem.

Leaving Qumran we traveled to a beach on the Dead Sea. Along the way, Peter pointed out Mount Nebo. According to ancient tradition, this is the mountain from which Moses saw the Promised Land before he died. Since we were traveling in “the promised land” – it was interesting to see the Dead Sea and barren land around the bus. Peter said, “Perhaps he could see the Mediterranean Sea in the distance” (50-70 miles away). 

At the beach, 5 individuals decided to go for a swim. The Dead Sea is the lowest place on the face of the earth. It is 30% salt, thus making it 8.3 times as salty as the ocean. Swimming in the Dead Sea – one is able to float without even trying! The mud is used for beauty treatments. Several put mud on them. We’ll see what happens! J Once the swimmers had showered and changed clothes, we were off to Jericho.

Jericho is also known as Tell es-Sultan. The “city of palms” spreads out on the west side of the Jordan River at 825 feet below sea level. Based on archeological finds, archaeologists have claimed that Jericho is the “oldest city in the world.” During our visit to Jericho, we visited a local gift shop which sold blown glass and dates. The blown glass was quite durable as we saw a salesman bang two glasses together. The dates were wonderful!! We also tried sycamore nuts. Leaving Jericho proper, Peter pointed out the location of what might have been the Old Testament Jericho. We heard the story of the temptations of Jesus read as we drove to a spot where we could see the Mount of Temptation in the distance. On this site tradition says that Jesus spent forty days and forty nights fasting and meditating during the temptation of Satan. A Greek Orthodox monastery is on the site. We were on our way to see a sycamore tree in Jericho commemorating the story of Jesus and Zaccheus. Due to a Muslim festival in town – the road was blocked so we moved on and made our way back to the hotel for the evening.

Back at the hotel – we bid farewell to Joseph – our bus driver on our pilgrimage.

Shalom!