Day 3, Sunday, January 12, 2014
Masada
Masada means stronghold in Hebrew (metzuda). 26 miles (1 days walk) east of Arad is a mountain topped by a 20 acre plateau. It is isolated from the surrounding mountains and is an imposing location overlooking the Dead Sea. You can hike about 45 minutes up the stone stairs and ramps cut in the side of the mountain, or you can take a cable car. I took the cable car! The settlement here began as an army camp but King Herod built 3 palaces here and the headquarters for his international trade operation as well as a fortress to impose his dominion over the land and the trade routes from which he quickly ascended to the heights of power.
Here is our group hiking up. See if you can spot Terry....
Once inside, you see pieces of the frescos that lined the walls. This was quite a palace!
Standing inside one of the rooms listeneing to our awesome guide, Ronen, tell us all about King Herod and Masada. As Ronen says, "it's good to be King"!
One of 30 huge storerooms. The size of this place is amazing.
Herod built three palaces on the north end of the mountain overlooking the Dead Sea and the Mountains of Moab. Shown in a model here.
The view from one of the palace terraces below. Notice the remnants of the 10,000 Roman soldiers' encampment (the square in the center of the pic) that began in 67AD and ended with the fall of Masada in 73 AD. There are 7 other camps like this surrounding the mountain.
Looking across the buildings on the north end.
Looking down I wondered if this was in Lord of the Rings. No, I. Guess that was in Scotland but it's a similar feeling!
Our group of about 60 in a meeting room with benches. They must have had some pretty large meetings!
En Gedi
A beautiful oasis fed by 4 springs. David hid from Saul in the caves here. It was refreshing sitting here meditating on the Psalms of David. I can only imagine how it must be during the heat of summer in the desert.
"O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water." Ps 63:1
"As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you O God. My soul thirsts for the living God.". Psalm 42:1-2
Ibex is the national animal of Israel. We saw several here.
Driving along the highway close to Qumran we began to see groves of date palms. Israel is known for them and they manufacture date honey and serve it everywhere. It is a delicious Israeli treat. Many think that when the bible talks about honey, it means date honey. That seems likely.
Qumran
We ate lunch at a restaurant in Qumran. We had schnitzel in pita with French fries. Practically the United Nations of sandwiches!
The signs outside might have been a clue.
In 1947, some bedouins found a large number of parchment scrolls hidden in clay pots inside caves at Qumran. These scrolls gave us the earliest copies of the Old Testament by 800-1000 years and contained large segments of every book except Esther. The caves today are visible on the sides of the cliffs.
We climbed up and around a little but this guy was getting ready to climb the face and repel down. This gives a little perspective to the size of the cliffs!
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