Masada, Qumran and the Dead Sea

I'm still on the Palestine of Jesus course. It's been intense, as most travelling-group-immersion courses are. Often at the end of the day we're so wiped out from all we have seen and reflected on that we have to read our itinerary to remember where we've been! The course instructors are all too happy to remind us that the course is usually 14-days long and ours is only 11...somehow this doesn't relieve our aching feet. It has however, made the idea of composing blog entries less appealing, hence the 5-day backlog.


We were given an 'optional' day on Saturday of heading to Masada, Qumran and the Dead Sea. I opted to go on this excursion and I'm so glad for it.

We descended over 4,000 feet from Jerusalem to the Dead Sea. Refugees have fled to the desert, hermits sought solitude, Herod built a (nearly) impenetrable palace and the Essenes dedicated themselves to religious devotion.

We started by heading to Masada. Masada was taken by Herod the Great following the murder of his father Antipater in 43BC. When forced to leave Jerusaelm in 40BC he took "his womenfolk" to Masada for security atop a 1,400 foot high mountain top. They stored food in large rooms, had elaborate ritual baths and hot rooms (like a sauna), a ballroom and it was all decorated with frescos and mosaics. After the Jews rebelled against Rome in 66 and Jerusalem was destroyed, Jewish rebels took refuge at Masada. According to survivors who relayed the story to 1st century historian Flavius Josephus, when Romans reached Masada, rebel leader Elazar Ben-Yair reminded the refugee community of their resolve neither to serve Rome nor any other God. They commited suicide. The men drew lots to choose who would kill the others--the Romans found hundreds of corpses.

The view from atop the ruins were stunning and the mere thought of people building a fortress atop of mountain in the middle of the desert was astounding.

Next, we had lunch at Qumran. We were given an hour to eat in the cafeteria and have a tour around the gift shop. Both of these were packed with tourists. The caves and ruines overlooking the Dead Sea...basically deserted, save us. Unbelievable!

My guide book says the remains "are not especially impressive." Sure, there are more ritual baths to see, dining rooms and a cold room. But knowing the Dead Sea scrolls were found in the caves in front of us was pretty spectacular.

A hot day in the desert, we then cooled off with a float in the Dead Sea. What I gathered from most course participants was the disenchantment...while glad to have experienced the Sea, they almost verge on disgust at the idea of ever repeating it. With the exception of getting some splashes of water in my mouth and eye (with contract lenses in---you don't know the pain!), I thought the hour was delightful. Nothing like feeling weightless or giving yourself a free, full-body exfoliation after weeks of walking stones.

What I was surprised about was how many people were at the "beach." And it was literally a public beach. Being there on Saturday, the beach and shore were filled. Most of us had imagined just our group, floating off shore on our own. Shocking to learn, the shore of the Dead Sea is shrinking at an alarming 1m per year, landing it on UNESCO's protection watch list.

** Pictures...are from the drive to Masada and from atop Masada. My pictures from Qumran and the Dead Sea float are to come but I've had some incredible trouble with my camera lately **

This one to the right is cool - it's literally of the cubbies that the carrier pigeons/doves lived in. Which cubby they lived in depended on where they were sent.