I am a day late, and probably more than a dollar short. Last evening I purchased an internet access card from the hotel and hoped to post something on the blog after dinner. After getting to my room and booting up the netbook I had an almost impossible time logging into the internet with the hotel access codes. I did get on a couple of times but it was so slow in loading pages that often the network would kick me off line before the next page would load.
We get used to technology working as it should and it is extremely frustrating when it doesn't. But then I think about seeing history from the last 5,000 years and think to myself that maybe I should be a little more patient. This evening I tried another code and it seems to be working like it should so here we go.
After a relaxing evening Monday at the Dead Sea we left Tuesday morning for Masada, the fortress located on a mountain top 1300 feet above the Dead Sea. This fortress was built between 37 - 31 BCE (before current era - what we used to call BC, before Christ) by Herod the Great (see Caesarea blog on day 2.) It is a fantastic excavation showing amazing technology. For example, even though it rises 1300 feet above the valley, Masada had a water supply brought from Jerusalem via aqueducts. Since Jerusalem is higher than Masada, when it rains in Jerusalem the water runs downhill and is gather in aqueducts and delivered to the mountain where it first fills the ritual baths, the Roman baths and the excess stored in cisterns.
There is a new, short film outlining the history of Masada and then we took a cable car to the top of the mountain. Having visited here 12 years ago I was amazed at the scope of the additional excavations. You now get a good feel of the scope of the community that existed at the time of King Herod.
Of course Masada is most famous because of the 3 year seige which took place here. In 66 CE (or A.D) the Jews revolted against the Romans at Caesarea. Then in 68 CE the Romans destroyed Jerusalem and many of the Jews escaped to Masada. An estimated 4000 Roman soldies came to Masada and laid seige for 3 years. The Jews had 7 years of food and water stored so it took the Romans 3 years to build a ramp up to Masada and they used a battering ram to break down the walls.
Before the Romans could break down the walls the Jews made a decision to choose between certain slavehood to the Romans or to kill themselves. Since suicide is forbidden under Jewish law, the group of 960 Jews selected 10 of their members to administer the death, very similar to which they would sacrifice an animal, by slicing their throats. The the 10 chosen drew lots to see who would be the last one left to kill himself. A very gruesome story but a story of the depth of the belief of those who died.
A short drive from Masada is the desert oasis of En Gedi. Here a fresh water spring flows out of the mountains and forms several water falls and pools. En Gedi is mentioned several times in the Bible and was a place of refuge for David as he hid in the desert from Saul. Archeologists say the ruins in the area date from as early as 4000 b.c. and the oasis was once the site of a royal plantation and vineyard.
Our next stop in this history filled day was Qumeran (or Qumran). This is where between the years of 1947 and 1956 over 1000 scrolls have been discovered. Qumran was the home of a Jewish sect called the Essenes (pronounced A Seens) who spent their lives studying and copying the books of the Bible. After the Jewish revolt in Jerusalem in 66 a.d. the Romans came to this area next in 68 a.d. The Essenes hid their scrolls in pottery vessels in the many caves that dot the area.
Here in 1947 an illiterate Bedouin boy through a rock into a cave and heard it hit a jar rather than the rock. He found a vessel with a copy of a scroll and took a piece home to show his father. His father ended up showing it to an archeological authority who identified it was a portion of the book of Isiah. These scrolls have been the subject of many auctions and exhibits around the world and now they reside in the Museum of Irsael in Jerusalem.
As we journeyed up the Judean hills away from the Dead Sea we were surprised with a stop that was not on our itinerary. We visited a place called Genesis Land where we had a dinner under a tent with "Abraham" who told us about his life and journey to this land. We sampled traditional food while sitting on rugs on the floor. Sitting on the floor is not as easy for me as it was 30 years ago but everyone in the group enjoyed the experience. There were even a few more brave souls that road the camels back from dinner.
From the Judean hills it was a short drive into Jerusalem. This is always a very moving experience, especially when the guide puts on the CD of "Jerusalem, Jerusalem."
Another very full but educational day.
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