Day 5, Wednesday, March 7, 2018 - Masada and Qumran
Fortunately we are accustomed to getting up early as our suitcases needed to be outside our room by 7am for an 8am departure.
We headed east out of Jerusalem into the West Bank, past the security wall separating the West Bank from Israel. There was a lot of construction of apartment buildings for the growing Palestinian population. There is some concern that the same Israeli building standards are not being followed and an earthquake could be catastrophic to poorly constructed concrete buildings.
We soon entered the Judean desert, steep rolling hills with a small amount of green vegetation. Our guide said that in another month this would be all brown, similar to Southern California after the winter. We descended deeply into the valley of the Dead Sea, turning south along the Dead Sea. The topology of the Dead Sea is very similar to Death Valley, with mountains on both sides that are separating and lifting up, leaving a low plain in between. There are also "badlands", similar to those in South Dakota.
The Dead Sea has been shrinking dramatically due to excessive water being withdrawn from the Jordan River by both Israel and Jordan. A resort along the road that used to border the Dead Sea is now 1km away. A road had to be in to shuttle visitors to the current bank as a result of a 30' drop in water level over the past 40 years.
It is exceptionally dry with only 2-3" of rain a year. There is no natural vegetation although irrigation has allowed agriculture in this area. One of the largest crops is date palms and we passed large groves of the palm trees. There were also other green crops growing under cheesecloth (?) hoops although we couldn't tell what was growing.
Not surprisingly, drawing large amounts of water is lowering the level of the aquifer. The geology is largely dolomite limestone and this is resulting in large sinkholes. We passed a relatively new bridge that had to be abandoned because the end of the bridge disappeared into the sink hole and the road had to be re-routed around. There are warning signs along the road warning people not to fall into the holes, numerous small craters that we could see and areas where the ground appeared to be cracking.
After about two hours traveling along a winding road, we came to the Masada Visitor Center. Ambitious visitors can hike up a steep winding path up to the top - we took the cable car. Masada is effectively a butte, an isolated plateau with steep sides, making it ideal for defense. Herod the Great, 37-4BCE had an elaborate fortress/palace constructed at the top and several levels below. Abandoned after Herod's death, it was occupied by Jewish zealots who had escaped the Romans from Jerusalem. The Romans laid siege to for 7 months and when they were about to breach the wall, the leader of the Jews gave a speech that they would rather die than become slaves to the Romans. Each man was responsible for killing his family and then the surviving men drew lots as to the order they would kill each other. When the Romans entered, virtually everyone was dead except two women who had hidden and survived. This was documented in detail at the time by the Roman historian Josephus Flavius. (Although his account is widely believed, some historians aren't convinced as to its accuracy.)
After lunch at the Visitor Center (delicious Mediterranean cuisine again), we headed back north to Qumran where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found. The Essenes sect of Judaism founded a settlement in Qumran. The were ascetics and lived in community. Someone wanting to join had to work with them for two years before being accepted and had to to be willing to give all their wealth to the community. In the 1st century AD, they were busy transcribing scrolls of the Old Testament which were hidden in jars in caves. The Essenes were scattered by the Romans in 68AD and the scrolls were accidentally discovered by Bedouins in 1947. The scrolls contained the oldest copies of the Old Testament, including the entire book of Isaiah and portions containing the 10 commandments. They have all been translated and are available online. The excavations have exposed the water cisterns, aqueducts for collecting water, kiln, pottery workshop and other buildings. You can see the original plaster water-proofing on the sides of the 2000 year old cisterns.
From there we headed north to the Sea of Galilee, about a 3 hour drive. As we moved further north, the vegetation became more like Southern California with Oleander shrubs,some trees and grasses growing along the road. There is considerable agriculture as we passed groves of date palms, citrus and bananas. The soil was a rich black color although without irrigation, not much would be growing.
We crossed over the Jordan River which couldn't have been more than 20' across. We stopped for a "bio" break at a rest area where there was a destroyed Jordanian tank painted in bright colors.
Eventually we arrived at the Kibutz-hotel Ein Gev on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. Our accommodation is like a small cottage with a full kitchen and a separate bedroom. The first thing I did was check out the temperature of the water (tolerable) and then put on my bathing suit to go swimming before dark. The water is very shallow and exceptionally clear. I swam out several hundred feet and the water was only up to my chest. From the water I could see the lights of the city of Tiberias. A truly amazing experience. A UCC minister traveling with us offered to do baptisms (just kidding!)
We are just below the Golan Heights which used to be Syrian territory and we are only about an hour from Damascus, not that one could or would want to travel there.
We headed east out of Jerusalem into the West Bank, past the security wall separating the West Bank from Israel. There was a lot of construction of apartment buildings for the growing Palestinian population. There is some concern that the same Israeli building standards are not being followed and an earthquake could be catastrophic to poorly constructed concrete buildings.
We soon entered the Judean desert, steep rolling hills with a small amount of green vegetation. Our guide said that in another month this would be all brown, similar to Southern California after the winter. We descended deeply into the valley of the Dead Sea, turning south along the Dead Sea. The topology of the Dead Sea is very similar to Death Valley, with mountains on both sides that are separating and lifting up, leaving a low plain in between. There are also "badlands", similar to those in South Dakota.
The Dead Sea has been shrinking dramatically due to excessive water being withdrawn from the Jordan River by both Israel and Jordan. A resort along the road that used to border the Dead Sea is now 1km away. A road had to be in to shuttle visitors to the current bank as a result of a 30' drop in water level over the past 40 years.
It is exceptionally dry with only 2-3" of rain a year. There is no natural vegetation although irrigation has allowed agriculture in this area. One of the largest crops is date palms and we passed large groves of the palm trees. There were also other green crops growing under cheesecloth (?) hoops although we couldn't tell what was growing.
Not surprisingly, drawing large amounts of water is lowering the level of the aquifer. The geology is largely dolomite limestone and this is resulting in large sinkholes. We passed a relatively new bridge that had to be abandoned because the end of the bridge disappeared into the sink hole and the road had to be re-routed around. There are warning signs along the road warning people not to fall into the holes, numerous small craters that we could see and areas where the ground appeared to be cracking.
After about two hours traveling along a winding road, we came to the Masada Visitor Center. Ambitious visitors can hike up a steep winding path up to the top - we took the cable car. Masada is effectively a butte, an isolated plateau with steep sides, making it ideal for defense. Herod the Great, 37-4BCE had an elaborate fortress/palace constructed at the top and several levels below. Abandoned after Herod's death, it was occupied by Jewish zealots who had escaped the Romans from Jerusalem. The Romans laid siege to for 7 months and when they were about to breach the wall, the leader of the Jews gave a speech that they would rather die than become slaves to the Romans. Each man was responsible for killing his family and then the surviving men drew lots as to the order they would kill each other. When the Romans entered, virtually everyone was dead except two women who had hidden and survived. This was documented in detail at the time by the Roman historian Josephus Flavius. (Although his account is widely believed, some historians aren't convinced as to its accuracy.)
After lunch at the Visitor Center (delicious Mediterranean cuisine again), we headed back north to Qumran where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found. The Essenes sect of Judaism founded a settlement in Qumran. The were ascetics and lived in community. Someone wanting to join had to work with them for two years before being accepted and had to to be willing to give all their wealth to the community. In the 1st century AD, they were busy transcribing scrolls of the Old Testament which were hidden in jars in caves. The Essenes were scattered by the Romans in 68AD and the scrolls were accidentally discovered by Bedouins in 1947. The scrolls contained the oldest copies of the Old Testament, including the entire book of Isaiah and portions containing the 10 commandments. They have all been translated and are available online. The excavations have exposed the water cisterns, aqueducts for collecting water, kiln, pottery workshop and other buildings. You can see the original plaster water-proofing on the sides of the 2000 year old cisterns.
From there we headed north to the Sea of Galilee, about a 3 hour drive. As we moved further north, the vegetation became more like Southern California with Oleander shrubs,some trees and grasses growing along the road. There is considerable agriculture as we passed groves of date palms, citrus and bananas. The soil was a rich black color although without irrigation, not much would be growing.
We crossed over the Jordan River which couldn't have been more than 20' across. We stopped for a "bio" break at a rest area where there was a destroyed Jordanian tank painted in bright colors.
Eventually we arrived at the Kibutz-hotel Ein Gev on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. Our accommodation is like a small cottage with a full kitchen and a separate bedroom. The first thing I did was check out the temperature of the water (tolerable) and then put on my bathing suit to go swimming before dark. The water is very shallow and exceptionally clear. I swam out several hundred feet and the water was only up to my chest. From the water I could see the lights of the city of Tiberias. A truly amazing experience. A UCC minister traveling with us offered to do baptisms (just kidding!)
We are just below the Golan Heights which used to be Syrian territory and we are only about an hour from Damascus, not that one could or would want to travel there.
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| Jordanian Tank |
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| Model of Herod's fortress at Masada |
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| Roman siege ramp at Masada and desolate countryside |
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| Cave at Qumran where some Dead Sea scrolls were found |
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| Wall painting from Herod's fortress at Masada |
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