Wednesday, March 2nd

At Sea Level in the Wilderness

Date Palm Grove at Dead Sea

Dead Sea and Mountains at Avaha Stop

Rugged Terrain in the Wilderness

Model of Masada

On the Cable Car to the Fortress Masada

Fresco Remains in a Room

Among the Ruins with Dead Sea in the Background

Roman Encampment

Steam Room Floor Raised with Air Channels

Herod's Terraced Palace Complex

Group Seated in Masada Synagogue

Roman Made Ramp to West Wall of Masada

View to Neighboring Mountain

Mosaic on Bath Floor

Qumran Caves

Qumran Caves

Floating in Dead Sea

After leaving at 8:15 am, we drove north toward Jerusalem, but did not drive into the city.  Instead we bypassed the city and connected with the road taking us toward route 90 which runs south along the Dead Sea.  After leaving the Jerusalem area, we entered into the wilderness area where the terrain changed dramatically to a rugged, dry, very hilly land with the road dropping in altitude from roughly 2,000 ft to 1,500 ft below sea level at the Dead Sea and doing this within 17 miles.  At the sea level mark on the highway, we turned off to take pictures and be greeted by another “photo op camel.”  Once we reached the Dead Sea,  we drove south on the west side.  The east side of the Sea is in Jordan and is mountainous, as is the west side.  We stopped briefly at Ahava factory (Dead Sea minerals cosmetic factory) which gave me an opportunity to take pictures of the gorgeous scenery – turquoise-blue Sea, brown mountains dropping to the sea, and white salt deposits along the shore. 

After a 20 minute drive, we arrived at Masada (also this reference), which was the last stronghold of Jewish freedom fighters against the Romans in 73 CE.  Originally a fortress, it was constructed on the site by king Alexander Janaeus a Hasmonean king (103-76 BCE).  The fortress site is on top of the mountain and is a sea level with a commanding very of the Jordan valley and the Dead Sea.  Herod the Great, who was King of Judea from 37 BCE to 4 CE, knew of the strategic advantages of Masada and chose it as a refuge site from his enemies and for the construction of a winter palace.  During his reign, he constructed luxurious winter palace with large store houses, cisterns, and a casement wall.  During his travels, his family lived there under protection by mercenary guards.  After the Great Revolt against Rome broke out in 66 CE, the Sicarii occupied Masada and the rebel community was commanded by Eleazar Ben Yair.  During 73 CE, it became the last stronghold of Judea in the revolt against Roman and was laid siege by Flavious Silva and a force of 10,000 Roman soldiers.  They built 8 encampments  about the mountain base, a siege wall, and a earthen ramp to the west of Masada.  Once the ramp was built, a tower with a battering ram was moved into position and the large wood gates were set on fire.  The walls were breeched and the Romans retreated for the night.  Eleazar Ben Yair persuaded the remaining Jewish rebels to kill their wives and children and then each other so that when the Romans entered the city the next day, there were no survivors.  The account of the entire siege and conquest was recorded by Josephus Flavis in his writings, The Jewish Wars. 

We rode a cable car to the top of the mountain and spent considerable time visiting the various partially reconstructed structures on Masada.  The reconstruction put back into place many walls that had crumbled and placed a wide black line on all buildings to show the original heights of the ruins before reconstruction.  Several building contained original wall fresco fragments.  All the walls, both interior and exterior, were heavily plastered so that no rocks showed during Herod’s time.  All buildings would have appeared to be made of large stone blocks and the interiors lavishly painted.  There were heated baths, many storehouses for food and weapons, an outdoor pool, a rookery for doves, and terraced rooms on the mountainside.  An elaborate aqueduct system was devised to deliver rainwater from nearby mountains to the fortress.  Zvi pointed out the area where archeologists found the woven fabric containing the tekhelet (blue dye) that he identified.  From the mountain top we had great views of the Roman encampments, the ramp, and the Dead Sea.  The ballistic stone balls used by the Romans during their assault of the fortress were present in the large plaza.  The weather was absolutely perfect to explore the historic site with the temperature in the upper 60’s and a clear deep blue sky.  Visibility was superb.

Following our visit to Masada, we drove north to the Qumran community archeological site that overlooked the Dead Sea.  This area was occupied from 158 BCE to 68 CE by an ascetic religious group often identified as the Essenes (see reference).  According to them, the arrival of the Jewish Messiah was imminent and they were preparing for the event through fasting and ritual bathing.  They believed they knew the proper protocol for worshiping God and would be in charge of Temple worship when the Messiah arrived.  During the Jewish revolt, the Romans scattered them and their activities ceased.  Not until a shepherd discovered the clay jars containing religious scrolls, did modern scholars know much about this group.  These Dead Sea Scrolls numbered several thousand and contained copies of known and unknown ancient religious writings, some of which are on display in the Shrine of the Book, which we had visited on Sunday.   We visited the site of the remains of the religious community and saw the caves where the scrolls were found.  All together, scrolls were found in 14 different caves and their preservation for over 2,000 years is a result of the very arid climate of the area and being located in caves on the sheer cliffs.

We had a very late lunch/early dinner at the Qumran center before proceeding to the Dead Sea seashore to give the opportunity for people to flow in the Dead Sea.  Our return trip to Tel Aviv retraced our morning trip and we arrived back at the hotel around 7:30 pm.