Today was moving on day – from Jerusalem to Tiberias where we were to spend the rest of the time in Israel. After checking out, our journey took us along the famous Jerusalem to Jericho road. We saw Israeli settlements and Bedouin villages – but were amazed that anyone could live in such a bleak and hostile desert landscape.
Our first stop was to be Qumran. It was here that, in 1947, the Dead Sea scrolls were found. These amazingly preserved documents date from around the time of Christ and contain some of the Hebrew scriptures – information about worship in the Temple at the time – and details of how the community of Essenes who kept the records lived. They were a very strict and secretive Jewish sect who observed rigid laws concerning purity. They created a complex water-system which was vital in an area with such low rainfall - about 400ml a year (about the same amount as a small can of drink). They dug out cisterns that collected water from flash floods caused by rainfall much further west which percolated through the rocks and emerged in the hills around Qumran which are below sea level. The water was channelled through aqueducts into baths which were used for ritual baths at least twice a day. The Essenes seem also to have been very learned. It appears that, once they heard about the devastation of the Jewish Temple and the deportation of Jews, they realised that they needed to protect their precious writings and sealed them in jars and hid them in a cave.
Here they lay, forgotten, until 2000 years later, a Bedouin shepherd boy happened to throw a stone and was intrigued by the unusual sound it made... His stone had hit a jar containing writing he and his family did not understand but which were to become among the most valuable antiquities in the world and would help people to understand life at the time of Jesus. The whole area speaks of a community living in isolation in the wilderness but able to make and preserve beautiful things that speak to us across the centuries.Our next stop was Masada, the hilltop palace and fortress built by Herod the Great. In his time, it was a lavish palace complete with Roman-style bath-house, frescoes and mosaics. It overlooks the Dead Sea and is not only impressive but would have been pretty impregnable – until the Romans came along that is... The Dead Sea is the lowest place on earth (420m below sea level). Herod’s fortress is on a mountaintop over 800m above sea level. Today, you can access it as we did by cable car but some people still take the ancient Snake Path which does just what it says – snakes up the mountainside towards the entrance gate. We looked down and saw people walking up – and admired their stamina as it was already very hot and it is a very long way. It gave us a very good idea of what faced any attacker – by the time you got to the top you would be too exhausted to fight. The ruins sh0w the size and luxury of Masada – with Roman-style bathrooms and frescos - and large storerooms. Archaeologists even found a sealed container of wine that came from Italy... after 2000 years it was undrinkable - but showed how wealthy Herod was to import huge containers of wine from so far aftield.
Masada is also the location of a famous Story from ancient times. After the second uprising, the Jews in Jerusalem and the wider area were being killed or deported. Some seem to have passed the Essene Community and told them of what was happening and about 900 Jews made their way to the stronghold at Masada. Although they hated Herod's liking for all things Roman, they found his architecture and the strength of the defences of his palace very useful in what was to become a kind of last stand.
The Story goes that the Jews held out against the seige the Romans laid around the walls of the citadel. No Jew could get in or out - but there were the vast stores and cisterns Herod had had built years before... but they couldn't last forever. The Romans also had another trick up their sleeves. As well as building camps and walls around the mountain they also built a ramp - on the western side which wasn't as high as the side facing the Dead Sea. You can see the remains of some of the camps in this picture.When this was completed, they broke through the gate and then - as the day was drawing to a close - decided that they would finish the attach the next day. The leaders of the Jewish "rebels" discussed what to do. The reputation of the Romans was well-known and they would be shown no mercy - they would probably be killed anyway and the families too - or be sold into slavery which would have been a living death for many of them. The solution that passed into tradition was that the men would kill their families and then draw lots to see who would kill nine of the ten leaders before killing himself. It is a horrible thing to feel that the only solution is to kill the people you love most in the world - but for Jewish people, to commit suicide is a terrible sin and the person would have been buried outside the community. Some shards of pot were found with names on and these are believed to have been the lots that were used. Recent archaeological work is showing that the Story is more complicated... as it often does! It seems that some skeletons thought to have been some of the Jews have been DNA tested and are of some of the attackers. In another room, there were found the skeletons of a man in armour, a woman and a child; the door into the room was covered in Roman arrows... which suggests that they were still alive when the Romans finally launched their attack. We may never know the full truth - but the site of Masada, high above the surrounding desert, is a magnificent testimony to architecture and building in the time around Jesus' walking the earth - and the courage of people fighting to maintain their way of life... even at the cost of their own lives.
Back to the cable cars for the journey down - and we realised again just how high we had gone! After a visit to the shop, we travelled to a cafe for lunch and then to the Dead Sea. This is a very salty and mineral filled lake... it tastes disgusting (if you happen to get some in your mouth) - smells awful - makes your eyes really sore if you get any water in them - and the water and mud are very good for you! You can sometimes see beauty products with "Dead Sea" mud in the ingredients and it has been shown to help in cases of skin complaints. The biggest claim to fame of the Dead Sea is the fact that you float in it. It is impossible to sink - totally impossible! Catherine had long wanted to test this out and so we - well, actually, Bilbo stayed in the safety of the coach (not fancying being dropped in!) - went down to the Sea. And it was true! It was the weirdest feeling - just getting into the water and sitting back on it - and floating... It was so easy to float that it was hard to get your feet to back to the bottom until you learned the technique. People had a great time - especially, resting on the water and reading a newspaper! (We wished we'd taken a copy of Portsmouth People to make a fun picture!) Some people even covered themselves in the black mud... it wasn't very flattering but probably did their skin a lot of good. It certainly seemed to fill the floaters full of energy and sense of fun!
Sadly, the sun was setting and it was time to move on to Tiberias where we were to spend three nights We watched the sun setting - and the almost full moon rising - and caught glimpses of the Sea of Galilee as we neared our hotel. Here, we had supper - and K cleared the final proofs of Portsmouth People so it could go to the printers on Thursday (we had WiFi which made life a lot easier). A little work on the blog and backing up photos - and then a night's sleep ready for our next day - a day exploring the countryside of Galilee and more of the places that Jesus walked during his earthly life.
(Note - we are now back safely - so watch this space for more on the visit and photos of the many places we were fortunate enough to get to).
(Photos: http://www.panoramio.com/user/793436)
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