Jericho to Masada, Ein Gedi, Qumran, and Dead Sea

January 6, 2019

Jericho to Masada, Ein Gedi, Qumran, and Dead Sea

After breakfast at the Oasis, we boarded our bus for the hour drive to Masada.   

Oasis Hotel

Dead Sea

Masada (Note three notches on right side)

We arrived at Masada (also this reference), which was the last stronghold of Jewish freedom fighters against the Romans in 73 CE.  Originally, the first fortress 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 450 m above sea level with a commanding very of the Jordan valley and the Dead Sea.  The plateau is approximately 650 m long and 300 m wide. 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 a luxurious winter palace with large store houses, cisterns, and a casement wall to assure it could stand attempts to place it under siege in case of a revolt against him.  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 Rome and was laid siege by Flavious Silva and a force of 10,000 Roman soldiers.  They built 8 encampments around the mountain base, a siege wall, and an earthen ramp to the west of Masada.  Once the ramp was built, a tower with a battering ram was moved into position to destroy the wall.  The rebels reinforced the large gates with wooden beams laid perpendicular to the gates.  They set fire to the battering ram structure, but a shifting wind blew the flames toward the wall and set the wooden beams on fire.  The walls were breached and the Romans retreated for the night to take the fortress in the morning.  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.  10 names were placed on pottery shards to determine by drawing who would kill the last 9 rebels and then commit suicide.  The shards were found in a 20th Century excavation.  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.   

Masada model

Arrived at 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 buildings 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, rookeries for doves, and terraced palace rooms on the north side of the mountain.  An elaborate aqueduct system was devised to deliver rainwater from nearby mountains to the cisterns carved into the side of the mountain.  From these, water was transported by donkey and humans to the large cistern within the fortress to provid water to the inhabitants.  From the mountain top we had great views of the Roman encampments, the ramp, and the Dead Sea.  The weather was very breezy, but perfect to explore the historic site.  We climbed down the northside to the lower palace terrace, with its plastered columns and frescoed walls.  We also descended the stone stairs to view the inside of the huge cistern.  

Three Terraces on North Side

Lower Terrace with Frescos

Climbing up from Lower Terrace

View of Middle Terrace from Above

Storage Rooms

Bath

Thermal Bath

A Storeroom

A Small Cistern

Model Depicting Water Management for Lower Cisterns

Ramp to West Gate

Descending into Large Cistern

Interior of Large Cistern

Climbing Out

 
From Masada, we drove about 20 minutes to Ein Gedi, a nature reserve.  Here we hiked into the Wadi David to enjoy this preserve on the eastern edge of the Judean desert.  Legend has it that David sought refuge in this Wadi when he was hiding from Saul.  The steep walls and narrowness of the wadi, create a protective year-round climate that produces flora and fauna unusual to this region of Israel.  After leaving the short paved section, we encounter the first waterfall.  Then the trail rises abruptly and after a short climb, we say the second waterfall, which was followed by a third higher up the trail.  The fourth waterfall, David’s Waterfall, is higher up the trail and has the highest waterfall of the four in this wadi.  We thought it was the prettiest and consisted of 3 falls surrounded by very lush vegetation.  We took a higher trail back, which gave beautiful views of the wadi and the Dead Sea. 

Lower Falls

Hiking to Upper Water Falls

Middle Falls

David Falls (Uppermost Falls)

View Back Toward Dead Sea

We then 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 hundred and contained copies of known and unknown ancient religious writings, some of which are on display in the Shrine of the Book, which we will visit next week.     We visited the site of the remains of the religious community and saw the caves where the scrolls were found.  Altogether, 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.

Ritual Bath

Initial Cave for Dead Sea Scrolls

Next we drove about 20 minutes to Kalia Beach, where everyone had a chance to float in the Dead Sea.  About 10 people accepted the challenge!   

Some of Our Group in the Dead Sea

It was windy, cloudy, and cool.  We chose not to attempt this.  At 5:00 pm, they announced the swimming area was closing and everyone had to leave.  We arrived back at the Oasis at 5:45 pm and scheduled our dinner for 6:30 pm.

Tomorrow we will drive north, make several stops before arriving at Kibbutz Ein Gev where we will stay for 3 night.