Israel Trip-Day 5

On Monday we checked out from our hotel on the Dead Sea and we visited Masada where we took the cable car up and down (no snake trail, thank you!).   The story of Masada is an amazing one and has become a story to promote modern Israeli patriotism.

 Herod, being the paranoid man that he was, had built a palace on Masada, a place immune to attack.  Below is a model of waht Herod's palace would have looked like during his time. 

Fastforward a few decades and the Romans were conquering Palestine but there were a few rebels who stood against them.  Many of the rebels went up to live on Masada.  In a show of their strength, the Romans decided to squelch any rebellion and they had Jewish slaves build a ramp up the side of Masada.  The Jews on Masada watched this for months, unwilling to attack the Jews building the ramp because they probably knew some of them from before their capture.  The Jews on Masada had a difficult future to face-when the Romans finally came up, they would ravage the women, enslave the children and many would lose their lives.  Soooo, the Jews on Masada decided to take the lives of their families and then kill each other (rabbinical law forbade suicide).  When the Romans came up, they found everyone (except 1) dead. 

Above is the area they kept pigeons and other birds for food.  They had plenty of food and water.
Below is the siege ramp that the Romans had built.  Many of the Roman camps are also visible from the top of Masada.

 Then we proceeded to En-Gedi where we enjoyed a waterfall (and a few of us hiked up to see a few more).  This is the area where David hid from King Saul when Saul was trying to kill him.  There are loads of caves and hiding spots here.  And it is beautiful!

 Then we visited Qumran where the Essenes livedand stored more than 800 scrolls in the surrounding caves. 

 And finally, we made our pilgrimage up to Jerusalem and got the first glimpse of the Old City from Mount Scopus. We checked in to our final hotel—the Dan Boutique which is on located on the southern bank of the Hinnom Valley and has a view of the southern walls of the Old City. Jerusalem’s weather was much more comfortable than the Galilee or the valley.