Saturday: Masada and Qumram

Today was our last day long excursion.

Masada (which means "Fortress") sits on the southern edge of the Dead Sea. It was developed by Herod the Great as a 5 star resort (for himself) and citadel. It was used later by refugees/rebels during the Jewish revolt of 66-70 AD and was the last hold out to fall. Rome's 10th legion besieged it for months before finally taking it by building a siege ramp on it's eastern side. [Our site, Ramat Rahel, has evidence of the 10th legion living here.] Monks in the 3rd-5th centuries built a monastery there before it fell into disuse and near oblivion until rediscovered in the modern era.

Photo 1: Masada seen from the west. If you look really really closely you can just make out the northern 3 step tier of Herod's palace complex on the right edge of the bluff.

Photo 2: An obligatory photo of tourist at top of Masada, with Dead Sea behind. If you look really really closely you can see her skin burning...

Photo 3: One of the many (8?) cisterns built at Masada to collect rain water...the local water source not being conducive to drinking. Yes, those are people walking around in the bottom and the photo was taken about halfway down the stairs.

Photo 4: the sub-flooring in Herod's sauna so he could heat the room - exactly why he found this necessary or desirable when it's often over 100' F. at Masada escapes me.

We also spent some time floating in the Dead Sea - a truly weird experience. (Sorry, no photos of weird tourist in water.) Fortunately it was not an exceptionally hot day - only 40' ... centigrade [normal body temperature is 37' C.] It is 1,385 feet below Sea level - the lowest place on earth not under the ocean floor. Jerusalem is about 2570 feet above Sea level and is about 13 miles from the Dead Sea. Jericho is on the northern edge of the Dead Sea so a walk from Jericho to Jerusalem is a steep climb.

Our last stop was Qumran, known for its catch of biblical scrolls, dating to 200-100 BCE. This is nearly a 1,000 years earlier than our other 'oldest' Hebrew texts. It's also where people purchase Ahava skin products made from Dead Sea salts.