Into the Wilderness: Masada and Qumran
Above are a couple of views of the Sea of Galilee on the last morning. What a gorgeous sunrise! It was hard to depart such a lovely hotel and the Nazareth area. Really pretty countryside. I can see why people vacation here.
FROM THE TRAVEL GUIDE: We continue south alongside the Dead Sea to the historical Masada. Here we will embark on the cable car offering spectacular scenery to the summit. Enjoy a fascinating guided tour of Herod’s fortress and the Zealot’s last stand. The view across the Dead Sea 450 metres below is breathtaking.
This place isn't really biblical, but I love it anyway and insisted to the travel agent that we make a stop here on the way to Jerusalem.
Masada (1, on the far left of the panoramic) is the place where a group of Jewish Zealots lived during the terrible seige of the Jeruslaem by the Romans. They were sort of an ancient "doomsday cult" that were awaiting the coming of God at the End. They thought that the Temple was corrupt and were wanting to live more strictly the Law and their Faith. They lived atop Masada, a mountain stronghold, away from the corruption of the city. They were able to hold out against the Romans for three years. They were the last Jewish group to fall. Rather than give themselves up, they committed suicide. When the Romans finally arrived at the top, they found the place deserted and then discovered the bodies. They only found out what actually happened because one woman hid with a child and discovered alive. A very sad and powerful story. Hard to imagine that this lovely place has such a dark history.
I had been to Masada before, on my first pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 2009. Back then a terrible wind storm kicked up the dust and made it impossible to see anything but a greyish, reddish mess to the horizon. This day, thank God, we had blue skies and perfectly clear weather!
One of my dreams on that last pilgrimage was to climb to the summit of Masada. (One usually rides up by cable car.) I convinced our guide this time around that I could do the hike. It took me 30 minutes of strenuous climbing. Here is a shot along the way (2); the place reminds me of Arizona or Utah. Very dry and rocky. All stones and sand. The next couple of shots (3-4) were taken as I arrived at the top, just as the rest of the group arrived via cable car! It was such a nice coincidence to get there simultaneously. (To be fair, they viewed a 20 minute film about the place before ascending.)
Here is a lovely shot looking out from the top (5); it looked like something from Tatooine (Star Wars). You can see the Dead Sea in the distance. Here is a bird from the summit. A variation on our ravens with tan banding on ebony wings (7-8). Here I am with Mary (left) and her daughter Anastasia, good friends of mine. In this image (13), you can see the ramp made by the Romans 2,000 years ago. It took them three years to build, fighting off boulders and other attacks from the heights of the fortress. Impressive, most impressive!
FROM THE TRAVEL GUIDE: Soon our coach will pause to view the site of Qumran where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered in 1947 by a Bedouin shepherd boy.
Later we visit Jericho, the ‘City of Palms,’ said to be the oldest inhabited city in the world dating back to the first hunter-gatherers around 9000 BC. Across the valley we view the Mt of Temptation, where Christ was tempted by the devil during his 40 day fast. We also view the St George’s Monastery - a cliff hanging 5th century complex carved into a sheer rock wall and still occupied today.
The first five shots above are of the famous caves of Qumran where the Dead Sea Scrolls of the Bible were discovered. The last five images are from Jericho. Shots 6-7 are the mount of the first temptation (where Satan tempted the hungry Christ to turn rocks into bread). At the top is St. George's Monastery (you can see it in the shots of the mount, on the right; photo 8 is a closeup). This Bedouin (9) brought his camel over for rides, but no one was wanting one. I thought both camel and owner had the same relaxed spirit. They resembled each other, much like dogs and their owners in the States!
Finally, this poor sycamore tree is the famous tree which short-in-stature Zachaeus, the tax collector, climbed to get a view of Jesus as he passed by. They had to surround the tree with a fence as pilgrimages were taking branches and other bits of it for souvenirs! It was killing the tree! Hence the fence.
Next we reach Jerusalem!