Yes, that is what the Dead Sea is . . . . deader than a doornail. And that is where we ended up our day at a beautiful hotel right on its shores. But first, how'd we get here after waking up for our last morning in Tiberias.
From there we drove for another hour plus to get to Jericho, most famous as the place where Joshua's army marched around the walled city thirteen times blowing trumpets until the walls came a' tumblin' down. Today's Jericho is officially a Palestinian authorized site in the West Bank, and frankly not as well tended as the other cities we were in. Their main industry is, not surprisingly, tourism and the tour buses were lined entering and leaving.
Of note on the way in was a very large (and obviously old) Sycamore tree that, tradition holds, is the vantage point of Zaccheus who wanted to catch a glimpse of Jesus as he entered the city. One never knows for sure, of course, but hearing the story of this tax collector gone good (Jesus went to his house for dinner) was heartwarming, and one I hadn't heard since Bible School as a kid.
From there was the obligatory stop at the "glass factory" on the way out of town. We were hustled off the bust, given the 30-second commercial about the wonders of their ware, and then given 20 minutes to wander around. Cheryl found some nice gifts (and I can't say for who, except granddaughter Chloe might be on that list). We quickly returned to the bus - guide Itai is pretty strict about his time increments - and off to lunch.
Lunch was at Al-Rawda Restaurant and a welcome respite in a mini-oasis setting. It began with a plethora of vegetables and "sauces" (e.g, hummus) and bread, with the main course being a kebab and chicken with French fries. Great food.
Back on the bus for the afternoon attraction - Masada. To get there, we rolled by miles and miles of the Dead Sea which is much larger than the Sea of Galilee. Masada is an ancient fortress in southern Israel’s Judean Desert, built by Herod the Builder on a massive plateau overlooking the Dead Sea. A cable car and a long, winding path climb up to the fortifications, built around 30 B.C. Among the ruins are King Herod's Palace, which sprawls over 3 rock terraces, and a Roman-style bathhouse with mosaic floors.
The last of the Jewish Zealots escaped there after the Roman's systematic destruction of Jerusalem and all the villages in their path following their uprising in 68 AD. By 73 AD, the 960 Jews living at the top had run out of time as the Romans had built a ramp up the back side of the mountain after laying siege to it for years. On the last night before entering the city, they paused for the night before the final attack in the morning.
During this pause, the Jewish leadership made a passionate plea to the remaining 960 people that they'd be better off dying than become Roman slaves and so they systematically killed themselves leaving only a handful of women and children for when the Romans entered the following morning.
Itai, our guide and himself a former paratrooper in the Israeli army, told us that the last step in the training of Israeli soldiers is a march to Masada where they are given the oath of loyalty to Israel. He surmises that the message of doing it here is to ensure an understanding that Israel will never again allow itself to be cornered and with options of only surrender or die. Powerful stuff when you think about it.
Although we had a small snafu with a few people finding their way back down from the heights via cable car, we reassembled on the bus and had a short ride to our hotel on the Dead Sea. We're told that the Dead Sea (which has no outlet) is 33% salt, and that you can easily float on it. We saw from the bus what looked to be chunks of ice floating in it but they're actually salt concentrations - ick!
Only one night in this hotel and then, tomorrow, we're off to Bethlehem and, among other things, the Church of the Nativity. More tomorrow as our adventure continues!
A 90-minute drive from there to Jericho happened first, with our first stop on that drive being at Yardenit on the Jordan River where the faithful gather to be baptized. We got to this particular spot (I'm guessing there are others) at 8:00 a.m. just as the doors opened, and the crowds were already starting to swell. The Jordan River supplies the Sea of Galilee on its north end where all the good fishing is, and empties from it at its south end on its trek toward the Dead Sea.
At this place are apparently regular baptisms, and thankfully no signage that said "John the Baptist was here!", but they were selling bottles of water clearly marked "from the Jordan River" as a substitute. And, apparently you can line up a professional dunking ceremony based on the many large pictures of the faithful doing just that. Time didn't allow for this on our trip so it was off the bus, take a quick look around, exit through the gift shop (of course) and back on the bus.From there we drove for another hour plus to get to Jericho, most famous as the place where Joshua's army marched around the walled city thirteen times blowing trumpets until the walls came a' tumblin' down. Today's Jericho is officially a Palestinian authorized site in the West Bank, and frankly not as well tended as the other cities we were in. Their main industry is, not surprisingly, tourism and the tour buses were lined entering and leaving.
Of note on the way in was a very large (and obviously old) Sycamore tree that, tradition holds, is the vantage point of Zaccheus who wanted to catch a glimpse of Jesus as he entered the city. One never knows for sure, of course, but hearing the story of this tax collector gone good (Jesus went to his house for dinner) was heartwarming, and one I hadn't heard since Bible School as a kid.
Our first stop in Jericho was for Mass at the Franciscan Church of Jericho, and shared our space with a tour group from Buffalo. For me it was fun talking football with them and they were definitely irritated that the Buffalo Bills had lost to the Bengals last week, but they were happy to share in the Mass with us and a wonderful one (as all on this trip have been) it was. Father Schalk shared a little of his goals for this pilgrimage and darned if it didn't make all of us feel that much closer to him.
Lunch was at Al-Rawda Restaurant and a welcome respite in a mini-oasis setting. It began with a plethora of vegetables and "sauces" (e.g, hummus) and bread, with the main course being a kebab and chicken with French fries. Great food.
Back on the bus for the afternoon attraction - Masada. To get there, we rolled by miles and miles of the Dead Sea which is much larger than the Sea of Galilee. Masada is an ancient fortress in southern Israel’s Judean Desert, built by Herod the Builder on a massive plateau overlooking the Dead Sea. A cable car and a long, winding path climb up to the fortifications, built around 30 B.C. Among the ruins are King Herod's Palace, which sprawls over 3 rock terraces, and a Roman-style bathhouse with mosaic floors.The last of the Jewish Zealots escaped there after the Roman's systematic destruction of Jerusalem and all the villages in their path following their uprising in 68 AD. By 73 AD, the 960 Jews living at the top had run out of time as the Romans had built a ramp up the back side of the mountain after laying siege to it for years. On the last night before entering the city, they paused for the night before the final attack in the morning.
During this pause, the Jewish leadership made a passionate plea to the remaining 960 people that they'd be better off dying than become Roman slaves and so they systematically killed themselves leaving only a handful of women and children for when the Romans entered the following morning.
Itai, our guide and himself a former paratrooper in the Israeli army, told us that the last step in the training of Israeli soldiers is a march to Masada where they are given the oath of loyalty to Israel. He surmises that the message of doing it here is to ensure an understanding that Israel will never again allow itself to be cornered and with options of only surrender or die. Powerful stuff when you think about it.
Although we had a small snafu with a few people finding their way back down from the heights via cable car, we reassembled on the bus and had a short ride to our hotel on the Dead Sea. We're told that the Dead Sea (which has no outlet) is 33% salt, and that you can easily float on it. We saw from the bus what looked to be chunks of ice floating in it but they're actually salt concentrations - ick!
Only one night in this hotel and then, tomorrow, we're off to Bethlehem and, among other things, the Church of the Nativity. More tomorrow as our adventure continues!
You didn't get to jump in the Dead Sea!? It's awesome and totally surreal. Also, Masada is amazing too. We hiked up it early in the morning so we could see the sunrise from there. I didn't know that is where the Israeli soldiers have to give their oaths of loyalty. Pretty cool!
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