Trips

 

Thurs., 2/2/23 - Masada and the Dead Sea

Today's main visit was to the extraordinary site of Masada. It has become one of the Jewish people’s greatest symbols as the place where the last Jewish stronghold against Roman invasion stood. 

On our way to Masada, we stopped to have our picture taken at a sign: “The Lowest Place on Earth.” It is 1,348 feet below sea level.
We also passed Qumran, where the Dead Sea scrolls were found in a cave in 1947.

Bedouin camps	Qumran Area - where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found
Dead Sea (background-dark) - Farming operation (foreground-white plastic covering the crops)	Dead Sea
	Judean Desert near Masada
Masada is a fortified plateau built in the 1st or 2nd century, BCE, and then enlarged and reinforced by Herod who added two large palaces to the site. Jews of the Zealot sect captured it during the First Revolt in CE 66. They refused to submit to the Roman army who sieged the plateau for two years before building a ramp up the steep cliff-side to attack the fortress. The Jewish rebels chose mass suicide instead of submission, and 10 men drew straws to kill each other after killing their families and all but one man - the last straw - died. (There, of course, is some question about this story,) We rode the large cable car up to the top and walked with Ilan and our group as he pointed out the black paint line on the walls. Below the line was original wall and above it was reconstruction. A lot of the ruins remain and Josephus described the site as Herod had built it making reconstruction more accurate. We saw a quarry of limestone so building blocks did not have to be hauled up the hill. We walked through parts of the commander’s residence and down an alley between the large grain, wine, etc. store rooms. Enough food was stored to last for 10 years for 1,000 people. We walked through the remains of the northern palace, looked down at some of the Roman legion camps, saw the baths (typical Roman), and saw the room where the 10 shards were found, each with the name of one of the 10 men who were to kill each other and then the last man was to fall on his own sword.
Masada
Masada - Cable car	Masada - Cable car
Dead Sea from Masada	Masada - the Snake Path - in case you want to walk
Masada - Model of the site - Looking North	Masada - Model of the site- Looking South
The cable car arrives in the general area of number 3 on the map Another link to Masada.
Masada - On top of the site	Masada - On top of the site
Masada - On top of the site	Original wall below the line - reconstruction above
Original wall below the line - reconstruction above	Dead Sea from Masada
Original wall below the line - reconstruction above	Layout of the Large Bathhouse
Large Bathouse frescos	Large Bathhouse - Caldarium (hot) hypostyle
After the group guided tour, three of us walked down the stairs and path to Herod’s palace site on the lower face of the cliff. There we we saw remaining columns, capitals, frescos and views.	Model showing buildings - storerooms, baths, administration - North Palace in the foreground
Going down the stairs to the North Palace terraces	North Palace - Looking down on the Middle terrace
Middle terrace	North Palace - Lower terrace - Frescos and Columns
North Palace - Lower terrace - Frescos and Columns	North Palace - Lower terrace - Frescos and Columns
View of the Dead Sea from the North Palace terraces	What goes down must go back up - Staircase back up from the North Palace terraces
Back on top, we walked the rest of the site looking down on the largest Roman camp and the siege ramp, the Western Palace, and the remains of a Byzantine church with rock design walls and mosaic floors. We met the rest of the group 10 minutes early. They had spent their time in the shops while we visited the entire site.
Looking along the west side of the complex - Synagogue in right foreground	Tristram's starling
Synagogue	Byzantine Palace area - West Gate
West Palace	Byzantine Church - Monastery of Marda
Wall of a Byzantine building	Wall of a Byzantine building
Showing the location of the Roman Siege camps
Ruins of Roman Siege Camp A	From the cable car - Roman Siege Camp A, B is at the left edge
Roman Siege Camp C	Roman Siege Camps F and F2
Siege Ramp - Leading up to breeching point	Breeching point
Siege Ramp	After the Masada tour, we went to a hotel on the shore of the Dead Sea for an extravagant lunch buffet. After lunch, several of us had the thrill of floating in the Dead Sea. The water is about 26% chemical solids - NA, Cl, K, and S. The beach had sand but the waterline and under the water is all big crystals of salt, very course and very unpleasant to walk on. Once in the water I could sit in a pike position with head, arms, and lower legs out of the water. It is very hard to pull your feet back under you to stand up and it is impossible to swim. It was fun! The water and air temperature were cool but comfortable. I wore shorts and a nylon shirt and, thankfully, had flip-flops to get into the water. There was an outdoor shower, faucet, and small dressing room at the hotel beach.
Gale in the Dead Sea	Gale in the Dead Sea - you really do float like a cork!
The water in the Dead Sea is very salty and hard to wash off	Salt crystals - not nice to walk on with bare feet
Salt on the shore and floating in the water	Return from Masada to Jerusalem
Unfinished apartment buildings	St. Louis French Hospital

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