Time to head out of Jerusalem for the day. We picked up our
hire car early and headed south towards the Dead Sea. Bleak mountains of rock
like we had seen on the other side of the Dead Sea in Jordan. We passed the ‘sea
level’ sign, then the ‘-150m sea level sign’ and finally the ‘-300m sea level
sign.’ As we drove along the Dead Sea we were struck by how eerily beautiful it
is – nothing is moving and the water is a lovely blue colour.
First stop
Masada. Though Herod wasn’t the first to build on this isolated mountain 300m
above the dead sea, he certainly expanded it into a glorious palace. Every
luxury was provided for ...
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| extraordinary views |
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| a three level palace on the side of the mountain |
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| under floor heating of the Roman baths |
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| beautiful mosaic flooring |
There was even a swimming pool. In the store rooms archaeologists even found jars of
spices and wines imported all the way from Italy. The mind boggles as to how
his workers managed to build this fortress/palace, and even then how they
managed to cart the supplies up. And how did they have enough water on top of a
huge mountain in such a dry climate? Herod designed water channels to capture
the water from the 2 flash floods each year into about 20 huge cisterns in the
side of the mountain; servants then carted the water up to huge cisterns on top
of the mountain.
But perhaps
the most incredible thing about this place is that it became a rebel fortress.
When the Jews rebelled against the Romans in 66AD and Jerusalem was destroyed
as Jesus predicted it would be, the rebels retreated to Masada. Determined to destroy
this last pocket of resistance, the Romans besieged the 1000 rebels with a
force of 10 000 troops around the mountain, building a massive siege ramp so
that they could take the city. On the final night when the rebels knew they
were finished, their leader convinced them all to commit suicide rather than
surrender. When the Romans finally entered the city, the rebels were all dead.
Being softer
than the rebels and the Romans, we had chosen to catch the cable car up the
hill, but we did walk the ‘snake path’ down the hill. But just before we did,
we were delighted to observe a Bar Mitzvah celebration at the top of the
mountain – the coming of age of a Jewish boy:
The walk
down the snake path had a number of benefits – seeing more of the incredible
view, being astounded again at the whole story, being so thankful for the cable
car and for the air conditioning in the visitor centre, and walking off a lot
of calories.
Thankfully
our next two stops were very refreshing. Of course you can’t come to the Dead Sea
without having a swim, or rather a float. The combination of hot weather and the
lowest point on earth brings incredible evaporation – which is responsible for
the ever present haze and the very salty water – 9 times the normal amount. The
surprising thing is that it’s quite hard to find a spot to get in – most of it
is fenced off or quite rocky. Thankfully some internet research before we left
led to Ein Bokek – just 15 minutes south of Masada. In a way its not much different
to Herod’s Masada – just down on sea level. A myriad of luxury hotels with a
stark rocky backdrop, with great beach facilities for tourists to relax (even
for those not staying at the hotels).
Whether they
were in the water or out of the water – no one was really doing anything – it’s
just too hot. Even the water is lukewarm and you can’t really swim or play
around in it. We loved the experience though – just walk in up to your knees,
bend down into the water, lift your feet up a few degrees and you start to
float; if you decide you’ve had enough floating, you’ll have to work hard to be
upright again; and if you go out further into the water where you can’t touch
the bottom – no need to float or to tread water – just stand there! There’s
really no need to be able to swim. But whatever you do, don’t roll over or put
your head down – because that’s the one way you can drown – which has actually
happened. I guess that’s why they have lifeguards, just in case.
Of course I
asked Isaac to take my picture.
He said he
didn’t want me to take his picture, but once he was in, he liked it so much, he
changed his mind.
15 minutes
was enough, so I’m not sure what people do when they stay here for a week’s vacation.
The showers on the beach had the hardest and the widest spray I’ve ever
experienced, which is just as well, because there’s all that salt to get off.
Back in the
car and we headed north to our final Dead Sea destination – Ein Gedi National Park.
This is where David hid when King Saul was trying to kill him, so it satisfied
our history fetish, but most of all it’s a slither of wet, green oasis
surround by rocky cliffs. In a 45 minute round trip walk we were delighted by
4 or 5 different waterfalls, cooling off in the water and trying out some
photography. Simply delightful!
Back to
Jerusalem for our final night. Despite having been further away than any other
day during our time in Jerusalem, we were back by 6:30pm , and so enjoyed the
night life of this cosmopolitan part of the new city. Eventually we chose one
of the 4 pizza places for dinner – but we could have worn a kippa while we ate Kosher McDonald's.
As we
wandered around we enjoyed the dress and voices of people from all over the world, as
well as the markets and the sophisticated buskers – an operatic singer and a
young woman with some sort of melodic drum. Danielle you would have loved it.
Jerusalem
has delighted us with its history, its people, its passion. What a joy to be in
place where so many people are convinced that God should be the centre of life.
What a joy to be in a place where anything less than 500 years old is
considered new; where every place has a story and where every person has a
story.
As I’m
inclined to do, I’m sad that such a significant time in this place is coming to
an end. But ever so thankful that we have had the privilege to be here - together.
Yesterday we met a man about my age from Melbourne. He had to come to Tel Aviv
for business and was very glad to add Jerusalem on to the trip – but no one
else from his family was able to come. A great thing to do on your own, but a
bit like a hole in one – so much better when we you get to share it with
someone – especially with your son.
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