East er Monday: West Bank and the Dead Sea
Don Hamer is on professional development leave until May 15. He is writing occasional posts to this blog to share some of his experiences. From April 4 to April 20, he is writing daily updates while he and his wife Debbie make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land.
Today we met our taxi driver, Mahmoud, who led us on our day's itinerary. Having spent all of last week, with the exception of a few hours, in and around Jerusalem, this week we are spreading our wings to other notable sites outside of the city. We started our tour this morning driving south along the western banks of the Dead Sea to Masada. This mountain fortress, originally constructed by King Herod before the birth of Christ but famous for being the last stand of the Jewish rebels in the revolt against the Romans around 73CE, stands some 1300 feet above the Dead Sea. While it is possible to hike up to the top, Debbie and I let better judgment prevail and we took the cable car up and back. The place is remarkably well preserved, and their are stunning views in all directions.
Next we drove north back along the coast to Qumran, the site where in 1947 a Bedouin boy searching for a lost sheep stumbled across a colossal discovery of scrolls, bound in clay jars, dating from the early 1st century and before. The were products of the Essenes, a very devout, ascetic and apocalyptic Jewish community. They lived according to community rules that are not unlike, at least conceptually, the rule of St. Benedict and other later monastic groups. The writings contain fragments of passages from Scripture and other period writings. There being no cable car here, we contented ourselves with visiting the remains found in the archaeological site at the foot of the cliffs and took photographs (at least I used the zoom lens!) to photograph the caves.
Following our visit to Qumran we had time for some recreational activity as we visited Kalie Beach at the very north end of the Dead Sea. Kalia is the newest resort beach to open on the Dead Sea, and is under Palestinian control. The Dead Sea is more than 1,300 feet below sea level, and is the lowest point on earth. While Debbie opted to forego the experience, I just had to take the opportunity to float on the Dead Sea (one does not swim there for reasons to be explained). The water is grey, not because it is dirty (well, I suppose in a way it is, literally) but because the water has such high mineral content that it cannot sustain life (thus, as you may have guessed by now, the name, Dead Sea.) Thus the bottom is this slimy, mucky substance that allegedly has healing characteristics. One could spend the day just watching people slipping and sliding in, as one second you can have a firm footing, and with the next step you are in a pool of the clay up to your knee. Debbie took a picture of me covered with the clay. But the most amazing experience is not being able to sink. If you venture out into water that is over your head, somewhere around the middle of your chest you reach a point of buoyancy at which you just don't sink any more. Similarly, unless you are standing perfectly straight and are intentional about that, the water automatically lifts you into a backstroke position. I stayed out in the water about 20 minutes before coming in because the sun was so strong today.
Our last destination for the day was at Jericho, the world oldest city, dating back almost 10,000 years. Here we ate at a restaurant belonging to one of Mahmoud's friends at the Mountain of Temptation (great name for a restaurant). Jericho is noteworthy for a number of reasons besides its age. It is the site where, according to the Book of Joshua in the Old Testament the Israelites entered into the promised land by taking the city. In the New Testament, this is the site at which Jesus fasted for 40 days and 40 nights following his baptism and is reported to have been tempted by Satan. A cable car runs up to a point just below the summit of the mountain, and the panorama below makes one especially appreciate the devil's final temptation to Jesus to be ruler of all of the world below. There is a monastery that was not open when we got to the top. The Arabic name for this place is Tel el Sultan, literally, "Sultan of Hell." At the base of the mountain is the Spring of Elisha (2 Kings 2:19-22) which has supplied Jericho with water for centuries:
19 Now the people of the city said to Elisha, ‘The location of this city is good, as my lord sees; but the water is bad, and the land is unfruitful.’ 20He said, ‘Bring me a new bowl, and put salt in it.’ So they brought it to him. 21Then he went to the spring of water and threw the salt into it, and said, ‘Thus says the Lord, I have made this water wholesome; from now on neither death nor miscarriage shall come from it.’ 22So the water has been wholesome to this day, according to the word that Elisha spoke.
Also at the base of the mountain we visited archaelogical excavations which, we are told, demonstrate the various stages of history of the place.
Between the sun, the warm, arid air, and all of the walking (even though we wimped out on the hiking), we are both exhausted. Happy we had another fabulous meal with Mahmoud, that is our main meal of the day, and we are now going to crash. Have a blessed day! Your brother in Christ, Don+
Today we met our taxi driver, Mahmoud, who led us on our day's itinerary. Having spent all of last week, with the exception of a few hours, in and around Jerusalem, this week we are spreading our wings to other notable sites outside of the city. We started our tour this morning driving south along the western banks of the Dead Sea to Masada. This mountain fortress, originally constructed by King Herod before the birth of Christ but famous for being the last stand of the Jewish rebels in the revolt against the Romans around 73CE, stands some 1300 feet above the Dead Sea. While it is possible to hike up to the top, Debbie and I let better judgment prevail and we took the cable car up and back. The place is remarkably well preserved, and their are stunning views in all directions.
Next we drove north back along the coast to Qumran, the site where in 1947 a Bedouin boy searching for a lost sheep stumbled across a colossal discovery of scrolls, bound in clay jars, dating from the early 1st century and before. The were products of the Essenes, a very devout, ascetic and apocalyptic Jewish community. They lived according to community rules that are not unlike, at least conceptually, the rule of St. Benedict and other later monastic groups. The writings contain fragments of passages from Scripture and other period writings. There being no cable car here, we contented ourselves with visiting the remains found in the archaeological site at the foot of the cliffs and took photographs (at least I used the zoom lens!) to photograph the caves.
Following our visit to Qumran we had time for some recreational activity as we visited Kalie Beach at the very north end of the Dead Sea. Kalia is the newest resort beach to open on the Dead Sea, and is under Palestinian control. The Dead Sea is more than 1,300 feet below sea level, and is the lowest point on earth. While Debbie opted to forego the experience, I just had to take the opportunity to float on the Dead Sea (one does not swim there for reasons to be explained). The water is grey, not because it is dirty (well, I suppose in a way it is, literally) but because the water has such high mineral content that it cannot sustain life (thus, as you may have guessed by now, the name, Dead Sea.) Thus the bottom is this slimy, mucky substance that allegedly has healing characteristics. One could spend the day just watching people slipping and sliding in, as one second you can have a firm footing, and with the next step you are in a pool of the clay up to your knee. Debbie took a picture of me covered with the clay. But the most amazing experience is not being able to sink. If you venture out into water that is over your head, somewhere around the middle of your chest you reach a point of buoyancy at which you just don't sink any more. Similarly, unless you are standing perfectly straight and are intentional about that, the water automatically lifts you into a backstroke position. I stayed out in the water about 20 minutes before coming in because the sun was so strong today.
Our last destination for the day was at Jericho, the world oldest city, dating back almost 10,000 years. Here we ate at a restaurant belonging to one of Mahmoud's friends at the Mountain of Temptation (great name for a restaurant). Jericho is noteworthy for a number of reasons besides its age. It is the site where, according to the Book of Joshua in the Old Testament the Israelites entered into the promised land by taking the city. In the New Testament, this is the site at which Jesus fasted for 40 days and 40 nights following his baptism and is reported to have been tempted by Satan. A cable car runs up to a point just below the summit of the mountain, and the panorama below makes one especially appreciate the devil's final temptation to Jesus to be ruler of all of the world below. There is a monastery that was not open when we got to the top. The Arabic name for this place is Tel el Sultan, literally, "Sultan of Hell." At the base of the mountain is the Spring of Elisha (2 Kings 2:19-22) which has supplied Jericho with water for centuries:
19 Now the people of the city said to Elisha, ‘The location of this city is good, as my lord sees; but the water is bad, and the land is unfruitful.’ 20He said, ‘Bring me a new bowl, and put salt in it.’ So they brought it to him. 21Then he went to the spring of water and threw the salt into it, and said, ‘Thus says the Lord, I have made this water wholesome; from now on neither death nor miscarriage shall come from it.’ 22So the water has been wholesome to this day, according to the word that Elisha spoke.
Also at the base of the mountain we visited archaelogical excavations which, we are told, demonstrate the various stages of history of the place.
Between the sun, the warm, arid air, and all of the walking (even though we wimped out on the hiking), we are both exhausted. Happy we had another fabulous meal with Mahmoud, that is our main meal of the day, and we are now going to crash. Have a blessed day! Your brother in Christ, Don+
posted by Don+ @ 2:19 PM
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