Masada, En Gedi and the Dead Sea Scrolls (Thursday, June 24)

After our early departure from Arad this morning we began a winding decent down through the Judean Wilderness towards the Dead Sea (or the Salt Sea as it's called in the Bible). The Dead Sea is around 1300 to1400 ft below sea level making it the lowest place on earth. As we came down through the last turns of the steep Wadi system (a "wadi being the deep "v" shaped ravines that the Judean wilderness is riddled with) we could see the silhouette of Masada against the bright blue of the sea behind it. It is an impressive sight. Masada is a huge rock that juts up from and is completely unconnected to the landscape around it. When I say "rock", I'm thinking more along the scale of Morro Rock (for those of you who have been to Morro Bay, CA). I'm not sure if it's taller but it's much bigger around. The sides go almost straight up and it's flat on top with enough room for several large buildings, plenty of open space and even enough room to grow a bit of grain. In the days of David (before it was built on) it was called "The Fortress" and in fact David I'm sure spent some time here when he was hiding out from Saul. Standing there gives new meaning to Psalm 144:2 "My goodness, and my fortress; my high tower, and my deliverer; my shield, and he in whom I trust…" and Psalm 62:6 "He only is my rock and my salvation: he is my defense; I shall not be moved." This is a very defensible place. A place one running from enemies could feel secure. But the history of this place goes on. At one time Herod the Great built a pleasure palace here, the remains of which are still there today. You can walk thru them and see remnants of frescos on the walls of the bath houses and mosaics on the floor. When he died the place passed on to his son who succeeded him and eventually in AD 66, when the Jews revolted against Rome the place was taken by a group of Jews called the Zealots. We don't really know how the Zealots managed it, Josephus simply says they took it by "trickery". However they did it they managed to hold it until after Jerusalem fell in AD 70 and the temple was destroyed. It wasn't until AD 72 or 73 that Rome decided that they had to be dealt with because they kept making raids into the southern parts of Judah! (This was a plucky group!) Rome sent legions of soldiers down to Masada to lay siege to the city but soon realized that the Zealots were so well supplied (there are massive cisterns cut into the cliffs just below the city and remember I told you there was room to grow wheat up on top!) that starving them out (kind of the point of a siege) wasn't going to work anytime soon. So they built a rampart up to the city wall (probably using slave labor possibly including Jews taken captive in the fall of Jerusalem) and a large battering ram that they then pushed up to the city walls. At last when the Zealots could see that there was no hope left they turned to a drastic and horrific plan. Having decided that it was better to die than to fall into the hands of Rome (the Romans would most likely have killed the men and taken the women and children as slaves) each man hugged and kissed his family goodbye and then slit their throats. Then they drew lots to see who would finish killing off the last of the men before setting the city ablaze and falling on their own sword. When the Romans broke through the wall in the morning they found over 900 bodies and a burning city. Only two women and 5 children survived by hiding in the aqueduct system. I'm not really sure what became of them, whether they were found by the Romans or if they got away. Coming down from Masada we took a path called the "Snake Path". It's a winding narrow little path that comes down the almost sheer back side of the rock. It was fun and adventurous but I was glad that in modern days they have widened it a bit and put in railings in places. (Two of my friends, John and Christie, tripped and almost went over edge but for the railings!)


We ate lunch by the side of the Dead Sea. Some people swam but I only got in up to my ankles. (I had a bunch of bug bites and wasn't eager to immerse them all in salt!) I wasn't really impressed with the Dead Sea. My friend Sandra Richter I think put it best when she said it's like swimming in salad dressing. It's thick and tepid and leaves you coated in sticky. Not to mention in gets in to any little cut or crack and sets them burning and itching for the rest of the day. I found cuts on my feet I didn't even know I had!


After lunch we hiked up to En Gedi, another place David and his men went to hide out from Saul. (Think of David cutting off the corner of Saul's robe as he "relieved himself" in a cave.) Imagine walking through the hot dusty dry wilderness (a place I have come to believe only camels can survive) and suddenly, without warning, you come to the edge of a ravine filled with water and trees and birds and LIFE! There is a stream splashing down thru it making water falls and beautiful little pools of cool blue water and the sound of bird song is overwhelming. Experiencing it instantly answers any and all questions of why David would have chosen to hang out here. After swimming in "King David's Pool" and sitting under the water fall, letting the water pound out the tension in my shoulders, I walked up to Sandy and said, "I get it now". We didn't even have a lesson up there. There was nothing that needed to be explained. "The Lord is my shepherd; I have all that I need. He lets me rest in green meadows; he leads me beside peaceful streams. He renews my strength." We were renewed.

Our last stop of the day was Qumran, the site where they found the Dead Sea Scrolls. It was an interesting place but with the images of Masada and En Gedi fresh in my mind it just didn't compare. At last it was time to head back to Jerusalem. We all commented on how good it was to be "home" as this place has come to feel like in such a short time. It was especially sweet knowing that we had a day of resting and relaxing ahead of us. I am hoping you too are resting in the Lord and relaxing in His care.

A Very Long Day (Wednesday, June 23rd)

My Blog today will be short. It is the second day of our trip down thru the Negev and Southern Wilderness of Judah. We stopped at a place called Avdat this morning to see the ruins of a Roman city there that was occupied in order to exert control over the southern trade routs there. (Before the Romans it was settled by a group called the Nabateans and before that it was controlled by Solomon and before that someone else… you get the idea.) Much of the structures that were built by the Romans are still at least partially there. (Much more than most of the sites we have been to. You could actually walk up to the second story of the guardhouse. And we did!) It was amazing to walk thru a part of history where there is still enough of it left that I (who does not, I have found, have the eye of an archeologist) could imagine what it must have looked like and felt like in the days when people lived there. The houses and storerooms and bath houses made of lime stone which paved the street as well. It must have been beautiful. Unfortunately it was occupied by Romans who I am coming to dislike more and more as we go along.

Also unfortunate was that my camera battery died as we were leaving there so it is the only site from today that I have pictures of. But honestly I am tired from all of the traveling and hiking and at this point (or at least for today) one unearthed ruin of a city is looking very much like another. We stopped at a few more ancient cities along the way and ended our day in Arad. We stopped at Tel Arad first (any place with Tel in front of it is the remains of an ancient city, I have learned) and the wind there was so strong that it literally nearly knocked me over a few times! In Arad we stayed in a very nice hostel. Actually, both hostels we have stayed in have been very nice. I don't think hostels are typically this nice (having never stayed in one before this I can't say for sure) but JUC (Jerusalem University College, who I am here with) has taken very good care of us!

Tomorrow we visit Masada and En Gedi. I am particularly excited about En Gedi because I hear we get to swim there!

Traveling to the South (Tuesday, June 22nd)

Today is the first day of our first three day trip into the Negev and the Southern reaches of the Judean Wilderness. Our 1st stop after leaving the school this morning was in the Valley of Elah between Soho and Azekah. Do you remember this place from your Bibles? It is the valley where the Israelites and the Philistines set up to face each other in battle. The Israelites (sadly under equipped with only farming equipment for weapons) against the Philistines (armed with all the latest battle technology). It was bound to be a blood bath. So the Philistines gave the Israelites a way out. (They could afford to be generous.) Just send one man out to fight our champion Goliath. Yeah Right! The guy was armed to the teeth with all of the latest equipment (an iron tipped spear! not to mention all his armor - he might as well have come out in a tank), he had been trained as warrior since childhood, AND he was enormous!! Well you know the rest of the story. David comes to bring food supplies to his brothers and decides to show them all (Philistines and Israelites alike) what the God of Israel can do!


From there we moved on to the ruins of Lacish where the horrific story of Senacharib's attack on the city came to life. You can still see the ramparts built up against the outside of the city wall by the attacking army to get in and the rampart built against the inside of the wall to meet their attack. And then to hear the written report (mostly from Senacharib's point of view as the Bible doesn't give much detail) about people being impaled on stakes outside the gate to be an example to those on the inside and to cause them to loose hope. The more I learn about his land the more I realize that it has always been a place of tension and bloody battles.

From there we drove down to Ashkelon, the Philistine city on the sea. Ashkelon is just a few miles north of the modern day Gaza Strip which was a little unnerving. At Ashkelon archeologists have unearthed a huge city, some of it dating back to the time of the Philistines, some to the time of the Romans. We got to walk along the shore of the Mediterranean. We couldn't actually swim because of the rip tides and the jelly fish but it was beautiful! We ate lunch with an ocean view. Let me just say that this all sounds very picturesque but the truth is that by lunch time I was having a hard time enjoying it because all I could think of was how dirty I was. Between the sweat and the dust (at Azekah the wind was blowing huge clouds of dust onto us) and the salt from the hot humid sea air all caking onto me, I don't think I have ever been so dirty in my adult life!

But the day ended well. We drove down to Mitzpah Ramon where we would spent the night. Mitzpah Ramon is a town built on the edge of a huge crater and as we got off the bus and walked to the edge, the view from where the ground falls dramatically away at your feet was breath taking. We had dinner and spent some fun free time in town and finally I got my shower and a chance to sleep.

Free Time (Monday, June 21st)

So it's now Monday evening here and I think I have finally gotten caught up! My laundry is washed, my homework is done, I've posted all the blogs I've written so far... Yesterday (Sunday) was a freeday for us (there was no class so we could go and do whatever we wanted) and a group of us decided to go check out the services at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, just a short walk from the school. It is a very interesting church in a lot of ways. It was built by St. Helena, Constantine's mother, to mark/preserve the place where Christ was crucified and where he was buried. Unlike some of the churches and monuments here, archeologist believe that this at least has credibility for being the place where this event took place. One is that it is outside of were the wall of Jerusalem was at that time, and we know from scripture and other literary sources that Jesus was crucified out side the city walls. Also, sometime after 70 ad the Romans built a temple to Venus there and on the site where it is said that Jesus was crucified they put a statue of Jupiter. Church tradition said that that was the place and archeologist say that it makes sense that the first Christians would have passed down from generation to generation the information until the time when Helena came to seek out the spot and build a church there because until that point in history Christianity had been illegal. The tomb that they claim Christ rose from is also on that site in another part of the church (and yes it is empty). While there is know way to know for sure if this was the tomb they put him in, the fact that there are other first century tombs on the site makes it plausible. (This way of burying people only lasted for about 100 years.) So it is a site with incredible, and humbling significance.


The other interesting fact about this church is that it is claimed by at least 7 different church groups who all claim that they are rightfully the ones who should have control over the site. (Greek Orthodox, Armenians, Catholics, and more that I can't remember.) They all keep a presence at the sight and are constantly fighting over who's hallway this is, or who has the rights to that. To illustrate how bad the fighting is, find the ladder in the picture to the left. That ladder has been leaning against that wall for somewhere around 200 years because no one can agree as to who has the authority to move it!! I wish I were kidding! In fact there is a ceremony each morning and evening to open and close the gate to the courtyard. The keys used to unlock the gate are kept by a Muslim family in the neighborhood and have been passed down from generation to generation for decades, maybe centuries (I can't remember) because the fighting is so intense that if any one faction were to hold the key the results would be disastrous! It is very sad to see God's people so divided over a site that should unite us.



Other than that I have done some shopping and freelance exploration of the city (always with friends, no worries). I have done laundry and caught up on sleep and am ready for the new week to start. Tomorrow morning we are leaving on a field trip that will take us out of Jerusalem until Thursday evening. I hear that there probably isn't any internet where we are going so you'll just have to wait until I get back to hear about it. Hope you are all doing well!
P.S. the picture on the right I took in Bethlehem. Read the sign carefully! it made me laugh :)

Mount of Olives and Bethlehem (Saturday, June 20th)

We were on our bus this morning by 6:45 again and on our way to the Mount of Olives by 7:00. There is a place at the top were you can sit and look out over all of Jerusalem. It was very beautiful early in the morning when the shadows etch out every detail of the city.

After a review of what we have learned so far and a preparation for the day, we began our decent down the mountain. The first site we stopped at was a church called Dominus Flevit which commemorates were Jesus stopped on his way into the city for the last time and wept for his people who had rejected him. From there we continued on down the mountain to the Church of Nations which is the traditional site of the garden of Gethsemane, where Jesus took his disciples to pray and where he was arrested by the Roman guards. It is probably the most beautiful church I have ever been in and in the Garden outside there are Olive trees that are some where around 1500 years old. Our teacher pointed out a few things about this account that I had never considered before. One was that there were thousands of people who flooded Jerusalem at Passover time from all over the world. Were did all of these people stay? There were no Holiday Inns in Jerusalem at that time. Many of them were probably invited by the people of Jerusalem into their homes but that wouldn't have covered it. So a lot of them most likely brought tents and camped out near the city on the Mount of Olives. Which means the Garden of Gethsemane and the Mount of Olives was maybe not quite as secluded as I have always thought of them. The other thing he pointed out truly struck me as amazing and I have been thinking about it ever since. It was that from the area of the Garden of Gethsemane it was only a 15 to 20 minute walk up over the hills and into the Judean wilderness. The same wilderness where David and his men spent some time hiding out from Saul and where many others have hidden out over the years. The same wilderness where he himself had spent 40 days before being tempted by Satan. How easy it would have been for Jesus to have just walked away from all the pain and suffering that was to come. And yet he chose to stay and submit himself to the Father's will.

After Gethsemane the bus met us and picked us up so we didn't have to walk all the way back up the hill for which I was very grateful! From there we moved on to a place out side of Bethlehem where we were able to see the terrain that involves so many stories from the Bible. David would have had to walk a similar path to that bread to his brothers when he became the hero that defeated Goliath. Joseph and Mary would have had to make their way through similar terrain to get to Bethlehem for the census. We also got to see a traditional vineyard with it's guard houses a place hollowed out of the bedrock for pressing wine. We read Isaiah 5 where God compares his people to a vineyard that he has planted and it became so much more real!

Bethlehem itself has become a large town in an area that is under Palestinian control. The town right next to it is a Christian town and Bethlehem is a mostly Muslim town that is becoming more and more mixed, Christians and Muslims. There we visited the Church of the Nativity, possibly built where Jesus was born. (It's hard to tell with all the gold overlay and ornamentation.) It wasn't one of my favorite sites, but across the street is a building called the Bethlehem Peace Center where we were invited up to see their collection of nativity scenes from around the world. This one was my favorite. It was donated by a church in Hong Kong. The next two days are free days and I'm going to try to catch up on posting things (you've probably noticed these haven't all been posted on the days they were written) and laundry and sleep and maybe get a bit of site seeing and shopping in.

Benjamin (Friday, June 18th)

No, not Benjamin as in a person. Benjamin as in the territory allotted to the tribe of Benjamin in the book of Joshua. That is what we explored to day.

It was a long day. We had breakfast at 6:00 and then at 6:45 we walked down to the bus that was waiting for us just out side of Joffa Gate. We started by heading west out of the city toward Gezar, stopping along the way to appreciate the topography of the land. The deep ravines cutting their way through this area of the country making traveling across it difficult. We stopped again in Beth-shemesh and heard the story of Samson retold with fresh in-site as well as the setting of the story stretching out before us. I learned for instance that Samson was not a complete idiot for telling Delilah the secrete of his strength. (I had always kind of wondered.) He knew what she was up to. He was however extremely arrogant because you see he had already broken two of his Nazarite vows (drinking wine and touching something dead) without any repercussions. So he probably thought that even if he told her and she cut his hair it wouldn't make a difference.

At Gezar I got to see the remnants of a six chamber gate built by Solomon to fortify the city. As Gezar was the western "gate" to the hill county and the Benjamin plateau, any army trying to attack the plateau (and many have tried) or make their way to Jerusalem would have to go through Gezar first.

From there we went to an interesting place called Nebi Samwil. It means "Tomb of Samuel". It was actually originally built as a Christian church over the site of a Crusader Fortress. Today it is a Muslim masque and also a place visited by Jews because it is the traditional tomb of Samuel the prophet (although it is probably not the site were Samuel was buried). What makes it even more interesting is that if you climb up to the roof of the church you can get an amazing view of the surrounding area. From here you can see Gibeon, Gibeah (Saul's home town and headquarters), Rammah (Samuel's home town), and even Jerusalem and the Mount of Olives. Our teacher said it is even hypothesized that this might have been the "high place of Gibeon" where God met Solomon as he prayed and

told him to ask anything of him.

After having lunch at Nebi Samwil we got back on the bus and started out east for the city of Jericho. To get there we drove through the wild

erness. Think dry chalky ground, deep ravines, steep hills, dust being blown into your eyes, and HOT! Now imagine coming down out of these hills to a valley filled with green and palm trees which inevitably mean water. Still outrageously hot but with the promise of water and shade and

ice cream! Okay maybe there wasn't any ice cre

am in Bible times but you get the idea

. This was the site of Jericho where people have been building cities for around 10,000 years. One of the structures excavated there dates back that far. We also saw the remains of the city Joshua and the people of Israel conquered on their way into the land.

On our way back to Jerusalem we made one more stop in the wilderness and my mother got one of her wishes. I rode a camel and had my picture taken :) Tomorrow will be another full day. Until then, Shalom!