A Busy Wednesday

Masada

 
Looking from Masada over the Dead Sea

Wednesday was a quite busy day.  We visited a number of sites that aren’t the highest on biblical priority, but (as seen above) are quite high – and low – otherwise.

Masada is a fortress, built primarily by King Herod.  It is located on the west coast of the Dead Sea.  If you look at a map, there is a peninsula in the Dead Sea about 2/3 of the way down.  This is where Masada is.

It’s in the middle of the desert.

The most famous story of Masada is from the Jewish revolt immediately after the destruction of the Temple (AD 70).  Zealots took control of the fort from the Romans.  They remained there until the Romans, who had surrounded the mountain, built a ramp and stormed the wall.

The most interesting part of the story:  according to the historian Josephus, the Zealots decided that, rather than being captured by the Romans, they would commit mass suicide.

Today, Masada is a symbol for many Israelis to stand for their independence.  That, and the beauty of the valley makes Masada a popular place to visit.

 

Qumran

On their way to capture the fortress of Masada, the Zealots murdered a number of hermits who were living north of the fortress in the desert.  These hermits were known as the Essenes.

Although not certain, the most famous Essene was possibly John the Baptist.  The community was upset about abuses in the temple by the Sadducees and Pharisees, and devoted themselves to a life of prayer and repentance in the desert.

As part of their prayer, they studied the Scriptures, and in these caves in Qumran they copied many of the sacred texts.

In 1947, these scrolls were accidentally discovered by a young shepherd boy looking for his lost goat.

 
The cave where most of the scrolls were discovered

The discovery of what would be called the Dead Sea Scrolls would radically change scripture scholarship.  Before, the oldest manuscripts of the Old Testament dated to the 1000’s.  Now, they have been able to compare these scrolls, which date from the 1st century AD.

 

Dead Sea

Although I have no pictures, there is nothing like watching a man shaped like a twig still be over half above the surface of the sea.

 

Jericho

Jericho is famous for a number of things:

• Being the oldest city in the world – established 8000 BC
• Being sacked by Joshua (and the walls came ‘tumblin down)
• Mount of Temptation – where Jesus was tempted by Satan
• Zacchaeus climbed the tree to see Jesus

However, I think we will all remember it for the restaurant/store which we were taken to and encouraged to “spend time”.  We really didn’t get a chance to see the other sites.