Our relaxing day began by climbing up top of Masada, via the Roman ramp, one of Herod the Great’s fortified cities. We spent by far the most time here from any previous ruins site and it was well worth it! Within this one site we could visibly see several different people group constructions or reconstructions of this marvelous place. Masada contains two of Herod’s palaces. The Western palace was a little less impressive and the Northern palace was massive with three levels. We crawled down a narrow, harrowing pathway looking hundreds of feet down to the lower level of the Northern palace only to discover that we were now at sea level… and looking down another 1300 feet to the Dead Sea! We viewed the beautifully preserved mosaics and a Roman bathhouse before descending a few 700 steps down the northeastern side of Masada towards the sea.
The next stop gave us an opportunity that cannot be described to anyone who has never “swam” in the Dead Sea. The warm, salty sea enabled even those non-swimmers to float effortlessly. While it was extremely fun, we were careful not to splash or horseplay due to the fact that a mouthful of the sea will earn you a quick trip to the ER to avoid a painful death. Good times!
To rinse the salty minerals from ourselves, we traveled five minutes up to En Gedi, where David hid from Saul with his 400 men, to rinse in the cool, fresh spring water. It was interesting to imagine 400 men in this amazing place… I’m sure there had to be some mischief amongst these young warriors. “Hey Bubba, watch this!” (According to Dr. Stone, the boys of Bethlehem were the Judean equivalent to the American redneck.) Nevertheless, we had an amazing time experiencing this marvelous place.
Exhausted and barely moving, we tackled the last stop of the day, the Qumran Caves. This is the site were the exciting and controversial Dead Sea Scrolls were found. These important documents are amongst the oldest documents of the Hebrew (OT) texts. These are important documents for study as we yearn to have the most accurate texts in comparison to the original authors of any given book. Though we lacked time and energy to walk out to the actual caves (11 in total!), it was impressive to have been were these scrolls had been hidden for many, many years.
Tomorrow is another “free” day for exciting things such as laundry and preparing for Saturday’s exam (#2). I hope to take some time tomorrow afternoon to walk up to David’s tomb and the Upper Room (mere meters from home base at the JUC). Blessings to you all and I thank you for your prayers and words of encouragement. I am overwhelmed by your outpouring of responses to these journal entries.
Shalom
2 comments:
Ein Gedi - my most favorite place next to the Garden Tomb! “As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?” (Psalm 42:1,2). My heart is there with you! Keep on soaking it all in!
Linda
That is a site I'd like to visit one day myself. A significant site from the historical viewpoint.
Your mother and I are in Liege, Beligum after visiting the Bastogne Battle site and the American Monument nearby. Love Mom and Dad
Post a Comment