More old stuff and cooler hikes.

Our most recent field study saved the best for last. The day started with a climb up the Roman siege ramp to Masada - a three-tier palace Herod built overlooking the Dead Sea. Herod was big on escape routes and mostly built this palace as a refuge for himself in case of revolt. But he made sure that if he ever needed to use it, he would still be able to live the high-life: Masada is an ornate three-tier palace on a cliff face, it has access to a huge water source via aquaducts built into the sides of the mountain, it has multiple bath houses, columns, colorful frescos, mosaic floors, etc. He also filled it full of food - lots of food- but he never needed it for protection against Jewish rebels. Ironically, the rebels took it over after Rome destroyed Jerusalem in 70 AD and holed up there for over a year, living off all the supplies Herod had stashed there.

 

Masada was the last stronghold of the rebellion against Rome in Israel and was home to over 960 people when Rome finished their siege ramp and burnt through the walls. According to the historian Josephus, when the Romans finally made it into Masada they found it lifeless - the rebels had made a suicide pact and killed themselves and their families in the night to prevent being taken as captives. It has become a symbol in modern Zionism (theme of refusing to live as slaves to any people, fighting till the end for a land of their own) and many people have their Bar Mitzvah celebrations here. While we were having class, there was a military fly over and one of the planes tipped its swings to us, thinking we were a celebration group. (at the bottom of the photo you can see the recreated siege weapons Rome might have used here).

 

View from the lowest tier looking up at the other two - notice the columns and frescos? Okay, now ignore the really colorful frescos - they are all new.

 Mosaics

 

Herod liked fancy - this is a thermal bath house: hollow floors, clay pipes lining the walls, arched windows, colorful frescos, wow.

 

 Next stop was Ein Gedi - a shorter hike than the day before, also a cooler one.

There were at least three waterfalls for us to go swimming in. And across the street was the Dead Sea, umbrella showers, weird floating/inability to swim, and salty, mineraly mud. Ummmm.

I prefer the waterfalls.

 

Last stop: Qumran, home of the Dead Sea Scrolls for several centuries. There are a multitude of caves in the surrounding area where people not only hid things but also hid themselves. The area around the Dead Sea, including Masada, Ein Gedi, Qumran, etc. was a place mostly used for spiritual retreat and exiles, rebels hiding from authority - even David used this place to hide from Saul (1 Sam. 24). It's a wasteland, but a beautiful one.