Part One

Masada

Roman Siege

The snake trail starts from the eastern entrance of Masada and ascends 1.7 miles and 1,148 feet in elevation to the fortress located at the top of the mountain.  My wife and I walked up that trail and arrived as the sun rose in the East over the Dead Sea.  The top of this high plateau provides stunning views to the East of this Southern part of the land of Israel and over into Jordan.

Most significant about Masada and why people visit is one historical event there important to Israel. After the fall of Jerusalem in AD 70, a group of Jewish rebels, known as the Zealots, took refuge there.  Masada is situated on a high plateau overlooking the Dead Sea and surrounded by steep cliffs that make access difficult. This provided natural defenses against potential invaders and made it an ideal stronghold.  The Romans, determined to crush the last pocket of resistance, laid siege in 73-74, eventually building a massive ramp to breach the walls.

Facing inevitable defeat, the last vestige of Jews left in the resistance to Rome chose to commit mass suicide rather than be captured and enslaved by the Romans.  Nearly 960 men, women, and children died in an act of defiance, leaving Masada as a symbol of Jewish courage, resilience, and the determination to never be subjugated again.  Israeli soldiers still visit Masada as part of their military training and initiation.  They observe their swearing-in ceremony by taking an oath with the declaration, “Masada shall not fall again.”

Herod the Great

Masada started as an architectural wonder built by Herod the Great for a palace and refuge.  A good question for anyone visiting, “How do they get their water?”  Herod ingeniously built aqueducts to catch and channel rainwater through gutters from the nearby dry riverbeds (wadis) in the valleys west of Masada to storage cisterns at the summit and on the northwestern slope.  They could hold 200,000 gallons to provide sufficient water to sustain an extended siege.

Tour guides will tell that they would not have a job if it weren’t for Herod the Great.  For our trip, Masada was a reintroduction to King Herod and his renown as an engineer and builder.  Scattered across Israel are multiple ancient works of Herod, most notably the Temple Mount where he built the great Second Temple.

En Gedi

Beautiful Oasis

Mid morning our entourage began its way back down the same snake trail, boarded the bus, and drove to En Gedi along the Western coast of the Dead Sea.  En Gedi is another almost hour and a half trip roundabout first South and then North to halfway up the Dead Sea.  En Gedi is a remarkable oasis in the midst of a barren land with lush greenery, waterfalls, and diverse wildlife.

The waters of En Gedi originate from a large spring that emerges from limestone cliffs in the Judean Desert.  It provides the origin of a series of streams and waterfalls for this desert oasis and eventually reach the Dead Sea.  Wild goats, the Nubian Ibex, have their habitat there, En Gedi itself meaning, “spring of the kid.”  My wife and I saw a large one with its front hooves stretched high on a tree to enable its eating the low leaves. Israelis take the long horns of these animals to make their shofar, which is blown at Rosh Hashanah at the end of Yom Kippur.  It’s sound acts as a call to introspection and repentance.

King David and Others

Around 1000 BC, En Gedi served as a refuge for David as he fled from King Saul. David and his men hid in its strongholds and he famously spared Saul’s life in a cave (1 Samuel 23:29, 24:1-22).  The water, natural vegetation, and limestone caves provide a good hiding place.  Known for its vineyards and agriculture in the days of Solomon, he compared the Shulamite woman to “a cluster of camphire (henna blossoms) in the vineyards of En Gedi” (Song of Solomon 1:14).

My wife and I took off our shoes and socks and waded in the streams emanating from the En Gedi springs.  We sat on the limestone and soaked our tired feet in their cool waters before walking back and boarding the bus once again.  Our next stop was a resort of sorts on the shore of the Dead Sea.

Dead Sea

The bus then continued another hour north from En Gedi and parked in the lot of Kalia Beach, the northernmost beach on the Dead Sea.  A very large camel was tied there to mount for pay for a photo.  It angrily chased a couple from our bus, who got too close.  This was part of the tour and it meant a place to float in the salt laden water without sinking.  My wife and I did that.  Essentially the water is so dense, eight times saltier than other seas, that you struggle to push yourself very deep into it.

The contents of the water of the Dead Sea make it slimy.  While floating, when you reach down for a handful of mud in the bottom, it comes up black.  The shops sell the mud as a facial mask.  The minerals apparently rub away dead skin and rejuvenate what’s left, leaving a refreshing vital feeling after you rinse it off.  Literally, Dead Sea mud is a form of skin care that you can purchase.  We did not buy any.

My wife and I cleaned off the Dead Sea residue, changed into dry clothes again, and looked in some of the shops there and at the camel once more before sitting down for the thirty minute ride back to the King David Hotel.  It was an eight minute walk back to Apartique and we slept for a few hours before arising around Supper time for an adventurous walk in Old Jerusalem.

Old Jerusalem

Jaffa Gate

It was half a mile to Jaffa gate from our hotel, walking through what’s called the “Mamilla Mall,” a waking thoroughfare with modern shops, stores, and restaurants on each side.  I stopped there to get a sim card for phone service for the rest of our trip.  That leads right to the Jaffa Gate, which was a half mile from Apartique.  The walls of Jerusalem are lit at night and it is nothing like you’ll see anywhere else in the world.

Bridget and I walked through the gate and walked very slowly into the Old City.  Through the huge stone entrance is a large court with the Toward of David to the right.  Directly in front is King David street and that’s where we went, our goal to see the Western Wall.

King David Street

King David Street is not a driving street, but a walking one with very old shops on each side.  This is like shopping in an ancient city area in the MIddle East.  David Street goes East and descends massive stone platforms.  These shops are tourist places with food, jewelry, souvenirs, clothing, and religious mementoes.  Shop owners stand at the opening and talk to you when you walk by, attempting to lure you into their places.  My wife and I just looked as we moved downward and finally turned right, looking at the small signs to figure out how to get to the Western Wall.

We turned left again into another court with Orthodox Jews all around in the Jewish quarter near the Hurva Synagogue.  A small falafel restaurant was at the other end of this court and we decided to get some.  A falafel is a deep fried fritter made out of cooked and ground chick pea.  The fritters are placed in a wrap and covered with a sauce and other toppings of your choice.  We ate and kept taking passages Eastward and down stairs until we stood looking at a well lit and majestic Western Wall in the distance.

More to Come