Dead Sea-Monday

Alright, this is the last post from last weekends field study (and this is my forth attempt at posting it because it kept getting deleted...so I'm hoping this will go through this time :-)

Well, after two intense "go-go-go" days, we were all rather tired physically, mentally, and emotionally and were looking forward to a day with a bit less lecturing and a bit more relaxing. Though we saw a bunch of stuff once again, it was a bit more low key- a good last day of study.

We started out by going to the famous Roman stronghold by the dead sea- Masada. The history of Masada is quite short. It was build in 20BC by Herod the Great as a palace, entertainment place, and fortress against revolts. It eventually was taken over by Jewish Zealots who camped there and used it as a base during their rades of Roman cities. Eventually Rome took it back and conquered it around 90 AD. There is a very well known story told by Josephus (the first century Jewish Roman historian) about how Masada fell and how all the Jews committed suicide before the Romans could make them their slaves. It is unlikely that this story actually happened as many of the details don't match up and it was probably told as a political move on Josephus part to show the Jews that he was still loyal to them even after adopting a Roman name and life. Either way, it was a huge incredible fortress that has interested many archaeologists and historians over the years.

The siege ramp leading up to Masada. It took about 10 minutes to quickly climb up, but a few guys wanted to break the JUC record and run up it (several made it in less then 3 minutes and would have broken the record if they had started at the right place- but one guy threw up several times afterwards...)
The view of the siege ramp and the Negev desert from the top
Teresa, Courtney, Peter, Ash, Kaytlin, me, Caitlyn, and Christina posing in an ancient on sight temple
Some of the store houses
close up of the store house ruins

view of the dead sea and a Roman encampment (the square in the dirt in the lower right side)

After about 3 hours of class and exploration time at Masada we went to the place I had been waiting for, well, for FOREVER- the dead sea!!!

Bre and me floating with utter excitement and awe. It was so cool!!!
Look, no hands or feet for me, Ash, or Kaytlin! This was such an incredible experience, but because the sea is 38% salt it starts to sting your skin and you really can't stay in for more then 20 minutes. The stings were very, very worth it though.

Our next stop was again a more restful one- the springs of En Gedi. This oasis, rich in green and brimming with water, was such a stark juxtaposition to the surrounding dry dessert and the completely dead (in the times of the Bible-worthless) sea. David lived here for a while as he was hiding from Saul and En Gedi is also mentioned in the Song of Songs.
The first waterfall we came to, the water was the most interesting teal color
The second one we came to we all decided we couldn't resist and all had to go swimming. I was a bit daring and took my camera down into the pool with me...but I got some great shots:

Jon reveling in the beauty of the water

We finished the day by heading to Qumran. Qumran is a place right on the edge of the dead sea and is the place where the dead sea scrolls were found. (The dead sea scrolls are the oldest found manuscripts of the Bible from before 100 AD- they are twice as old as the next oldest manuscripts!) We had class time in one of the rooms where the dead sea scrolls were copied and then we climbed up to one of the caves.


We then bussed back to our home in Jerusalem just in time for dinner, shower, laundry, and sleep. Next weekend's filed study- 4 days in Galilee!