Day 4 – The Dead Sea
We traveled down from Jerusalem to the Dead Sea today. First we went to Masada, the fortress city built on top of flat, rock, mountain overlooking the Dead Sea. It looks like a God-forsaken, wilderness, lifeless area. Yet this is where the last of the Jewish zealots held out from the Roman legions after the Temple was destroyed in 70AD. For three years nearly 1000 rebels lived there until the Romans finally built a ramp up to its gates to breach the fortress. By the time they were able to invade however, the Jews had killed one another so as not to be taken captive and enslaved. Truly a unique place on earth.
From Masada we visited Qumran where we learned of the Dead Sea Scrolls, followed by lunch and a bit of shopping for Dead Sea products.
After lunch we swam in the Dead Sea, or rather, floated. That was also a unique experience. At 1400 feet below sea level – the lowest place on earth – it is hot!
Back to our hotel in Jerusalem in the later afternoon we had some free time before dinner. I took a group (those not too zapped by the heat) into the old city again. We walked from the Damascus Gate to the Christian quarter, past the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, to the Lutheran Church where a handful of us climbed the tower to see a panoramic view of the city. Upon our return we shared in some libations and laughs before dinner.
It was a fun day with a fun group.
