The Dead Sea and the Negev desert

Wednesday we went South to the Dead Sea and the Negev which means both south and desert, because the southern part of the country is all desert. First we stopped at Qumran where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found. It was a small community of Jews who had broken away from the temple because they believed the priests were not legitimate and that they were preparing for some cataclysmic battle between the Sons of Darkness and the Sons of Light, so they were very aesthetic. But whatever their beliefs were, they studied the scriptures and kept them in caves where they were hidden until the 1940s. As you know, these are some of the earliest copies of the Old Testament scriptures. We already had seen some of the scrolls, so it was neat to see the community and caves that they came from! 

Me infront of one of the caves the scrolls were found in

Then we went to a public beach at the dead sea where we swam…or floated…for a while. It was so weird because it just doesn’t act like you expect water to act. When you lean back in it, your feet just pop up and its like you are lounging in a chair, only you’re in water. Then its really difficult to get your feet back under water! And because of all of the salts and minerals, the water has a very oily feel to it. When you get out and the super hot sun immediately evaporates the water off of you, you are left with a really thick layer of salt on your skin! It was kinda gross, but definitely fun!

floating!

Then we went to Massada which was a city built on top of a huge plateau where after the first Jewish-Roman war, the Romans were breaking through the city walls and the Jews planned a mass suicide because they would rather die than become Roman slaves. Today many Israeli soldiers hike up the mountain with all of their packs and gear and take their oath to serve the country from the top vowing “Masada shall never fall again.” It was a really great site with ruins of Herod’s palace on the edge of the cliff from 30 BCE, which was beautiful, and a gigantic cistern at the other end with nice examples of a synagogue and houses and storage rooms in between and stunning scenery all around.



The Massada Plateau



Herod's Palace



John "sacraficing" me at the temple

Thursday we went to Arad, which is an Israelite city mentioned in the Old Testament. There is a temple there with monoliths dedicated to Yahweh and possibly Asherah who was the female counterpart to Yahweh. This was during the time of David when temples outside of Jerusalem were forbidden. There was also a good example of a house from about 3000 BCE.



The Holy of Holies in the Israelite Temple



 

As we were driving to the next site a heard of wild camels crossed the road!



Then we went to Avdat which was a prosperous town on the incense trade route between the Mediterranean and India. It was inhabited by Nabataeans, not Israelites, but eventually converted to Christianity and has ruins of two basilicas. The side of the hill have tons of cave dwellings which was where the residents of the town would have lived. The houses were carved into the white chalky hillside, and there were a few that we could go into. It was incredible how much cooler it was inside the caves compared to the 105 degrees outside. You could see counters and storage holes for pottery inside, and niches in the walls for oil lamps with black burn marks still there. It was a really interesting site.



We got to the hotel and Laurie our professor told us that we were near a canyon, so after a long hard day of walking through the desert, Lori and I decide to go back out into the desert to this canyon. It was only a block from our hotel, but we went on a trail that took us up a mountain that looked like a camel to a great lookout. It looked like the Grand Canyon only wider and more shallow. It was stunning. My pictures don’t do it justice.

 

That night we had a Bedouin dinner! It was a tourist stop, not a real Bedouin community, but still neat. We ate in a huge tent supported by palm trees, sitting on cushions around a huge tray of food: chicken, potatoes, veggies, a thin chewy pita they called Bedouin bread, and hummus. After dinner we went to another temple where a Bedouin sheik sat and told us about Bedouin life and played music for us.



A view of the inside of the tent

The next day we started at a nature trail near Avdat. It is a trail through another canyon. This one was made of white chalk which was beautiful, and there were ibex playing all over the sides of the cliffs. The stream running through the canyon led to a trickle of a waterfall which is believed to be the site where Moses struck a stone and water came flowing out for the Israelites. It was such a beautiful walk!  

Ibex on the cliffs



the stream leading to the waterfall



Then we went to Beersheba where Abraham lived for a while, and God saved Hagar and Ishmael from dying in the desert. The ruins we saw are from a much later period than that though. It was a small little town, and was the southern most point of the ancient land of Israel.



When we came back to Jerusalem, Saturday we just walked around town. We stopped at Basil’s store for the last time. Basil is a friend of our professor, and has become a friend of ours too. Since he knows us, he always gives us the best deal he can, and it is so nice to not have to barter. He brings us delicious tea that is for the shopkeepers and tastes like mint and honey. It is just nice to know someone in the city, and he is great for advice about the city and to get a good opinion on the politics and events going on. We will definitely miss him!



Basil with the ladies!

Yesterday was our last day in the city. We had a passion walk, and walked from the garden of Gethsemane, to the site of the upper room of the last supper. Technically we would have to go back to the garden after that, but it is quite an uphill hike, so we only did it once haha. Unfortunately the church that commemorates the high priest’s palace and Peter’s denial was closed. But then we walked to where the praetorian would have been, then to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher where Calvary and the tomb are. We read the passages from Mark that fit all of these places and it was very powerful. It was a good reminder that Jesus’ death and resurrection is the real reason any of us are on the trip, and that any of these sites are even here today. It was a great conclusion to bring the experience of Israel full circle to the real meaning. I finally got to go into the tomb! It was crowded and rushed, and covered with so much marble and decoration that you cant see anything, but just the fact that its probably one of the most archaeologically correct sites in the city made it worth it!



The chapel at the upper room where the last supper took place. The figure on the far right is of a woman because women were certainly present even though they are never depicted.



Then we finally got to go up to the Dome of the Rock. To get there we went through the Western Wall area, and it was fitting that we spent the last day in the city at the holiest sites of each of the three religions. The mosque was so beautiful up close. So vibrant. And the temple mount around it was really neat, like a park with trees and children playing.

A group of us at the Dome of the Rock

We leave for Jordan tomorrow. Our last few days here were spent in retreat, which wass really helpful for processing everything we have done and seen so far and what it means for us. Two weeks from Wednesday I will be back in the US!