We headed to see Masada, a magnificent palace and compound built by Herod the Great on top of a mountain overlookinng the Dead Sea. There is a trail you can walk up to the top - or you can do what we did and take a cable car to the top. Not a ride for the faint of heart.
Masada was the sight where Jewish freedom fighters took a stand against the Romans. Although it didn't end well for the freedom fighters, the sight has become a cultural icon.
After Masada we moved on to Qumran, the sight of the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls. I was particularly interested in this as I took a seminary class on the Dead Sea Scrolls taught by Dr. John Kampen, a Dead Sea Scrolls scholar and one of the professors leading this trip. It was a thrill to be in the location we had studied with an expert in the field.
Cave 4, the cave where the majority of the fragments were found:
After Qumran we had lunch (the food has been fantastic!) and then stopped to float in the Dead Sea. The Sea has so much salt that you naturally raise to the top and float. While floating, I started talking to an American woman nearby who I came to find out, believe it or not, grew up in the church in Lancaster where Rev. Tussing used to serve - so Rev. Tussing was her childhood pastor! You just never know who you'll run into in the Dead Sea!
Finally made our way to Jerusalem where we'll be for the next few days. After dinner some of us wondered the streets nearby just to get a small taste of the city:
More on Jerusalem in the coming days.
Shalom,
Lisa
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