Day 8, Israel 2023

It was another beautiful morning in Dead Sea, Israel!  The funniest thing happened this morning before we bade the beautiful area good-bye.  I woke up in such a fog….slept great, but had a hard time getting going.  So, I was sitting on the little settee, drinking my coffee, minding own business, trying to become human…The next thing I know, a pigeon comes walking into the room, through the sliding glass door off the balcony!  (We were on the 11th floor.)  I tried to be chill, because I certainly did not want to startle it into flying around the room.  Fortunately, after a few seconds, it just turned around and waddled out!  HAHA!  

Our first stop today was Masada National Park.

In the first century CE, Masada, a high plateau near the shore of the Dead Sea, was the Southern home to the Judean king, Herod the Great, who had it built around 35 BCE.  Despite or because of its remote location, it had to be a very efficient operation.  Huge storehouses for food and weapons were necessary, as well as the ability to produce some food and make some weapons as needed.  Water, of course, was also necessary.  To provide enough water to sustain a population of hundreds and perhaps over 1000, numerous cisterns that held a total of 11 million gallons of water were constructed, along with elaborate water channels. Evidence of all these processes can be found at Masada, in addition to a synagogue, a Western and a Northern palace, a couple of swimming pools, a governmental center, the commandant's quarters, a special area for raising doves and more.

I had been at Masada back in 2018, but like many of the sights I am seeing again on this trip, there are some changes and enhancements.  One was particularly intriguing.  Inside the ruins of the synagogue, there is an area of that structure known as the geniza.  A geniza is the room in the synagogue where marred scrolls or Torah pages go after they have been decommissioned.  It is believed to be a bad thing to simply destroy such holy documents.  So, often, they were stored in an area where they were respectfully kept indefinitely.  But, regardless, in this area of the synagogue ruins, you can find a legit Hebrew scribe.  He sits there and copies Torah.  He will do a commissioned work for you if you strike a deal with him.  One figure I heard kicked around was the entire book of Esther, for $4500.  At any rate, I made a photo of him working, and it can be found on the Resplendent Daughter Ministries Facebook page with the other photos from today.  But, back to the history lesson - - 

It took the Romans about four years to subdue the Jews of Palestine.  They burned the Temple in Jerusalem in 70 CE, but Masada was "the last holdout" of The Resistance, also known as the Sicarii, a splinter group of the Jewish Zealots.  In Greek, Sicarii was translated into Iscariot, a famous biblical figure being Judas Iscariot.  It was not just soldiers who lived there at that time, but also their wives and children.  The Romans built a ramp of dirt and stones, outside the western wall of the fortress.  Using this device they were able to breach the fortifications of the Jewish soldiers.  Although the Zealots fought valiantly, it became plain that the Romans would be overrunning the encampment the next morning.  Sadly, the leader of the group asked that each soldier kill his wife and children before killing himself, and the last remaining soldiers drew lots to see who would be "the last man standing".  A group of lots has been excavated, and it is believed that these were the lots used for this purpose.  Although this is disputed, it is said that almost 1000 people died.  When the Romans arrived the next morning, they found only a couple of women and children who had been spared.  

In the first years of the new Israel, from 1948 CE to 1967 CE, the Israeli Defense Forces inducted their new soldiers at Masada, making certain they knew the history of that place.  A motto became “Masada will never fall again!” Later, after the Six-Day War, when Jerusalem had been regained by the nation of Israel, the induction ceremonies began to take place at the Kotel (the Western Wall).

In the fifth and sixth centuries, Byzantine monks inhabited Masada.  It was extensively excavated in the 1960s by Israeli archeologists.

After leaving Masada, we went to a factory for the number one body care company in Israel, Ahava.  They shared about how they make their products, and some of us shopped.  (I did not, because I sell similar products from another company, but I won’t get into that here, lol.)  It was a nice diversion.

The next place we went was to the En Gedi Nature Preserve. “Ein” in Hebrew means “spring” (not the season).  It is not far from Masada and is on the way to Jerusalem.  This is the area where David hid from King Saul.  There are many caves and streams in the area, and you can envision how David could have crept up on Saul in the cave while he was “covering his feet”, as described in I Samuel 24:3.  This is a Hebrew idiom for using the toilet and having a bowel movement.  (Source: Mishnah, Tractate Yoma, Chapter 3). It was a moment when David could have easily killed Saul, and taken the throne from him.  :)

Instead, what David did was cut off the edges of his garment (his tzit tzit).  Later, when David showed Saul the portion he had cut off, Saul realized how close he had come.

By the 1960s hunting had almost wiped out the ibexes population of the En Gedi. A few hundred ibexes now live in the reserve during the day they wander the level areas and at night they ascend the cliffs to find a safe place to sleep. Ibexes are still endangered in Israel and worldwide. The population of ibexes in this reserve is now one of the largest concentrations of the species in the world.

The high mountains are for the wild goats; the rocks are a refuge for the rock badgers. 

Psalm 104:18 

Ibexes are small wild goats that also resemble deer.  Coney is another name for rock badger; and I saw both of these. Foxes and bats and tiny rodents also roam the reserves. 

We walked to the Lower Falls.  They were super large, but in this region, floods and landslides are common. People asked about climbing to the Upper Falls; but, they were an hour away, each way, and it was too hot today - - not recommended for us to go.

The pools of En Gedi team with life, freshwater crabs, marsh frogs, and black freshwater snails are found here, as well as various species of dragonfly, revealing the balance to freshwater ecosystems. 

The reserve was once rich and vegetation typical of hot, well-watered areas. The extinction of most of these plans led to a decision to re-introduce them. Since 2009, thousands of rare trees and shrubs have thrived.

After we left the nature preserve, we began to ascend to Jerusalem.  Everyone was very excited to arrive!  It felt great to unpack and know it would be our last time to do that on this trip.  We have had very nice accommodations.  Then, it was off to have dinner and that was my day.  My roommate went shopping after dinner, but I did not go.

Search for McClintock-Strong’s Cyclopedia article on the Dead Sea, if you are interested in reading more about the area.  It’s a great article!