Israel Day 9 - Masada, En Gedi, and Riding Camels

After a relaxing evening of worship and fellowshipping with everyone from the trip, we got a good night's rest and woke up for a drive along the Dead Sea. Going through the Negev and Judean deserts seemed like miles of continual wilderness but then out of the rock, we began to see the fortress of Masada. We started out at the tourist center which is where you get on the cable car that takes you to the top of the mountain on which is Masada.

The cable car ride was fun in and of itself. With characters like our tour guide and some of the people from our church, there were lots of comments about the tram falling. Needless to say, Kelly did not find it funny :o) From our view down the mountain, we could see the "snake path". This is a windy path that people used to climb up the mountain to get to Masada. It is steep on both sides of the path and very dangerous to climb.

Masada was built by Herod the Great around 37 BC as a fortification for himself in the event of a revolt by the Jews. It was quite the height of luxury. Under Herod's rule, some of the most amazing buildings were constructed including the Temple in Jerusalem. The same could be said of Masada. There were heated floors and walls in the spa, storehouses for grain and dried foods, cisterns to collect rain water, and amazing frescos on the walls that have been restored and still exist.

The picture below is the remains of the palace porch of Herod that overlooks the Dead Sea

Over the next 90+ years, Herod and his followers left the fortress to make it a simple garrison for the Romans. In 66 AD, as the Jewish Roman war heated up, the Jewish Sicarii or zealots left Jerusalem and defeated the Roman garrison at Masada. Because of the storehouses that Herod built, they were able to fortify Masada and live there for the next few years. In 72 AD, after the fall of Jerusalem, this was the last standout of the Jewish revolt. The Roman soldiers built a camp that can be seen from below the walls of Masada.

They then used Jewish slaves to build the earthen ramp that led all the way up to the top of Masada. They built a siege tower and moved it to the top of the ramp. The Roman soldiers shot flaming arrows at the earthen/wooden door which ended up blowing back onto the siege tower and started a fire. As the story states though, the wind shifted back making the flames set the door on fire. The Roman soldiers waited until the next day to actually break through the gate. What they found was that all but a handful of women and children had committed mass suicide in a final act of rebellion. Here is a picture of the ramp and a final picture of us at Masada:

One of the most amazing things we learned in Masada was a study on the prophecy of the Valley of the Dry Bones in Ezekiel 37. Masada was the place where the last standout of the Jewish state failed after the destruction of the temple in AD 70 and yet we were standing in the state of Israel in the year 2007. Ezekiel 37 is the prophecy of how Israel would once again become a nation and we were experiencing that fulfillment of prophecy.

We then traveled from Masada to En Gedi. I always wondered how this oasis to which David fled could be sitting in the middle of the barren wasteland of the desert. As we drove up to it, we could begin to see the palm trees emerge out of the mountains. It was amazingly beautiful.

We hiked in to the main waterfall. Along the way, we passed a bunch of school groups with kids and their parents. It was bizarre to see all the fathers accompanying the kids with M-16s strapped on their backs along with their cameras. "Hey Dad, can you take a picture?"

The area where the main waterfall is at used to be completely covered. The roof eventually fell in but prior to that, it was a beautiful cave. This was the cave that Saul was in when David cut Saul's robe in 1 Samuel 24.

After a brief stop at the waterfall, we decided to hike up the very steep path to the top of En Gedi. It is not like Oregon trails, there are no safety rails or ropes. It was a little scary but it was such an awesome view. Here is that view:

Here is a view with our friend Colsey climbing up from down below. This was a steep drop off that had a few of us holding our breath.

Once at the top, we were able to take some time and write our own psalms. This was definitely one of my favorite spots. It really brings all of the Psalms to life.

On our way back down, we ran into a few new friends. This rock badger and ibex were pretty interested in all the people. It was awesome to see them scurry around the rocks. It brings new life to the psalms like Psalm 42 and Psalm 104.

It was a beautiful day! We drove back along the Dead Sea and made a quick stop at Qumran, the place where the Dead Sea scrolls were discovered. We finished the evening on the outskirts of Jerusalem at a dinner theater.

Our host was supposed to be Father Abraham and he and his servants served us amazing food while we sat in a Bedouin tent. It was fun but definitely hard to get up off the ground when dinner was done.....with no chairs, it is tough for us 6'10" guys to get up. The best part about the dinner was that we all got a chance to ride some of their camels. Kelly and I got a cute female camel that we found out was pregnant. Just so you know....the Hebrew word for camel is gamel. Boy did I feel dumb when I asked what the Hebrew word for camel was. Oh well, here are some fun pictures of that.

This was definitely one of Kelly's favorite adventures! We had a great time on this day and looked forward to our first day in Jerusalem.