December 27 - Masada, Ein Gedi, and Qumran, by Elizabeth and Dad

We went to Masada and Qumran on December 27. First, we went to Masada.  Masada was a fortress on top of a mountain built by King Herod in 74 BC. Later in history, this was the last place that the Jews were before being defeated by the Romans around 70 AD. But instead of being captured by the Romans, the Jews committed mass suicide.

We decided not to take the cable car up because we took it up last time.  Instead we hiked up.  The hike was long and hard and it was also a snake trail going back and forth across the mountain heading up.  When we finally got to the top there were lots of ancient houses. It was fun to explore Masada. After we hiked down we went to Ein Gedi which is a desert oasis.  Ein Gedi was the place where David hid from King Saul. We had hoped to hike around there but it was mostly closed because of some danger of flooding.  We went to Qumran which was where a Jewish sect lived around the time of Jesus. They were trying to practice a very pure version of Judaisim and were expecting the Messiah to return soon. Qumran is also where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found, which contained most of the Old Testament.

View of Masada looking toward the Dead Sea

Part of the snake path

A bad selfie from atop Masada

View from Masada

View from Masada with Aimee

Looking down the back side of Masada where the Romans built a ramp and in the end were successful to assault Masada and the Jews living there (though the Jews were all dead, except for 2 women and 5 children who had hid from the suicide pact)

The rectangle area was one of the areas where the Romans camped as they were getting ready to  attack Masada

Guest houses for Herod's visitors

Lots of tourists and Jewish student groups coming up part of the snake path

The Dead Sea.  You can see the white salt along the shoreline

We saw a gazelle on our way down