The Dead Sea

It has been an absolutely beautiful day at the Dead Sea. We slept in this morning (until 8:00am) and had a typical Israeli breakfast with lots of cheese and salads. We spent the morning on Masada. There is nothing written about Masada in the Bible. It is pure history that makes it amazing. Herod built a palace on top of Masada between 37 - 31 BCE. After the destruction of the second Temple in 70 CE a group of Jewish Rebels settled on the mountaintop. In 73 CE the Roman legion surrounded Masada and built a ramp to capture the Jews. The story was retold first hand by Flavius Josephus, a Jewish Historian in his book - The War of the Jews.  The Jewish rebels would rather die than be enslaved to the Romans and they all took their lives. The words "live free or die" remain today.

3 minute cable car up to the top of Masada


people walking down the snake path

the snake path takes 60-90 minutes to walk to the top of Masada

view from the top

It is common for Bat Mitzvahs to take place on top of Masada. I assume this is why the Torah Scroll was there.

look out from an old window

looking below at the remains of Herods Palace

A Torah Scroll being hand written by a scribe in the synagogue of the palace

we were below sea level

We went back to the hotel afterwards and enjoyed floating in the pool and a massage. Sorry we didn't take any pictures.

our hotel

Good night from the Dead Sea. Tomorrow ... Jerusalem!



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