Dead Sea, Masada, Jericho

by Philip Greenspun; created 2000

Here is a nice, though long, day trip from Jerusalem:

0600: get into car and start driving east from Jerusalem into the Judean Desert then south along the coast of the Dead Sea to Masada; on the other side of the sea, in Jordan, are the mountains where Moses was shown the Land of Israel that he would never be allowed to enter
0800: board cable car for ride up to the mountain top where Herod the Great built his luxury home, Masada
0801: exit cable car and laugh at the sweaty exhausted people who walked up the "snake path" (it took the Roman legions two years to get up this trail)
0900: start heading back north up to Ein Gedi Health Spa, where you can float in the Dead Sea, cover yourself in mud, and swim in a freshwater pool afterwards. Inability to speak Hebrew here won't be a problem; all of the Israeli visitors are speaking Russian.
1200: head north to Qumran, where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered
1400: arrive in Jericho, a 10,000-year-old city and the first town captured by the Israelites under Joshua
1500: take the narrow old Jerusalem road up the Wadi Qelt gorge. Stop to admire the view across to St. George's monastery.
1600: hotel pool.

Navigation is reasonably straightforward for all but the final Jericho/Wadi Qelt bit. There aren't too many roads in the desert. Thus you could take a rental car with confidence if you don't wish to spend the big bucks ($300 or so) on a guide and car for the day.

Leaving Jerusalem

As you leave Jerusalem in the early morning, the light on the city walls and "Jerusalem stone" buildings is very warm:

Masada

Here's the snake path with a reconstructed Roman camp in the foreground ...

Here's a comparison of the snake path and the cable car in the same frame:

Herod only came up to Masada once or twice. The place, however, was fitted out with massive stores, ample water, and hot baths. The view from every part of the palace is superb:

The fame of Masada rests upon the Roman siege of the fortress from AD 70 to AD 73. The Romans had 10,000 men; the Jews numbered only 1,000. When the Romans were on the point of conquering Masada, by dint of having built an earth ramp up the back of the mountain, each Jewish man killed his family and then himself.

Best to take the cable car down now...

Qumran

Arriving at Qumran, you will first find a crowd of people on top of one hill staring across at another:

The stared-at hill contains caves in which jars of linen-wrapped scrolls were hidden in AD 68. The scrolls dates range from the 3rd-century BC up to the Roman conquest of AD 68. Some are portions of the Bible. Some are records of the monastic Essene sect, which had withdrawn from a corrupt society to live simply in the desert.

If you're lucky, on the way north toward Jericho, you'll pass Bedouin herding camels:

Jericho

In the center of Jericho, the camels are more commercialized...

It is easy to see how Jericho would have been a very attractive oasis to those who'd been wandering in the desert:

Now let's go up Wadi Qelt to St. George's Monastery...

PhotoCD scans by Advanced Digital Imaging.

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Efrat Nakash , June 30, 2007; 04:13 A.M.

You are invited to enjoy more photographs from The Dead Sea. You may also find a vast collection of photographs from other unique places in Israel, such as The Judean Desert, The Negev, Jerusalem, The Galilee, The Carmel and Coastal Plane and The Flora of Israel.

Please feel free to contact me for inquiries using my Keep in Touch Page.

Efrat
www.EfratNakash.com

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