We had a long day out of the city of Jerusalem today to the east and the dead sea.   It is the shabbat so much in the city is closed anyway.   

Our first adventure was hiking Ein Gedi to the falls,  the springs where David and his men hid from Saul.   The trail was hard and in places could be slippery but we all made it with no mishaps. The falls were refreshing, but we only wet our feet. 

We traveled on to Masada for the story of the Jewish rebels,  told by Josephus in his record of the Jewish war.   The revolt against Roman rule began in earnest in 66 AD.  The Romans burned the  2nd temple  and Jerusalem was destroyed totally in 70 AD. For 3 more years,  the last remnants,  almost a thousand men,  women and children,  survive atop the mountain among the ruins of the old Herodian winter Palace. In 73, with a Roman Legion, 8000 men under Flavias Silvas bearing down on fortification, the remnant has to admit defeat.   The wall was breached and the next morning all face rape,  murder,  and slavery.  This remnant decided to kill their wives and children,  cast lots for the last to survive and take the lives of the rest, then fall on his sword.   A few widows and children lived to retell the tale. 

After lunch on Qumran, we visited that archeological site. Where in 1947, 2 beduin shepards,  young boys,  threw a rock into a cave and broke a jar containing leather scrolls.   They thought they scored new sandals and took the leather to a shoemaker in Bethlehem who realized the value and just paid the boys off.  The remnants of the scrolls now reside in the Shrine of the Book we visited yesterday,  and they are studied and preserved there.   Parts of All the books of the old testament are there except Esther.  Unfortunately,  when the Romans destroyed the settlement of Qumran and drove the inhabitants out, perhaps to Masada,  they destroyed the scrolls they found in 1 cave,  the closest 1 to the settlement.  Half the scrolls were destroyed in their attack but they missed the rest of the other caves, 12 in number.  The entire book of Isaiah was found pretty much intact!  The manuscript is virtually identical to today’s,  written 200 years BEFORE Christ, validating today’s scripture and the prophesy of Isaiah about the Messiah.   This group MAY have been early believers as their teachings are quite Christian.   

Our last stop,  for those who have never done it,  a float in the Dead Sea.    Watch for photos at https://susandemaggio.smugmug.com/Ein-Gedi-Masada-and-Qumran