Masada and the Dead Sea

We spent our next day at Masada and the Dead Sea.  It's was all a day trip from Jerusalem.  

We stopped first at an Ahava store.  Ahava (http://www.ahava.com) is a company that makes cosmetic and beauty products.  The majority of the world's beauty products come from the muds and minerals found at the Dead Sea.  I bought some mud for my mother and sister and there was a little men's kit with shower gel, shampoo, and soothing aftershave on clearance that I got for myself.

Masada is an ancient fortification that sits on the eastern edge of the Judean desert overlooking the Dead Sea.  It's famous because after the first Roman-Jewish war, rather than surrender, the Jewish Sacaraii who inhabited the mountain fortress committed mass suicide.

Masada was constructed by Herod between 37 and 31 BC as a fortress in the event of a revolt.  In 66AD, the fortress was inhabited by radical Jewish Zealots called the Sacaraii.  After the destruction of the Second Temple, more Sacaraii and their families sought refuge at Masada.  Once defeat by the Romans was all but certain, the zealots drew lots and took turns killing each other.  In the end, only one man would have to commit suicide.  Suicide is strongly discouraged in Judaism for any reason, so the zealots were very methodical for doing this way.

Below are copies of the pottery shards, or lots, that were found at the site.  These were drawn by the zealots to determine who would be the last one standing, and thus the one who has to commit suicide.

The site sits about 1300 feet on top of a mountain with beautiful views of the Dead Sea and Jordan beyond.  Some of our group opted to walk up the mountain, but most of us decided to take the lazy way up and ride the cable car.

Chuck, one of our hikers, arrived at the top all sweaty and exhausted, but still in paradise since his Blackberry had a signal!

It's normally hot as blazes, but the day that we were there it was strangely mild.

From Masada, we made our way to the Dead Sea to float for a while.  I had floated at the Dead Sea last year when I was on the Jordanian side.  It is the lowest point on earth and the water is the saltiest with a salinity rate of 33.7%.

You can't really swim in it.  You sort of just "bob" along.  We visited a little private beach and had a few hours to enjoy the area.

Before heading back to Jerusalem, we made our way to Qumran for a quick visit to see the site where the Dead Sea scrolls were discovered.  We actually saw the scrolls the previous day at the museum in Jerusalem (and it was kind of underwhelming, so much so in fact that it didn't even make the blog).  The site closed as we arrived, but our tour guide sneaked us in anyway.  We finally had to leave when the gal at the ticket office started making P.A's over the loud speaker saying "Please Leave.  We want to go home!"