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Holy Hot Spot: My Tour through the Holy Land of Israel, Part 3

By Cara Davis
Apriil 24, 2006

The land of Israel is amazing, if for no other reason than the terrain is so diverse in a country smaller than the size of New Jersey. To the north, there are snow-capped mountains, to the south, rocky hillsides leading into the desert. In the middle of that desert is the lowest spot on earth: the Dead Sea. It’s the lowest spot on earth (1,400 feet below sea level); it’s the saltiest body of water (33 percent more than the ocean); and is the deepest hypersaline body of water. I guess that’s a fancy way of saying it’s a pretty good size body of water and nothing lives in it (except some micro-bacteria-fungus-something or other).

Less commonly known as the Sea of Lot, the Dead Sea has attracted visitors for centuries. David used it as a place of refuge. Herod the Great used it as a resort. Egyptians used products from the mud and water for mummification and potash (potassium in the salt deposits) as fertilizer.

Today, a small number of resorts pepper the beach line. Those with dermatological diseases like psoriasis come for a week of treatment and can get relief for up to two years, our tour guide told us. UV rays from the sun are less pronounced at this level, so it takes much longer for the skin to get burned or damaged.

A large cosmetic factory overlooks the sea as well. Lotions, makeup, soaps and other cosmetics with botanical extracts have become a major export of this area.

We headed to this southern region in the middle of our 10-day trip from Jerusalem, where we were staying at night. After about an hour and a half we were in the middle of the desert, which was a mixture of rolling sand dunes and sandy-colored rocky mountains. The highways are relatively new, so it was a smooth ride.

Every five minutes or so on our way to the Dead Sea region we’d pass a Bedouin camp, where people who don’t claim citizenship to any country live in shanty town communities. Ironically, amid the junk, brightly colored fabrics and makeshift shacks, we saw satellite dishes and even an old Mercedes Benz. Once we got closer to the attractions, we often saw Bedouin men with camels, offering rides to the tourists.

Masada

Our first stop was Masada. Once you arrive at the visitor’s center, you can take a cable car up to the top of the mountain where a set of impressive ruins remain, or walk up the ancient, small, winding trail known as the “Snake Path.” The mountain is a natural impenetrable fortress—walking up the path was not going to be easy. We took the cable car.

Herod the Great originally fled from Jerusalem to Masada in 40 BC when he felt a military threat. He decided that Masada was a great place to further build up and fortify to protect him and the southern part of Israel from invaders (namely Cleopatra from Egypt). He erected many buildings in the years following and it appears to have become more than a fortress, but a luxury resort, with an impressive water supply system, steam baths, storage rooms galore for foods and grains and just about anything else a king would want.

Nearly 70 years after Herod’s death, the Romans began to invade Israel and overthrew Jerusalem. A group of rebel Jews retreated to Masada for protection. For three years, fighters and refugees made their way across the desert to seek refuge and defend the fort. Finally, the Romans decided to suppress this last outpost of defense. Eight Roman camps surrounded the mountain and a wall was erected so no rebel could escape. Thousands of slaves, many of them Jewish, were ordered to build a ramp up to the stone wall fortifying the city (remains of the ramp are still visible today as are ruins of the Roman camps around the mountain). Nine months later they burst through the stone wall, but the rebels had built an internal wall of mud and wood that they couldn’t immediately bust through.

On the day of the final attack when the wall was destroyed by fire, the leader of the Jews, Eleazar, made a rousing appeal to the Jewish community to not let the Romans overtake them. Better to die free than to be taken as a slave, he said. They agreed. They set fire to their belongings and storehouses, so the Romans couldn’t pillage when they did overtake them. Then 10 leaders chosen by a lot killed sections and then committed suicide. Our tour guide told us that a small slit was made in the neck by the jugular vein as people lay down and went to sleep as the blood left their body. All but about seven Jews took their lives that day (two women and five children survived by hiding in a cave. They told the story to Josephus, a Jew who the Romans brought along to write about their conquests). The Romans were dumbfounded. A Roman garrison remained there for some years.

Qumran

From there, we made our way to Qumran, the site of the discovery of the “Dead Sea Scrolls,” the oldest, most complete set of Bible writings ever found. A Bedouin shepherd boy found the cave in 1949 while he was in search of a wayward goat. In addition to these seven scrolls, more than 700 additional manuscripts have been discovered in various caves on these mountains. Most of the writings date back to the second temple time (the time of Herod the Great when Jesus was alive) and are credited to a monastic community made up of an extreme sect of Jews whose foundational belief was that the end of days would happen soon, and along with it, a war between “the sons of light and the sons of darkness.” They observed extreme rituals of purity and other traditions of a communal lifestyle (having all possessions in common, eating together, calls to prayer, etc). We learned on our trip there that many believe John the Baptist spent time at this commune.

The Dead Sea

At the close of our day we headed beachside to the Dead Sea. A little beach area with a snack stand and bar (playing really bad club-type music), gift shop and towel rentals had been set up and probably close to 200 people were on the beach at the time. Many in our group changed into bathing suits and went for a dip. Those who went for a swim remarked at how difficult it was to stand in the water; your legs pop out from under you and you float with no effort. It was pretty funny to see.

I dipped my hand in the water and took a couple of rocks as souvenirs. The water strangely feels greasy. And we were warned not to get it anywhere close to our eyes. A few bathers did and paid for it dearly. Most smeared dark green mud from the bottom of the sea all over them. The minerals in the mud are supposed to be really good for your skin. But I got the impression that it’s more myth than fact. Some other visitors took water bottles, buckets and other empty containers and filled them with the greasy dark mud that lined the bottom of the sea. This is the same mud that the cosmetic factory packages and sells for a premium!

On our way out of the area, our tour bus slowed down for our tour guide to point out a black mark on the rock, about five feet up from the road. He told us that years ago (before the new highways were built), the level of the Dead Sea reached as far as that mark.

The levels of the sea have been depleted by irrigation and a lack of water flowing in from the Jordan River (due to diversion of the “sweet” water by Israel and Jordan). Evaporation and low rain fall also play a role. It’s evident even in pictures how far the waters have receded.

The Jordan River

This river flows through Israel, Palestine and Jordan—starting where two rivers in Lebanon and Syria meet. What’s interesting about this river is its importance to Israel’s agriculture. The amount of water the river carries has decreased over the years, due to the large-scale irrigation efforts and low rainfall. What has further irritated this problem is a peace agreement signed between Israel and Jordan in 1995. Basically, in order to keep peace with Jordan, Israel agrees to give them fresh water.

Just as nearly every other notable place we visited on our trip, the Jordan River had a gift shop and restaurant on the banks of the traditional baptizing place. Guardrails and ramps lead into the water and visitors who are baptized are provided with white robes. Several with our tour group donned the white robes (with bathing suits underneath) and lined up in the chilly water. My grandfather baptized nearly 10 people that day. No one seemed to mind the frigid water.

In fact, a highlight of my trip was when one person in our group shared with us that this was her first time to be baptized at all (not to mention in Jesus’ name) and the first time she took communion (which happened toward the end of the trip in Jerusalem). She was in tears as she told us what a life-changing spiritual journey this trip was for her.

What was life-changing for me was the Sunday morning after I came home from our trip and realized the presence of God that I felt in that ordinary Sunday morning service was more extraordinary than anything I experienced in our 10-day tour of the Holy Lands.

Final week: Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Caesarea and Megiddo

ninetyandnine.com

© 2006, Cara Davis

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Cara Davis is a contributing editor to ninetyandnine.com. She’s the editorial director of RELEVANT Media Group and the editor of a new magazine for women called Radiant. She blogs at www.cheapwaysto.com.