Our final exploration of Israel revealed the desert of Israel that we had always imagined to constitute the whole of Israel. It’s funny that most of our journeys in Israel would take us to such green and fruitful places. The phrase “a land flowing with milk and honey” seems very appropriate to describe Israel. But finally, we experienced the desert in a small way. And it was a bit surprising. I expected intense heat. But it was rather cold. When we visited Tel Beer-sheva and Massada, it felt as if we would be blown away by the wind pushing relentlessly across the mountains.
Our last Sunday in Israel was a bit of a whirlwind day. We woke up fairly early, ate breakfast at the hostel (not as good as the breakfast at the other hostel), and then left for Tel Beer-sheva.
TEL BEER-SHEVA
Tel Beer-sheva is a National park that was a real treat to see. Archealogists had uncovered a 3000-year old planned city built around the time of King David. It is one of the oldest planned cities ever discovered. The reason they can tell that it is planned is that the city was built into cocentric circles. We walked around the circles, looking at the ruins in such an up-close and personal way. Usually, when you see ruins, you are peering over a fence or squinting in the distance, trying to imagine what it really looked like. The ruins have been partially rebuilt so you get a sense of what things looked like. The best part of city was going into the water cistern. It was amazing to carefully walk down all the steps, stand in the cistern and then ascend again. We all had to wear hard hats. I know I’m not really describing this well, but it was a cool experience.
The Desert
We had to drive through a portion of the Negrev Desert or Wilderness to come to Massada. The scenery was amazing. Part of it was covered with grass. We saw Bedouin herding their sheep and camels roaming around. That was an fun! And then, we left the grassy areas which reminded me the drive between Thermopolis and Cody. We began to see the stark land–barren of trees, flowers, bushes, grasses, etc. The descent was a bit steep as we were driving up the east coast of the Dead Sea. The Dead Sea is the lowest place on earth–some 1200 feet below sea level. Mountains border the Dead Sea. The mountains really are dramatic–they appear to support very little animal or plant life–and they rise above the sea. Everything seems to shout out how inhospitable and uninhabitable the area is.
Massada
Massada is a mountain that was often a refuge for zealots. Herod the Great had another grand building scheme and ordered a dramatic palace to be built on the side of the mountain with places for soldiers. He never really used it though. The place is famous because of a group of Jews that escaped to Massada during the Jewish revolt (shaky on the dates here–around 70 a.d.) and nearly survived a seige by Roman soldiers. When it became apparent that the Romans would succeed in the seige, the captain of the group persuaded the rest of the soldiers to commit suicide rather than succumb to the Romans. This they did, leaving only a few survivors to tell the tale. Massada is an important place for modern Israel. Often, groups of newly trained Israeli soldiers will have their “swearing-in” ceremony here, promising that Massada will not fall again.
We purchased tickets to the cable car–thereby missing the hour-long hike up the trail. The tickets were outrageously expensive, but given my fear of narrow stairs and narrow mountain paths, plus four small children, the expense was worthwhile.
I’m not going to go into detail about the ruins because it was rather windy and we kept getting sand in our eyes. We were also on a tight time schedule, so I wasn’t able to see everything. The bathhouse was fascinating. And Brent was able to see the seige ramp and Herod’s palace. If you want to read about Massada, you can easily do a google search and find all the interesting details.
The Dead Sea
I’ve heard a lot about the Dead Sea, but after spending time in Israel, I learned a lot more about its healthful properties. The Dead Sea has anywhere from 27-32 % salinity. The Mediterranean Sea has about 3 % salinity. Only a few types of bacteria are actually able to survive in the sea, otherwise no fish or plant life exist in the sea.
Both Israel and Jordan (Israel’s neighbor on the West) mine the sea heavily for minerals and salt. Both countries have exploited it and so the sea is becoming smaller. Israel has built several health resorts and people will all types of reumatic conditions, skin diseases, and arthritis come to spend time at the Dead Sea. Because the Dead Sea has such a low elevation, it is very difficult to burn. This is great for people who have serious skin conditions but are sensitive to the sun. (For, example, I am now very sensitive to the sun because of my lupus. But I had no problems at the Dead Sea. It felt wonderful.)
We all wanted to float in the sea, but it started to rain just as we were leaving Massada so I wondered if we would manage it. But suddenly, the skies cleared and we were able to go to Ein Gedi Beach (Ein Gedi is a famous oasis. David hid out here when Saul was trying to kill him.)
We changed into our clothes and walked down to the beach. I got into the water first and discovered that it really is true–you do float in the Dead Sea without any effort. The water felt wonderful. I can easily see how theraputic it would be to go to the sea, put some mud on your face, and then float in the sea. When I got out, my skin felt oily from the thick salt. The boys didn’t really swim because the water stings if you have any cuts on your skin. Also, the bottom is so rocky that it really hurts your feet. I cut my feet up pretty badly. The boys looked for pieces of salt that were on the rocks and collected some rocks to take home. Brent had his turn in the water and enjoyed it just as much as I did.
If I ever had a chance to go back to Israel, I would take more time in the desert as there was so much that we missed. It was an intense place of a type of desolate wildness and loneliness that reminded me a bit of Wyoming.
Leave a Reply