Welcome to the Dead Sea!

On the Monday after Easter, we rented a car and headed out of Jerusalem to the Dead Sea.  We reserved a room in the resort community of Ein Bokek.  Along the road from Jerusalem we passed numerous Bedouin encampments.

That's our hotel in the distance near the water's edge.

We had a spectacular view of the Dead Sea from the balcony of our room.

I even went down to the Dead Sea a couple of times and floated.  You really can't swim and you can't sink.  The water is so mineral laden that there is no plant or fish life in the water.  The Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea  are both fed by the Jordan River.  But in contrast to the Sea of Galilee when the river flows into the Dead Sea there is no outlet so the further south you go in the Dead Sea the more barren it becomes until you reach where I went floating!

The Western Shore of the Dead Sea includes several really interesting sites. Ein Gedi is a very lush oasis in the midst of pretty barren terrain.  This is the place where David took refuge when fleeing from King Saul (I Samuel 24).

 Beautiful waterfalls!

Great view out to the Dead Sea!

My favorite--a large herd of ibex!

Masada is one of the more well known sites in Israel.  The fortress dates back to the 1st or 2nd century B. C.  but was enlarged by King Herod the Great but was ultimately captured by the Romans in AD 73after a prolonged siege that became the script for a movie entitled Masada, which is well worth  watching.  Masada is a mountain top fortress about 1,300 feet above the banks of the Dead Sea.  

You reach the top via a hiking trail (NOT!) or the cable car (YES!)

At the top are ruins from the fortress and the community who lived here.

Plus incredible views down the mountain and out to the Dead Sea.  

There were several palaces on the mountain.  Here is the path down to the Northern Palace. or Hanging Palace, since it hangs off the northern slope of the mountain.

Which included these remains of a large banquet hall built by Herod as part of his private residence.

In the next blog I will share our experiences at Qumran where the Dead Sea scrolls were found as well as Sodom and the remains of Lot's wife!

We now have less than a month before our sabbatical time ends, please pray that we will finish well here--complete the tasks we are doing for the work here and take time to capture all that God has said to us during our time in Israel.  Thanks!