October 8-Hiking the Judean Desert

This morning we awoke at 3:45 for our dawn hike up Masada. Masada became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2001. It was a mountain fortress in the Judean Desert overlooking the Dead Sea built by the Hasmonean king, Alexander Janaeus (the brother of Judah Macabbee). Herod, who ruled Israel from 37 B.C.E. toe 4 B.C.E., built a fortress here with huge stockrooms, cisterns, mikvahs (ritual baths) and two palaces. The Romans annexed Judea in 6 B.C.E. and a Roman garrison was stationed here. 72 years later the Great Revolt of the Jews against Rome broke out, and a Jewish sect, the Sicarii, overran the Masada garrison, and took over the fort. As the war ground on with the Jews losing battle after battle to the seasoned Roman Legions, other remaining Jews from the Essenes, the Samaritans, and the Zealots joined the Sicariis for a final stand. In 73 or

74 C.E. the 10^th Roman Legion, nearly 10,000 strong, laid siege to the mountain fortress, and surrounded it with 8 camps and a siege wall. The siege lasted a few months, during which a ramp and siege tower were built. When the fortress wall began to crumble and they felt like they could no longer hold out, the rebel leader convinced the 960 inhabitants that they were better off dying by their own hands than as Roman slaves. When all agreed, the head of each household killed his family, and then was killed by one of ten selected . These 10 held a lottery, and the winner had to kill the other 9 and himself. When the Romans finally breached the wall, they experienced shock and horror at the scene.

The hike up Masada, though short, was a pretty strenuous, at some points approaching vertical. We made it up to the top with several minutes to spare. Sunrise was spectacular! Jonathan then walked us all over the flat top of the mountain doing a great job of explaining all the various component of the fortress. Rather than walking down, we decided to try out the cable car, saving us time, and our legs for our next hike.

Our second hike of the day was climb up the dry wadi, wadi salvadora, a dry creek that fills with rain under flash floods. It is located just north of En Gedi. Though Masada was steep, this hike was more difficult with a fair number of tush slides and hand-over-hand climbs. Toward the end of the hike we had to drop down through a slot canyon (saw these in New Mexico as slot canyons with Toby and Marty) via steel rungs driven into the rock face. It was an exciting hike AND NO ONE GOT HURT.

Driving north the stark differences between the southern Judean Desert and the Gallilee regions are readily apparent. The towering sand stone cliffs are replaced by lush green orchards, grasses, and date palms. Our B&B for the next 3 nights has beautiful views of the Galilee and nicely appointed rooms. Kobi and Jonathan joined us for dinner, and dinner was great. We all retired shortly 9 for a well earned rest.