Sites along the Dead Sea

Today was action packed, a mix of serious history, contemporary realities, and mud-covered fun. We began the day with our guide Ibrahim at Masada, the mountaintop fortress first built by the Hasmonean (a.k.a. Maccabean) kings in the 2nd century BC, enlarged and made luxurious by Herod the Great, and then used as the final holdout of the Jewish rebels in the first revolt against Rome, AD 66-73. The views from the plateau were stunning, and some of Herod’s colorful plaster work survives. From the top, you can still see the outlines of the Roman encampments below, along with the ramp they built to get to up to the fortress.


Next up was Qumran, where the Dead Sea scrolls were written by the Jewish sect called Essenes in the period from roughly 150 BCE to AD 68. Pictures from Qumran will appear in the next post.

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