Israel: Tour Day 7 - A hike up Masada and a Bedouin dinner

I woke early to be sure I was up in time to catch the bus with a group of us who hoped to take advantage of the coolest part of the day, to hike up the mountain fortress of Masada, next to the Dead Sea. I managed to get out of the hotel with just enough time to walk down to the beach before the bus left, and watch the sunrise over the Dead Sea.

<----Early morning swimmers watching the sunrise from the Dead Sea

According to Josephus, king Herod built Masada as a refuge for himself and his family between 37 and 31 BC. At the beginning of the Great Revolt of the Jews against the Romans in 66 CE, a group of Jewish rebels overcame the Roman garrison and were soon joined by others as one of the last strongholds of resistance against Roman occupation in Israel.

These Zealots, by all accounts, were not exactly nice people. They were called the Sicarii, named after the knives they wore to assassinate fellow Jews who disagreed with their strict code of religious practice. Philosophically, the Sicarii resolved "never to be servants to the Romans, nor to any other than to God himself". After the fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE, they were joined by other Zealots and their families who had fled from the city.

Regardless of what we think of them now, this small band of 967 Jews held out against the mightiest army in the world for three years. Using Jewish slave labor conscripted from elsewhere in Israel, the Roman army completed a massive rampart in 74 CE, consisting of thousands of tons of stones and beaten earth. It was constructed against the western approaches of the fortress, making it possible to bring a battering ram up the ramp to breach the wall of the fortress.

Once the fall of Masada became imminent, Elazar ben Yair, the Zealots' leader, decided that all the Jewish defenders - men, women and children - should burn the fortress and commit suicide. According to the ancient historian Josephus, who is our only contemporary source of what happened at Masada, two women and five children managed to hide themselves during the mass suicide. One of these women was apparently standing outside the synagogue where a meeting was taking place to discuss the situation, and, on overhearing what was being said, was therefore alerted to the plan. It is said that she later gave Josephus the eye-witness account of Elazar ben Yair's final speech in which he said the Sicarii were being punished by God for what they had done to their fellow Jews, but that they should "prefer death before slavery." By the time the Romans arrived in the city, they found the inhabitants dead. The Sicarii had, however, taken care not to destroy their abundant grain and food stores. They did this as a parting message to the Romans that the inhabitants had not killed themselves because of the effects of the long siege, but rather because they did not want to be taken captive.

Our hike up Masada
A group of us made the time-honored tradition of climbing Masada, using the "snake path", so named because of its steep, winding ascent. The hike generally takes about 45 minutes for a reasonably fit person. Generally, this is done before dawn to avoid the desert heat and to watch the sunrise over the Dead Sea. Others in our group opted to take a short cable car ride to the summit.

When we reached the top, we saw the remains of the magnificent mountain fortress Herod had built over two thousand years ago. It included a sophisticated system to collect the scarce water in the desert and collect it into cisterns. Herod's slaves would then carry it up the mountain in clay jars. It was remarkably effective. In a desert where the average rainfall is only 50 mm per year, cisterns on the mountaintop delivered 40,000 liters of water per year to inhabitants living there.

We walked past the incredible vistas of the western siege ramp, and ruins of the Roman encampments far below.

<----Siege ramp, a small mountain in itself, built by Jewish slaves to reach the base of the walls of Masada. In the upper center is a small square containing graves of the ancient Jewish defenders found by archaeologists to date (click to enlarge). The sheer depth of the sight hundreds of feet below is difficult to capture in this photo.

A few steps further, we stopped at what is now believed to be the original synagogue where Elazar ben Yair gave his last speech. During the time of Herod, it was likely used as horse stables. However, the arrangement of seats and discovery of parts of a service book found in the building suggests the Siccari used it for religious purposes when they occupied it.

Synagogue at Masada---->

Facing the Dead Sea was King Herod's northern palace, on top of cliffs over three hundred feet high.













There, storage rooms were located that have since been found by archeologists to contain ancient grains and other foods. In fact, a Time magazine article announced only two months ago, that two date seeds, found there, had been carefully planted, and, amazingly grew two live date trees. The seed husks, clinging to the roots of these trees were carbon dated to nearly 2000 years ago, placing them at the time of the Roman siege. They are considered to be the oldest seeds in the world to have germinated. Yehuda has actually seen the trees, which is quite rare, as they have been kept carefully isolated in order to prevent exposure to modern diseases that might harm them. One of the trees has been affectionately named "Methuselah"in honor of its longevity.

It is clear to see, from this mountain vantage point, how difficult it must have been for an army to invade this fortress. One of the reasons is the desert itself. Only Engedde had water anywhere nearby, a days walk from Masada. Herod shrewdly knew this would force armies to approach from that direction, allowing him to escape via a 'back door' route if the situation seemed desperate.

<----Ruins of one of six Roman encampments at the base of the mountain where armies laid siege

A Bar Mitzvah on the top of Masada

A highlight of our trek up the mountain was a Bar Mitzvah, planned months in advance of our trip, for Jordan Moss. A large contingent of the Moss family, including the two Moss brothers and their families, as well as Jordan's grandparents, joined us on the tour for the event. We sat at the mountain top, under the canopy of an ancient dwelling place that had been set aside for such special occasions. Below us, we could see the Dead Sea in the distance, and desert mountains to the west. Singing and worshiping through the service with the Rabbi and our friends for Jordan's Bar Mitzvah, in this amazing place, will never be forgotten. It was an absolutely incredible experience.

Swimming in the Dead Sea
We returned from Masada hot, and dehydrated. After lathering an extra layer of suntan lotion, the kids made a beeline for the pool. Hilary, Naomi and I crashed in the hotel room for a while, but, soon Rebecca came back with glowing reports of her swim in the Dead Sea. "You've just GOT to do it, it's AMAZING". With that, we put on our swimming trunks and headed out in to the blistering afternoon heat.

The swim was truly amazing. At 37% salt, we bobbed like corks above water that was the temperature of an uncomfortably hot jacuzzi. Yehuda had warned us not to drink or inhale the water. At that level of salinity, it could cause major damage to airways. I actually took a tiny drop to taste. The salt and minerals burned my tongue. The landscape was weird. Rocks on the shoreline were encrusted with salt crystals.

Salt crystals on stones at the water's edge---->

The 'beach' below the water was even stranger still. I felt I was walking on white stones. When I reached down into the water, however, I pulled out ping-pong ball sized round salt crystals. We carefully collected some of them to bring home.

Swimming, however, proved to be both interesting, and very short. Within a few minutes, we felt our bodies starting to react to the high salt content. Staying in was definitely not healthy! We quickly left and showered in outdoor stalls provided for this purpose. Within minutes, the desert heat dried us as if we were in a hot air blower. Back at the hotel, we cooled off, and relaxed until dinner.

Dinner with the Bedouins

The dinner tonight was certainly different from anything we have experienced on the trip so far. Climbing back on the bus, we drove through the desert for nearly an hour, through barren land that looked completely incapable of supporting vegetation, let alone animals or human life.

The Bedouin (Arabic for "desert dweller") somehow manage to do so. They are true masters of finding water. Yehuda mentioned that they store scarce food reserves in hidden caves, consisting of a hard bread which can be stored for months. Softened with water or tea and combined with cheese, it makes a simple, life-sustaining meal.

Bedouin Dinner

Our Bedouin dinner, I was relieved to find out later, was a step above that. Our destination was a Bedouin encampment near the desert town of Arat, following after a bus ride that took us up 1400 feet above the dead sea on a steep, winding road. Our bus driver, perhaps feeling we were a bit behind schedule, unfortunately drove the bus like a sports car, causing several of us to shout in alarm, "slow down!". Fortunately, a slow truck forced the driver to take it a bit easier, until it turned off the road.

Arat is a fairly large, town. Given that it is located at the top of a barren hill, the town itself is surprisingly lush with a wide variety of trees and modern homes. We quickly passed through the town, and were immediately plunged into barren desert hills. An oasis is just that. Without water, nothing can live.

A few minutes outside of Arat, we found ourselves approaching a group of tents set within a cluster of palm trees in the middle of an arid valley. There, we were greeted by a friendly Bedouin man in traditional clothes, and were taken inside a tent that felt completely authentic. A fellow Bedouin tended a small fire and served us sweet tea and a flat bread, cooked on a pan in front of us. The person who greeted us was quite entertaining. He was, "in real life", not only a desert Bedouin, but a highly educated man, specializing in musicology at Hebrew University. He poked fun at the "authentic" image created for us, pointing out the traditional white cotton clothes he wore were made in China. He explained that, according to Bedouin desert law, anyone is welcome to stay in the community for three days, in tents that are traditionally separated for women and men.

Three cups of coffee is presented to visitors. Each has significance, as part of Bedouin hospitality. We received only one after our taste of sweet tea, but we got the idea. The coffee, which is delicious, was roasted over the fire and ground by hand in a rhythmic, musical motion using a hollow drum in which a wooden post was inserted with a curious knocking sound.







Before long, our host had one of our kids happily playing music with him, The use of this tool is, in fact two-fold, one to grind coffee, and the other to make music. Music is a part of traditional Bedouin life, and is a major part of weddings that used to last several weeks.

These days, there are approximately 160,000 Bedouins living in Israel. Most have settled into Bedouin towns. Homes are modern, not the tents that we were sitting in. But their desert roots are very much a part of their heritage, much like the far North is part of the Canadian Inuit. Although Bedouins do not have to be in military service, which is otherwise mandatory for all Israelis, they often provide valuable desert intelligence when needed.

We were then taken outside for a camel ride in the desert. Despite the availability of jeeps and other desert vehicles, Camels are still the traditional workhorse of the Bedouins. Weighing about 500 kg, they act as a small jeep and can often go where no vehicle can. Getting on a camel is much like stepping on an elevator. The camel knelt down so that we could sit on top easily, then, after a quick signal from the Bedouin leader, it raised itself with a lurch. Off we went, riding out to the perimeter of the encampment.

Such a gentle expression! --->

The kids loved it, and I did, too! Even Hilary joined in. Riding a camel is not unlike a pony ride, but two people can comfortably ride on either side of its great hump in the middle.

Our Bedouin dinner came after the camel ride, making a late dinner. Thanks to the refreshments we had when we arrived, the kids were not too desperate. Dinner was simple, meat (lamb?) on a skewer, flat pan-fried bread and vegetables, fresh fruits. A number of groups from other tours were in adjoining tents. One of them, a Christian youth group from Holland, began singing. The music was lovely, adding to a beautiful desert evening.




It's past 10:00 PM now, and we're about to turn into the hotel after our bus ride home. I am writing this on my blackberry, in near darkness.

We have to pack tonight as we're moving on in the morning. Wake up call is at 6:15 am, so we'll have to complete packing quickly to get enough rest. We will be in Jerusalem tomorrow!