After leaving the Dead Sea, we backtracked slightly to head to the fortress of Masada, built on top of a large mountain. The fortress was built by King Herod, and was nearly impenetrable, an aqueduct carried water to the fortress (which is in the middle of a desert), it was only accessible through a single narrow path up the mountain, and gardens and livestock could be kept to grow food. Near the end of the first century, the Jewish zealots made their last stand at Masada, being able to hold the Romans off for 5 years before a siege ramp was constructed, and rather than being taken prisoner, the Zealots committed suicide. It is also a probable location for David’s desert “stronghold” which has never truly been found.
Our plan was to climb up the snake path before the desert heat set it, unfortunately (or perhaps not so unfortunately) the authorities had closed the path down before we got there. So instead we had to ride the gondola to the top of the mountain. There was much to see on top, and we explored many cool places, before climbing down the same siege ramp the romans had built 2000 years prior.
From there we headed up the canyon into the desert where we stopped to eat lunch at a Bedouin settlement. The Bedouin people used to be nomadic desert tribes, but in recent years have been forced to settle in one area, mostly out of convenience. This paticular settlement is actually a resort, where people can stay to learn about the Bedouin, enjoy their glorious hospitality, and mountains of food, as well as ride their camels. It was all very fun, but it was clear that the Bedouin way of life is nearing extinction.
We continued out travel until we reached the coastal plains, the area the philistines used to control. We passed by the ancient city of Gath and headed back into the Judean hills until we came to a stop in a seemingly random valley. There are no markings signifying this valley as a special place, no tourist centers or churches, but this valley was the Valley of Elah, where a young shepherd boy struck down the giant, Goliath. We listened as Cliff preached on the story (he could go for days). And stooped down and took rocks out of the same stream bed where David would have gathered the stones he used to slay the Philistine.
We then continued on to Bethlehem, which is in the West Bank, it is a far cry from the shepherd village it was in biblical times, and is now a rather large Palestinian city, with high rises built on top of the steep banks where David used to herd sheep. There we stopped in a small Christian owned souvenir shop. Where the Christians who live in Bethlehem have hundreds of carvings out of olive wood, Mostly nativity sets, but they have other things as well. It was very neat, and very expensive. I bought a couple small things to support their work, but would like to go back when I could actually purchase something I liked.
From Bethlehem we went string to Jerusalem, which is just on the other side of a large wall marking the border of the West Bank. We had no other plans for the evening, so we ended up making an impromptu trip through the old city, seeing the western wall, and many of the sights surrounding the city. I was enraptured by the old city. It felt like I belonged, even though I stood out from the masses of Hasidic Jews (who were traveling to the Western wall for the Sabbath) like a sore thumb.
Tired and exhausted in the best possible way, we made our way back to the hotel to sleep.