Day 13 - Mt. Of Beatitudes (Take One)

Well, its been a quiet couple of days because we've been staying at the Mt. of Beatitudes which is a beautiful spot but is a bit off the beaten path and had no Internet cafe. We are now in Jerusalem at the Notre Dame Hotel, and while the hotel has Internet, it isn't set up to let me upload pictures from my camera. I appreciate everyone who has been reading my blog and who signed the guest book. It looks like the pictures are a hit, so I'll have to upload some later when I find another Internet cafe that is more flexible. (An hour later: I found another internet cafe and am working on uploading pics). Anyway...

Two days ago we traveled from Arad to Tiberius on the Sea of Galilee. The day was jam packed with sights. We began with a trip to Masada. Masada was the last stronghold to fall in the Jewish Rebellion. Josephus, a Jewish historian, tells the story of how the Romans seiged Masada and when they finally broke in they found that all 900 Jews had committed suicide (well, actually they killed each other and the last one committed suicide). As with so many stories in this land, the historicity of this one is heavily contested. But it makes for an amazing visit.

After Masada, which overlooks the Dead Sea, we did what every visitor to the area must do: float in the Dead Sea. The salt content in the Dead Sea is so concentrated that one floats on top of the water. The water also stings every cut or abrasion (or other sensitive areas) that are exposed to it. Its quite an experience.

Up next: Qumran. Qumran was the site of a Jewish community that sought to live purely in the wilderness. The significance of Qumran is that the Dead Sea Scrolls were found at this community. They contain some of the oldest manuscripts of the Hebrew Scriptures that we have. The only cave we saw was cave four (out of 11). But we only saw it from a distance.

If our group is characterized by anythings, its a desire to shop! Shopping was the next stop on our day. We went into the West Bank of Palestine and stopped at a Hebron Glass shop. Attached to the shop was a food market that sold many local treats. While others were buying glasses and ceramics, I loaded up on some nice treats. The scales were old-school and used large weights to measure how much one was buying. The hospitality we received was great. While in Jericho we also stopped by the ancient Tell of Old Jericho. Its not much of a sight at this point, just a big dirt pile and some big holes. This is the traditional site for Joshua's march on Jericho.

To finish the day off we stopped by Tell Bet-She'an. Bet-She'an is another Roman city. I'm starting to get a little tired of ancient Roman Cities. Most of them pale compared to Palmyra anyway. But we did visit Bet-She'an at the end of the day and the shadows created from the low sun were beautiful. We also found the ancient toilets.

After all this touring, we headed to the Mt. of Beatitudes Hostel. This is the traditional site where Jesus preached the Sermon on the Mount. I found it ironic that the Hostel/Church was a gated community. I'm not sure that "Blessed are those who build walls around their communities" was one of the beatitudes. The irony and contrast continues in the Holy Land.