MASADA, JERICHO AND JORDAN - DAY 9

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MASADA, JERICHO, AND JORDAN

I started out this morning checking out from the David Citadel Hotel and busing to Masada, a UNESCO World Heritage Site built by King Herod between 36 and 31 BC. It is in the West Bank Territory. The fortress became a mighty stronghold of Jewish Zealots who fled Jerusalem rather than submit to Roman rule during the First Jewish-Roman War in the 1^st century AD. The logistics of King Herod’s palace and fortress on top of a mountain in the eastern fringe of the Judean Desert near the shore of the Dead Sea were overwhelming, but he did it. I got to the top and return by cable car, but all the construction materials had to by taken up by donkey or humans. Water supply was the biggest challenge which Herod figured out as well. The site was abandoned and forgotten for several centuries, but was rediscovered and restored recently. An amazing experience and many people travel long distances to visit.

We went to Jericho for lunch. Jericho is the world’s oldest continuously inhabited city with a history of 11,000 years. From there we drove through the West Bank checkpoint and then went through passport control at the Israel border and then through the passport control at the Jordan border. It was an interesting and time consuming process, but Matt, our excellent tour director, said it went relatively smoothly. We changed buses and drivers at the border. The drive to our resort, The Movenpick Resort and Spa at the Dead Sea, went through some small towns that were definitely not tourist destinations. The amount of litter on the road side was in stark contrast to the cleanliness we saw in Israel. When we got to our resort it was almost sunset. The resort is very attractively laid out and I look forward to seeing it in the daylight tomorrow. I ate in the hotel buffet and tried several unique dishes, but I didn’t try the sheep brain salad.

Tomorrow will be a later start, 10:00 am and a tour of Jerash. ILYS

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Photos

JUDEAN DESERT
FROM THE BUS

JUDEAN DESERT
NOTE THE CELL TOWER

MODEL OF MASADA ROMAN BATH
TOUR GUIDE SHELLY EXPLAINS ROMAN BATH

BLACK LINE
THE LINE SHOWS ORIGINAL STRUCTURE BELOW AND RECONSTRUCTED ABOVE

DEAD SEA
HAZE IS WATER EVAPORATION