Israel & 2 of 3 Palestinian States

Armenian Section Of Jerusalem Market

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The market within Old Jerusalem is a labyrinth of alleys and shops.

Caves

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where the Beduins stay at night

Masada

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was a winter palace built by King Herod on a high flat rock rising 1300- feet out of the desert. Here close to 1000 Jews escaped the Romans and lived for 2 1/2 years (the Romans couldn't scale it).

Rocks

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These were used in the fighting between the Jews who lived atop Masada for 2 1/2 years and the Romans down at the bottom who built ramps and hurled canons. When it looked inevitable that the Romans were scaling to the top all inhabitants of Masada committed suicide so as to not be taken as slaves by the invading Romans.

Caves Of 'En Gedi

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where David (later to become King David) lived for an estimated 15 years from King Saul who was trying to kill him. It is believed that it was during this time that David wrote what we now call the book of psalms contained in the bible.

Ibex climbing the rocks of 'En Gedi

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We hiked through the national park of 'En Gedi (across from the Dead Sea) to get to the Shulamit Waterfall.

The Dead Sea

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which most of the rest of the world refers to as the "Salt Sea". It is the lowest surface of the earth (1290' below sea level). This is us (Stacey in the middle, Sandra on the right, and me on the left) waving "Good-Bye" as this was the end of our trip through Israel.