Once again I apologize for not posting any blog in the last few days, but I was without my computer as my companions and I took an adventure down to the Dead Sea to see Qumran and Masada, float in the Sea, and travel to Petra, Jordan for an overnight stay and a long, tiring walk through the beautiful Petra ruins.
We began with an early morning appointment with our driver. We left at 7:00 a.m. and our first stop was at Qumran, the ruins of the ancient community of the Essenes. These were the people who were responsible for the Dead Sea Scrolls. It was interesting see the site in the desert where these people lived and copied the ancient scrolls in anticipation of the war between the children of light and the children of darkness. You have probably seen pictures of the caves where in 1948 bedouin shepherds accidentally found them in a cave.
From there we went to Masada, where another sect of the Jews during Jesus' day were preparing for the final battle, but they were preparing to fight this battle. You may have heard the story - the Zealots were chased to this place high above the desert that Herod had built a small city with a wonderful palace on. The Romans tried to defeat them but could not. Finally they built a siege ramp and battered down the huge doors and found that instead of surrendering to the Romans, the zealots and their families had taken their own lives. Below is a picture of me on the Palace Porch at the north end of Masada.
No trip to this area would be complete without floating in the Dead Sea!
Finally we went into Jordan and drove through some pretty spectacular looking land to get to Petra. Below you will see some of the interesting land formations we saw from our van, but unfortunately I did not take my charging cord with me and the battery on my camera went dead before we got in to the Petra ruins - made famous by the movie, "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade". I will have pictures after my companions send me copies!
And of course, in Jordan there are LOTS of camels - some of them are like deer, just walking along the road!
Tonight we are going to a potluck sponsored by the English speaking congregation at the Lutheran Church of the Redeemer where were worshiped last Sunday.
Tomorrow is our last day in Jerusalem before we travel to Galilee. I look forward to sharing more with you all as the pilgrimage continues.
Shalom and Salem - Ralph
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