Today was a full day and a HOT day! I wasn’t quick enough on the draw with the sunscreen and got toasty roasty in a couple of places.

Here is the view from our hotel room balcony! That body of water to the left is the Dead Sea!

Very Vegas-esque. A whole lot of resorts surrounded by a whole lot of desert.

Another mezuzah!

Next stop was Masada, the home of Herod’s palace and fortress (which is the meaning of “masada”).

This was also where the last Jewish stand against the Romans and the mass suicide of the Jewish defenders took place.

We walked up what is called the “snake path” to get to the top-

-just kidding! We rode a cable car to the top (not that I wouldn’t have been up for the challenge; they just close off the trail at 8 AM because of how hot it gets this time of year).

The view from above, down below.

Inside the ruins were these black lines. They indicate how the ruins were originally found versus the restoration of ruins that had fallen. Below the line is original, above the line is repaired post excavation.

See that brown square down below? Those are the remains of the Roman encampments that were built as they waited out the Jewish revolters.

Here are more encampments!

On the southern point, there was a stand where if you yelled, the echo was clear and resounding. We decided to test it out.

Doesn’t it sound like an army is down in that valley?!

I could have stayed up there for a whole lot longer. Easily entertained, easily impressed.

Next was Qumran, where the Dead Sea scrolls were found!

Here is the cave where 15,000 pieces of the Dead Sea scrolls were found. It’s believed that when the Romans found them, they tore them up.

Fun Fact: All books of the Tanakh (what we call the Old Testament), except Esther and Nehemiah, were found at Qumran! Yet, they believe an indecipherable portion is the recording of Esther!

Here is a mikvah, which is a bath used for ritual bathing and purification.

The unclean person would enter down through one set of stairs, fully immerse themselves, then step out through the other set as clean.

Next, we entered Jerusalem!

Itai gave us a blessing while looking over Jerusalem, using grape juice!

Lechiam! “To life!”

We then went to Israel museum!

This is a mosaic of Jerusalem! The current borders look differently than the past borders portrayed here.

Inside, we viewed the Dead Sea scrolls. The Isaiah scroll is the only one preserved in its entirety- 734 cm long.

All the artifacts on display were found in Israel. This is a bone with a nail driven through it, part of the remains of a crucified man named John.

We are staying at the Grand Court Hotel in Jerusalem for the rest of our visit in this wonderful, history-stuffed country!

Today’s travels include:

-Masada

-Qumran

-Israel Museum