On our second full day in Israel, we rented a car and went for a drive. There were nine of us, so we rented a nice, boxy van that fit us all. And off we went!
Our first view of the Dead Sea. It was a rich blue color! And deliciously warm for those of us who had recently been in Alaska and Russia.
The Dead Sea is the lowest place on Earth, being about 1300 feet BELOW sea level. WOW.
Masada was our first destination. It is an ancient fortification in the Southern District of Israel, on top of an isolated rock plateau overlooking the Dead Sea. Herod the Great built palaces for himself on top of this mountain between 37 and 31 BC. If you look close you can see a trail going up the mountain, zig zag.
Brian and Brian ran up, the rest of us took the tram. It was a smooth ride!!!
There was a lot to see at the top, we spent about two hours looking through the ruins and enjoying the view.
Herod had some fancy stuff up here, including a few bathhouses, a church, synagogue a place to house doves (used for food and fertilizer). They also had storehouses and a few different palaces on the mountain top. Many places to have parties and receptions.
The view from Masada.
Remains of a Byzantine Church. Fun to see the tiles and mosaics! So very old and still in good shape.
The ruins were found in 1842 and excavated in 1963-1965, so much of this was untouched for a few thousand years.
A lot of history in this place. If you want to know more, look it up on Google. :)
No comments:
Post a Comment