Sunday, October 29
Today was a light day in terms of places visited, but certainly one of the
most memorable. We returned to the floor of the Jordan Valley and the shores of
the Dead Sea. After a long, desolately beautiful drive we reached the mountain
fortress of Masada. We were met with a new visitor's center (open only for a few
weeks). After viewing a multimedia presentation about the history of Masada, we
took the cable car to the summit. From there we could clearly see the ring of
Roman fortifications and the now seriously eroded ramp constructed in order to
breach the wall. We posed for a group portrait inside the ruins of the
synagogue. The structure had served as a stables when the fortress was in use by
Herod's army, but had been converted to a synagogue by the Zealots who held the
fortress during the Jewish war against Rome from 67-72 CE.
Coming down from Masada, we continued south along the shore of the Dead Sea
and came to a resort area on its western shore. There we had a delicious lunch,
and took a float on the super-buoyant waters. Just how buoyant are they? 
Well,
check out this picture of Larissa sitting on Rev. Tim's stomach while he is
floating unassisted on the water!
On our way back to Jerusalem we pulled off onto a side ramp of the
Jerusalem-Jericho road to see the remains of a crusader fortress that is the
"traditional site" of the inn mentioned in the parable of the Good
Samaritan. Everything, it seems, has a "traditional site" in the Holy
Land -- even the settings of fictional parables.
