Ein Bokek

Day 12
Masada-This was Herod's winter palace which at its height housed 1000 zealots. Amazing that they grew crops and had water in the middle of the desert on a huge high Rock.. They had dovecotes for food.. their droppings used as fertiliser.. They had enough food and water for 3 years with 12 cisterns and an ingenious system of redirecting floodwater, so the Romans got sick of waiting to starve them out and took 47 days to build a ramp and used a battering ram for the stone walls and archers with flaming arrows to burn the wooden reinforcements. Almost 1000 people committed suicide rather than face slavery and rape and torture. This act has become legendary and the Israeli Defence Force youth are brought here to inspire them.. 'Masada will never fall again'. is their catchcry and it has become a symbol of staunch resistance against oppression.
(66AD was the start of the revolt,70AD destruction of the Temple and Masada was the last remaining City to be taken before the Jews were eradicated from the land in 73AD.)

We then journeyed on and learnt that the Dead sea is today not one sea but 2 landlocked lagoons as the sea is receding at the rate of 1m a year.. as the Jordan River is only supplying 4% of its former volume into the sea due to drought and the fact that more water is being pumped out of the sea of Galilee for domestic use..plans are afoot to pump water from the Red Sea but costs are an issue at present.
Next stop was Ein Gev(Engedi).. this region lost 30% of its date production in a sink hole in the last 20 years.. Many of these have opened up due to the drying out of the dead sea. The Engedi spring is the source of 30% of the bottled water market in Israel,a major source of income for the kibbutz here, along with date palms.
This is the area where David fled from Saul and hid in the caves..5 waterfalls from this Spring which was a welcome refreshing stop 😊 Another amazing feeling thinking we were standing under the same waterfall that David would've done😲(1Sam 23/4) We read Ezek 47:10 when the Dead sea in this area will be full of fish.. Hard to imagine the change.
Qumran -the site where Bedouin goatherds accidentally found some dead sea scrolls that are believed to have been hidden by the Jews living here to preserve them, once they heard Jerusalem had been taken and the Romans were heading to Masada. We saw herds of wild ibex through this area.
Back to the resort for a relaxing afternoon at the pools and another Dead Sea swim 😁Read more