Masada and Up to Jerusalem

Today we started at the amazing Masada - a mountain fortress, built by Jews, fortified and made luxurious by Herod the Great as a place of escape, finally used by Jewish rebels after Jerusalem was destroyed by Romans in 70AD.

 The remains of a Roman army camp

 The locals were friendly

 This was the ramp the Romans built to storm the city. When they fought their way in, all the rebels had killed themselves.

Next we went to the place where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered. An offshoot of religious Jews established the place in the desert to study under their leader, copy scripture, and wait for a great war at the end of the world.

As we headed out of the lowest place on the earth, we stopped at a canyon that led from Jerusalem to Jericho. This was the scene Jesus used for his Good Samaritan story. Down in the valley is a Greek Orthodox monastery.

 Finally, we visited the village of Bethany. This was the home to Mary and Martha and their brother Lazarus, who Jesus raised from death. Today it is a tired Palestinian town in a awkward location and all there is to see is a series of churches, from the 4th century to today.

We're in Jerusalem now. I've seen several police roadblocks and checkpoints. I did see some smoke rising from a Palestinian area called Silwan. EO has several other groups here and everyone has been touring without any problems. We'll head to Bethlehem tomorrow and don't anticipate any problems.