Dead Sea Archives - Reading Acts

Hiking at En-Gedi, visiting Qumran, and Qasr al Yahud

The last day of the 2022 Israel tour began at En-Gedi, where David hid from King Saul in a cave (1 Samuel 24). This is one of the more beautiful hikes on the trip since the Israeli Parks service has developed Wadi David as a nature preserve. The mile and a half walk is relatively easy since there are cut stairs and handrails, but there are a few steep flights and one passage through dark tunnel made of river reed. The walk also has several waterfalls and pools, the highlight being the final one at the end of the canyon. We saw a few hyrax and a few ibex on the way into of the park, but it seemed to me that there was less wildlife than previous visited. The water lever at the King David Waterfall seemed lower as well.

From En-Gedi we drove north to Qumran, the place where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found. The last time I was at Qumran, the new visitor’s center was under construction. It is now complete and has a very nice reception area, but the vido and small museum is the same. The film was not working, which is good (in my opinion) because it is a bit strange.

The archaeology of the site is relatively simple, although the water system collects far more water that the site might need to survive. The reason for this is large number of ritual baths used by the community for purification. Almost everything at Qumran is controversial and the Dead Sea Scrolls have encouraged a wide variety of fringe ideas about the nature of both early Judaism and Christianity. The video at the beginning of the tour suggests a relationship between John the Baptist and the Qumran community. This provided an opportunity to talk about these theories with the students. At the viewpoint overlooking Cave 4 we had a good discussion about the contents of the Scrolls and their value for biblical studies.

Since we have a long drive to Tel Aviv, we stopped only briefly at Qasr al Yahud, the more likely of the traditional sites for Jesus’s baptism. This site has been open since 2011 and is now on the Israel National Parks card, so it is an easy add-on for for groups using the park pass (see this Times of Israel story on the re-opeing of the site for tourist groups). Qasr means castle, and Greek Orthodox Monastery of St John the Baptist does indeed look at bit like a castle. Unlike the site at Yardenit in Galilee, this is a far more authentic location since it is in the general area John the Baptist was active (although it is still not certain this is the place). Another clear difference is the lack of commercialism compared to Yardenit. The majority of the crowds queuing to be baptized in the muddy stream of the Jordan were Orthodox, although there appeared to be a handful of protestants and Pentacostals. The site on the other side of the Jordan is only a matter of feet from this location in Israel. The Jordanian site is called Al-Maghtas, “immersion” in Arabic. UNESCO listed the Jordanian side as a world heritage site, but not the western side (likely due to the political situation in West Bank).

For our last few hours we drove through Jerusalem, stopping for lunch at Elvis American Diner in Neve Ilan. (Here is the Atlas Obscura article on the diner, a Times of Israel article, and a YouTube video). This was one of the best hamburgers I have ever had. I highly recommend the Elvis Diner if you are in the area (and tired of falafel, which I was not, but this American group seemed to appreciate meat, fries and ketchup!

When we arrived at Jaffa, the traffic was even crazier than expected for a Friday afternoon. Our guide walked us through several points of interest in Jaffa, although there is little that is authentic. There is a traditional site for the home of Cornelius and a Franciscan church commemorating Peter’s departure from Jaffa to Rome (although that is not in the Bible, if he left for Rome by ship Jaffa is the likely port). There are several spectacular views if the Mediterranean Sea and Tel Aviv.

We stayed at the Metropolitan Hotel in Tel Aviv, just a block from the Mediterranean. This was a very nice stay in a great hotel. But it was far too short: our wake up call was for 5:30 AM to get to the airport for our 10:30AM flight back to Chicago. Since I am now back in Michigan, I can tell you the flight was delayed in Istanbul, and we had a lost bag in Chicago. That made us an hour and a half late for your ride back to Michigan. I got home about 1:30 AM Sunday, and some of the group had much longer dives home that me.

En-Gedi, Qumran, and Qasr al Yahud

The last day our the 2019 Israel tour began at En-Gedi, where David hid from King Saul in a cave (1 Samuel 24). This is one of the more beautiful hikes on the trip since the Israeli Parks service has developed Wadi David as a nature preserve. The mile and a half walk is relatively easy since there are cut stairs and handrails, but there are a few steep flights and one passage through dark tunnel made of river reed. The walk also has several waterfalls and pools, the highlight being the final one at the end of the canyon. We saw a few hyrax with their pups on the hike and a large group of ibex on the way out of the park.

From En-Gedi we drove north to Qumran, the place where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found. The archaeology of the site is relatively simple, although the water system collects far more water that the site might need to survive. The reason for this is large number of ritual baths used by the community for purification. Almost everything at Qumran is controversial and the Dead Sea Scrolls have encouraged a wide variety of fringe ideas about the nature of both early Judaism and Christianity. Even the video at the beginning of the tour tacitly suggests a relationship between John the Baptist and the Qumran community. This provided an opportunity to talk about these theories with the students. At the viewpoint overlooking Cave 4 we had a good discussion about the contents of the Scrolls and their value for Biblical studies.

Since we have a long drive to Tel Aviv, we stopped only briefly at Qasr al Yahud, the more likely of the traditional sites for Jesus’s baptism. This site has been open since 2011 and is now on the Israel National Parks card, so it is an easy add-on for for groups using the parks pass (see this Times of Israel story on the re-opeing of the site for tourist groups). Qasr means castle, and Greek Orthodox Monastery of St John the Baptist does indeed look at bit like a castle. Unlike the site at Yardenit in Galilee, this is a far more authentic location since it is in the general area John the Baptist was active (although it is still not certain this is the place). Another clear difference is the lack of commercialism compared to Yardenit. The majority of the crowds queuing to be baptized in the muddy stream of the Jordan were Orthodox, although there appeared to be a handful of protestants. The site on the other side of the Jordan is only a matter of feet from this location in Israel. The Jordanian site is called Al-Maghtas, “immersion” in Arabic. UNESCO listed the Jordanian side as a world heritage site, but not the western side (likely due to the political situation in West Bank).

My plan was to return to the Old City in Jerusalem for final shopping, but it was the first Friday of Ramadan and many streets were closed to traffic. We could have walked to Jaffa Gate, but that would have cut down on our time. Our guide suggested driving to Jaffa instead. As it turned out this was a good idea. He walked us through several points of interest in Jaffa, although there is little I can say is authentic. There is a traditional site for the home of Cornelius and a Franciscan church commemorating Peter’s departure from Jaffa to Rome (although that is not in the Bible, if he left for Rome by ship Jaffa is the likely port). After a 45 minute walk, we turned the group loose in the shops and they contributed much to the local economy.

We stayed at the Tal Hotel in Tel Aviv, just a block from the Mediterranean. This was a very nice stay, although it was far too short: our wake up call was for 2:00 AM and we were at the airport by 3:15 AM for a 6:15 departure. Since I am now back in Michigan, I can cay they long day of travel went well despite an hour delay in Vienna for engine maintenance and extremely long lines at immigration in Chicago (easily the worst I have ever experienced there).

Hiking at En-Gedi

Our second-to-the-last day in Israel began at En-Gedi, where David hid from King Saul in a cave (1 Samuel 24). This is one of the more beautiful hikes on the trip since the Israeli Parks service has developed Wadi David as a nature preserve. The mile and a half walk is relatively easy since there are cut stairs and handrails, but there are a few steep flights and one passage through dark tunnel made of river reed. The walk also has several waterfalls and pools, the highlight being the final one at the end of the canyon. We saw a few rock badgers on the hike and a group of ibex on the way out of the park. An ibex is a wild goat common in the Negev.

For the first time that I have been coming to En-Gedi there was a security guard at the final waterfall to make sure hikers do not try to go under the waterfall. One of my students said he warned one person, “rocks fall with the water-do you want to die?” Perhaps there was an incident which forced the park to post the guard. (Not that any of my students ever went into that waterfall…)

Since this was our last day in the desert, we ended with a Dead Sea float. The place I have taken groups in the past is a spa with a small restaurant which allows free swimming. We usually order some pizzas when we arrive and they are ready by the time we are finished in the Dead Sea. The spa has either changed owners or the owner has shifted his business model, because we paid a higher fee for the beach and a buffet. Although the food was good, they played glaringly loud techno music (which I approached less than some of the students) and we amused ourselves at dinner watching several drunken America servicemen drink on the patio. This was disappointing, and I am not sure I will return to this spa in the future.

We have two people who are sick, and all are tired. Tomorrow we return to the Old City for final shopping and our last night in Tel Aviv. We fly home Sunday morning and return to Grand Rapids later Sunday night. I hope to get a final post finished before we leave and add a few pictures to the previous posts.

GBC Israel Trip 2015, Day 12 – En Gedi and Qumran

This was our final full day touring the Dead Sea region. We started early at En Gedi, a nature park with a 1.8 mile hike back into a canyon to “David’s Waterfall.” This is the location called the Crags of the Wild Goats in 1 Samuel 24:2 and the general environment on the wadi give the story the ring of truth. It is very easy to imagine David and a few men hiding back in the bushes in a small cave when King Saul comes and takes some time to relax in the shade and “cover his feet.”

Since we arrived earlier than the big tour buses from Jerusalem we were the only people at the waterfall for most of the time we spent there. I thought there was far less water than in the last two or three visits, the pool was certainly much smaller. We saw a very conservative Jewish family hiking in full black coats a first for me at En-Gedi. Aside from being hot in the sun, I thought it was interesting the children were playing in the water in there long black coats!

One warning for anyone driving to En-Gedi: there is a serious road construction project in front of the En-Gedi with a detour and traffic jam caused by one-lane traffic. The public beach across from En-Gedi is closed as is the gas station and resturant. I had planned to picnic at the beach, but had to adjust and eat at Qumran.

Getting to En-Gedi early means a hot afternoon at Qumran. After the vertigo-inducing video we walked out the the archaeological site, working our way quickly to the shaded viewing area of the cave. This was a particularly good time of discussion of who the Essenes were and why the the Dead Sea Scrolls are important. It also gave me a chance to correct the goofy suggestion in the video that John the Baptist was once part of the Qumran community.

Funny story: when I was giving some explanation in the little museum after the video, a young Jewish couple from New York hanging around listening. I chatted with them a bit and they were visiting Qumran for the first time. The stayed with us for most of our talk and seemed really interested. Strangely this was the second time someone has joined us on the tour.

Everyone Takes this Picture

After some shopping at Qumran, we drove to a beach for a float on the Dead Sea. There was a large group of American Jewish high schoolers, but they left soon after we arrived. Most of the students chose to float in the warm water, several collect some salt to stink up their luggage on the trip home. We enjoyed some excellent kosher pizza before heading back to Tamar for the night. Most of us are very tired after ten solid days of hiking, yet as I write everyone is hanging out playing games and snacking.

I hear some of the students are planning on hiking up a hill behind Tamar to watch the sunrise. It really is a spectacular view and I wish them well. We head to Jerusalem tomorrow for final shopping in the Old City and then to the airport for home.

Israel 2012, Day 6 – Everything Floats in the Dead Sea

We started our day with a drive to Mamshit, a Nabatean caravan city near Arad. I had never been there before today, although I did visit Avdat in 2005. Both cities (along with Petra) are along Spice Route and were built by the Nabateans to service caravans traveling from Yemen through Petra and on to Gaza. When we arrived some bedouin boys were herding sheep on the opposite hill, so our young ladies made friends and tried out their basic Hebrew phrases. I expect they are now Facebook friends now.

There are two churches at the site, both with nice mosaics. These are among the oldest in Israel since both date to the early 400’s. The western church has a deep cistern excavated in the atrium, the east has a cover of the cistern so you can see more how the room might have looked. The western church has a cross-shaped baptismal wth very narrow steps. There were two dedications in the eastern church, but the floor was fenced off so it was hard to get a good photograph.

A large Nabatean home has been restored, including stables and a number of other rooms. There are some frescos which are partially preserved whch are worth seeing. A coupe of rooms were filed with unused stones, many of which had interesting carvings or other decorations. One was a square with four round holes, although we could not really tell what it was used for (I suggested “cup-holder” but no one was buying it).

From Mamshit we drove forty minutes to tel Arad. Usually this is one of my favorite sites since it is so well-excavated for both Canaanite and Israelite levels. The contrast between the Canaanite Sacred section and the Israelite temple in the fortress is quite amazing. The site gives me a chance to talk a bit about Canaanite religion which appeases the gods and attempts to cajole them into sending the rains and the worship of the Lord. The God of the Bible will bless his people, but only when they are obedient to the covenant. There is no appeasement or manipulation as with the worship of Baal.

One problem with Arad was that it was extremely windy and cold. Around the Dead Sea the temperatures were in the 70’s and less breezy, so fool that I am I left my coat behind.

We drove back to the Dead Sea for lunch and a swim, or at least a float. Most of our group dared enter the waters, although it was quite cold and breezy. I think that the Dead Sea is a great expereince, but it is better in the spring and summer! (In the interest of full disclosure, I sat on the shore and drank a coffee while everyone else froze in the salt water.)

Tomorrow we travel to Caesarea and then on to Galilee. I will be at a hotel in Tiberias, near the Sea of Galilee. Hopefully I can get to the internet for a few blog entries before we cross over to Jordan and visit Petra. I enjoyed the stay at Tamar, Derrick and Kate are excellent hosts. The food was great and the group seems to have liked “sukkah life” after dinner.