The Dead Sea and Me

About a week ago our group took a trip down to the Dead Sea region to explore some of the Dead Sea's many wonders.

We started the day with Masada, the fortress solidified by Herod

the Great and sieged by the Romans. I wish I had a picture of it to show you just how tall and seemingly unassailable it is. The Romans spent months building a siege ramp to get to the people. When they finally arrived they found that all of the people (minus a woman and a few children who were hiding in a cistern) had committed suicide. The alternative would have been punishment, death, or slavery. It's a very tragic story. I'm not sure what I'm doing in this first picture, but I'm on the top if the fortress at Masada. It was HOT HOT that day!!!

After going to Masada we went over to swim in the Dead Sea. It was about the weirdest thing I've ever experienced. I picture it to feel a lot like zero gravity. You really do just sit and float. It burns like crazy if you get it in your eyes and tastes horrible if you get some in your mouth. It actually just sort of hurts your skin all around if you stay in for extended periods of time, and after you get out your skin feels like you just bathed in baby oil.

Supposedly, the mud from the Dead Sea is supposed to do wonders for your skin. We, of course, tried it. With the no touching policy here at the Jerusalem Center, it was amazing how much of an excuse everyone suddenly had to touch members of the opposite sex (just to help them cover themselves with the mud, you know). Fortunately, the guys tend to stay away from the engaged girls, so I was safe!

The last place we went on this field trip was to Qumran, which is where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found. This is a picture of me with one of the caves behind me. It was fascinating to learn more about the Essenes and scrolls. Life would have been interesting as a monastic. I'm glad I'm not doing it and marrying Bryan instead.