3/31/2011 - Masada

We started out this sunny day traveling south to Masada.  Along the way we past Jericho, one of the oldest cities.  The terrain south of Jerusalem is very different than in the north.  The plant life changes from oil and palm trees to barren sand.  We arrived at Masada ready to begin our climb to the summit.  The Snake Path is rocky in most places with intermittent steps - with varying levels of height.

Tovah Mendelsberg & her finance, Daniel

The grade is about 20% in most places.  It was hot and sunny and although we had water, hats, sunscreen and a good attitude, the climb was difficult.  What helped get to the top was the cheering on of those who had already reached the summit.  It took about an hour to reach the top.  The heat was intense and took its toll on Gary - he made it to the top, but was wiped out.  The rest of the day he drank liters of water to get his color back.

Slow, but steady Dina made it to the top!

Gary was a hurting unit!

 After a bit of time at the top of Masada, we took the cable car down to the Visitor's Center.

Looking much better!

The story of Masada is heart wrenching.  Several hundred Jews were holed up on the top of Masada.  They knew that the Roman soldiers were approaching.  Instead of being killed by the Romans, the Jews cobbled together a plan to die at their own hands.  The women and children were the first to die and the men then went to the synagogue.  They broke pottery shards and drew lots.  Then men were chosen to ensure that the others had died.  Again lots were drawn and one man was chosen to outlive all of the others.  When it was certain that all were dead, the lone man killed himself only after burning half of the food storehouse that remained.  The Romans entered Masada and called for the people to come out.  Two grandmothers who had hidden their grandchildren came out.  It is thought that the Romans killed the women and took the children to be their slaves.

3/30/2011 - The Night Spectacular at David's Tower

We quickly cleaned up after Beit Guvrin and headed to the old city for a quick dinner at Cafe Cafe at the Mamilla before going to The Night Spectacular show near David's Tower just inside the Jaffa Gate.  The Night Spectacular was done by projecting the history of Jerusalem onto the walls of David's Tower.  This was set to music and was very interesting and beautiful.

3/30/2011 - Beit Guvrin / Tel Maresha - Dig for a Day

Upon leaving Herodion, we headed south toward Bethlehem to Beit Guvrin, the location of our Dig for a Day.  Along the route we saw red signs that were at the entrances of the Arab villages that warned Israelis not to enter.

We also saw the lush green grasses and wild flowers currently growing.  Once the heat of summer arrives, this lush green will be replaced by the more brown tones of the desert.

We drove past the large dish antennas of the Israeli television stations and shortly thereafter arrived at Beit Guvrin with its entry area covering in tall waiving barley and wheat.  The barley is distinguishable by its longer tips looking like graceful ballerinas.

Our guide at Beit Guvrin, Missy, was originally from Virginia, but has been at the archaeological site for several years.  She told of the Tel at the site known as Tel Maresha.  The area was covered with yellow daisies, little white chamomile flowers, hyssop (za'atar) and sage.  There were also flowering bulbs of common fennel.

Common Fennel

Sage

Common Fennel

 Missy took us into one of the 5000 caves at Tel Maresha and explained the relationship of the area to King Antiochus IV and the fight of the Maccabees - all using Patty Strouse's arm.

We were then given buckets - one for dirt, one for rocks and one, of course, for finds - and pickaxes to dig.  I found a large piece of a jar of some sort that had its handle intact.  Gary found several bones and pieces of the rim of a pot.  After everyone had found something in our cave - known as Lumpy - we lined up the buckets of dirt and formed a "schlep" brigade to move the buckets out of the cave to accomplish the next step.

My find!

At the opening of the cave there was a lovely fig tree.  Interestingly, the roots of that tree were clearly visible in the roof of the cave.

After exiting the cave, we screened the contents of the many dirt buckets for additional finds.

After we were done screening, we moved to another location in the park that had a fully excavated oil press.  Missy told us of the three steps of pressing olives - first you mush, then you shmush, and lastly you gush the olives.  Any remnants would be balled up and used for heating oil.

We came out of the oil press cave to see a herd of goats on the hill adjacent to the park.  The goats will eat the grasses and plants to cut down the chances of a summer wildfire.

Entrance to unexcavated cave.

 Finally, we went into another cave to see what they're like before excavation has begun.  The cave was very dark but lit by many candles.  We had to move carefully through various shaped areas on hands and knees; on our butts, or on our backs.  In one place we dropped through a hole from one level to the one below.  In this cave were many dovecotes as this was a colombarium for pigeons that would have been eaten or used for sacrifices.  This was a great experience that we won't soon forget.

Missy then showed us some of the objects that have been found at the site.  One of which is on loan to the Israel Museum.

We left Tel Maresha and headed for Jerusalem passing the remnants of a Crusader Church and also the memorial to the young people who were killed attempting to get supplies to Jerusalem before the 1948 war of independence in the "Sandwich Trucks."