I have been there more times than I can remember. The reason we visit is to walk up through the Nahal David Canyon, to the
fresh water pools and the waterfalls. In the middle of the desert. But for many of us it is also the opportunity to see the wild life, such ad the ibex and the hyrax.

Today was no different, except as we turn in toward the parking lot a great herd of ibex was feeding along side the road. Breathtaking as usual. We of course stopped to admire these exquisite animals, who are shy but not really afraid of people.

After a while we tore ourselves away, and I drove into the parking lot, and I was lucky to find a space under a tree that would give shade to the car. One of my tourists was the first out of the car, but within seconds she jumped back in, saying: What is that? pointing to the front of the car.

There, on the bonnet of my car stood a magnificent male ibex. I never saw him, as I pulled into the parking space, but he must have seen me immediately, and said: “Well, how nice of her to park right there. I can use the car to reach the leaves of that tree much easier”.

He immediately started feeding, taking absolutely no notice of us, who scrambled out of the car with cameras in hand (in my case my cell phone), nor of any of the other people noticing what was going on. Soon he decided that the roof would make feeding even more convenient.

After 10 minutes or so, to my great sorrow, I had to chase him off the car, because he kept setting off the alarm system.  But what a magnificent experience. This is the closest I have ever been to an ibex.

The name Qumran is clouded in the fog of time. The site has been known to modern scholars since the middle of the 19th century. The rather large cemetary at the foot of the plateau was the main point of interest.

Discovery of Qumran
All of this changed in 1947, when some ancient scrolls came to light, found in caves surrounding the ruins. These were the first of many scrolls and fragments that today make up the Dead Sea Scrolls. Soon afterwards new exploration and surveys were made of the area led by Roland de Vaux, under the auspices of the Jordanian government. This was eventually followed by full scale excavations, again by Roland de Vaux. Since then many further excavations have taken place, each of them revealing new insights.

The findings show that the settlement was created in the middle of the second century BCE and was inhabited for the greater part of the next 170 years, to be abandoned and destroyed around the time of the First Jewish Revolt against the Romans (66-70 CE).

The people of Qumran
The concensus among most archeologists and scholars is that it was settled by a Jewish sect, known as the Essenes. This sect is known from other sourches such as Josephus Flavius, Philo, Pliny the Elder, the Gospels, and the Dead Sea Scrolls themselves.

As important as Qumran is, it is the Scrolls that have become known as the most important Biblical find of the 20th century, shedding new light of a very special group of people, but also on the time itself when they were written, studies and eventually hidden away.

The site
The site consists of an arrangement of buildings – the tower, the scriptorium, the communal dining hall, the pottery storage room, the mikvot (ritual baths) as well as an impressive water collecting system and water cisterns. In addition working areas have been identified – ovens for cooking, kilns for burning pottery, a wine press.

The site gives an impressive view over the Dead Sea, the cliffs of the Judean Desert, as well as the adjoining plateau with two of the caves (4 and 5).

When first discovered it was often referred to as a monastary. However, that is impossible, as the people who lived there, the Essenes, believed their leader to be the rightful High Priest, who must be a descendent of Zadok, the High Priest at the time of David. Without women this could not be, even today.

Because of this belief the Essenes may also be the Zadokites, a group known from the above-mentioned writings.

A visit to Qumran will open up understanding of the last century BCE and first century CE. It is a glimpse into a very different time and an extreme life style even for its time.

Songs have been written, stories are told, traditions and important events are told again and again. And against this there are other aspects to this venerated old river.

No one today will see it in its whole length, but only snatches and bits and pieces. In some places you may see fast flowing waters where modern water fun can be entertained. In other places a slowly meandering old river venerated for its religious importance.

The Upper Jordan River

The Jordan River runs from its sources Dan, Banias and Hazbani at the foot of the Hermon Mountain via the Sea of Galilee and empties out in the Dead Sea, for a total length of 320 km. The first part from the sources to the Sea of Galilee is also known as the Upper Jordan River. This part is some 80 km in length and has a steep drop from app. 343 m above sea level (near Banias) to 214 m below sea level (Sea of Galilee).

The Banias

Dan and Banias are nature reserves as well as historical site. They both have hikes of varying lengths and difficulty to suit all. Within the Dan reserve is the ancient mound of Tel Dan, where one of the best preserved horned alters can still be seen, as well as the impressive Canaanite and Israelite city gates. It was here that the famous stelae was found carrying the words Beit David, House of David.

Banias , or  Caesarea Phillipi, is known for its Roman and Greek temples to Pan, but more so for being the place of Peter’s Confession (Matt 16:16; Mark 8:29).

On the upper river there are several places where rafting, kayaking or inner tubing can be done. Following good winters with much rain and snow the water rushes in places over boulders, creating decent rapids for the more adventurous spirits. In other places the water always run more placidly, and is therefore suitable for the whole family.

The Sea of Galilee

After some 80 km the Jordan River flows into the Sea of Galilee not far from the ancient town of Beit Saida.  The Kinneret as it is known in Hebrew is app. 21 km long and 13 km across at its widest and goes down to a depth of 43 m. It is the only freshwater lake in Israel, and serves as an attraction to local and foreign tourism, as a holiday area, as well as supplying some 50% of fresh water to Israel.

The Lower Jordan River

The Jordan River runs out of the the Sea of Galilee on the south western edge, and runs for another app. 250 km till it reaches the Dead Sea. This part is known as the Lower Jordan River, and the flow here is much slower as the drop is from -214 to -420 over the longer distance. Almost the full length of the Lower River also serves as border between Israel and the Kingdom of Jordan.

On the lower river, very close to the exit out of the Sea of Galilee, is the place most visited by Christian tourists. At the Yardenit Baptismal Site it is possible for any visitor to truly see and touch the waters of the Jordan River. The place offers facilities for baptizing, and for many pilgrims this becomes one of the highlights of their tour in Israel.

Baptism

This is not the place where Jesus was baptized (Matt 3:13). The traditional site of the baptism of Jesus is some 5 km north of the Dead Sea. This site is not approachable from the Israeli side, only from the Jordanian side.

Best known as the place of the baptism of Jesus, the Jordan River offers the visitor many exciting moments from its headwaters near the Hermon Mountain until its end in the Dead Sea.

We were lucky, just as we started heading back toward the cable car, we had one of the rare experiences – it started to rain. To begin with just dripping, but before we got to the cable car, it was pouring.

The shelter is built to give shade, not against a desert torrential downpour, so we and all the other people waiting to go down got pretty drenched. Still, an experience, so we took it in our stride. We also knew that within long we would be indoors, and heading toward the car.

It kept raining, but I was not worried. After all it had been dry the better part of the day.

Some fifteen minutes north of Ein Gedi I noticed loads of cars parked alongside the road, and people scrambling on the mountain side. This got me a little worried. Was there a flash flood, so we could not get back to Jerusalem? Then I saw it – the flash flood coming over the mountain. A 400 meter high waterfall in the desert.

One of those extremely rare moments. We stopped, just like all the others. My photos do not make justice to the magnificence of these moments.

And then I saw the second waterfall – even bigger than the first. The first one was absorbed by the ground close to the road. This second one was flooding the road.

Then the police came and chased us all away – no stopping on the side of the road.

Actually it can be dangerous. If the water intensifies you can get swept away. Neither I nor my two tourists cared. The view was spectacular.

Unfortunately in the end we had to move on, as did all the other spectators, but we really had an exceptional day on Masada and at the Dead Sea.

As a tour guide I am always on the road. I see the same places again and again. But every so often land and nature give me surprises.That happened yesterday, as I was touring Masada and the Dead Sea.

On purpose we had chosen yesterday to go to Masada and the Dead Sea. Weather forecast was for rain and storm, and the previous days had been just glorious. It’s always good to get out of Jerusalem, when there is that kind of forecast. At least down at the Dead Sea there is less chance of rain. After all, it only rains 5-10 days a year in the southern part and a little more in the northern part.

Despite the extraordinary strong wind we were able to see Masada in all its glory. And this time the starlings played along, and I was able to get a lot of good shots.

Just as we had finished seeing the model of the water collection system, a jerbil decided to come out and get some sun, and allowed me to take a picture of it.

But most spectacular was the view traveling back up northwards. Most of the time the water of the Dead Sea is smooth as a mirror, but yesterday the strong wind ripped up the water, so that small white tops appeared. A rare sight I could not catch in on film, but there were even small whirl winds on the water, as if the beginning of a hurricane.

The clouds were heavy over the mountains of Jordan, and I was happy that Jordan also is getting some much needed rain. There were still some sun coming through, and it lit up the clouds. Enjoy the few photos I was able to get of this.

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

The Dead Sea Scrolls have been called the greatest biblical archeological find of the 20th century.

The scrolls were placed in caves at Qumran on the northwest shores of the Dead Sea, where they lay hidden in the hot, dry air for almost 2000 years, until they were accidentally discovered by a Bedouin.

Since the first scroll came to light in 1947, a total of 11 complete scrolls and some 15.000 fragments have come to light. Almost all of them are under the protection of the Israel Museum in Jerusalem and the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA).

Despite their age and the climate of where they were hidden, it is amazing that we even have this much. But they are fragile, and are kept in special vaults of the Israel Museum. This makes the reading and interpretation extremely difficult.

Of course no one uses the original when studying these ancient biblical and sectarian texts. Already back in the 1950′s they were photographed with infrared technology, and eventually published, so that any scholar who so desires can study them.

Now a new project has begun to digitally produce the Dead Sea Scrolls, using the state of the art digital and infrared photography. Experts from the world are involved in this important project. Through the use of powerful cameras that produce no heat and ultraviolet light that would damage the fragile scrolls, scientists have been able to decipher sections and letters invisible to the naked eye.

Till now some 4000 digital images have been created. The project is estimated to take five years. All images will eventually be placed in an internet data bank.

For the full article in Ha’aretz on line edition.

Gaza Synagogue Mosaic

what was being built. I am curious by nature, but I had no way to stop in and ask. But the cat is out of the bag.

In years gone by we used to stop at this place, as it had become known as the Inn of the Good Samaritan. The name is based on the parable by Jesus about the man that was robbed by highway robbers on his travel between Jericho and Jerusalem, and the treatment he received by various people passing by (Luke 10: 34-35).
Research and excavations have shown that the place existed in the late 2nd Temple period, became a monastery and resting site in the Byzantine period. In the Crusader period it was revived and also became a fortress to guard Jerusalem. And finally in the late Ottoman period it was rebuilt as a caravan stop. It was this last building that became known as The Inn of the Good Samaritan.

The rebuilding that has taken place has made the place into a unique museum, maybe even the only one of its kind. It is now The Museum of the Mosaics, and was opened to the public in the beginning of June 2009.

It houses and shows off mosaics from synagogues, Jewish and Samaritan, as well as Byzantine churches. These mosaics were found in Gaza and on the West Bank, and have up till now not been available to the general public. The exhibits are both indoor and outdoor.

No doubt this will become an important stop for many traveling the road between Jerusalem and Jericho or the Dead Sea. An additional advantage is that for the time being no payment is charged for visiting this new exciting museum.

I will admit that at the time of the writing of these lines, I have not yet visited the site, but I am sure to do so, as soon as opportunity arises.

Reminder: as a subscriber to Updates you are entitled to 10% discount on all touring services in private guided tours.

Courtesy: Jerusalem Post Online

Many of you come from far away. Many of you are here for the first time, many of you may have visited Israel before. But to all of you, being here is always exciting, and for athletes and their families it must be double exciting.

One – how well will he or she do in the field?
Two – how much of Israel will we have time to see?

Since none of us here at Your Guide to Israel can do much on number one, we can only do a little on number two, and that is to offer a special discount to all athletes and/or their families or friends, trainers and other participants on touring services in Israel.

Our services are for guiding and our speciality is guiding in private luxury vehicles, specially lisenced for tourists. We cover the whole country, from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, the Dead Sea and Masada. From Eilat in the south to Metullah in the north, which of course is also
the Galilee and the Golan. In short – all of Israel.

Our guides speak not only excellent English, but many of them speak other languages as well, so if you happen to be from a non-English country that should not stop you from receiving the best guiding possible.

Our special discount of 10% is on all guiding and touring services, no matter if you only order one day tour, or you want several days. No matter if it is now during the games, or if you stay on for a few days afterward. I will even extend it so that if you order touring services now,
but can only do them later, you will still receive that special discount.

As I said, this is our way of honoring your coming to Israel and participating or supporting participants in the Maccabiah Games. Please help us to honor you.

Tourism Updates:

Netanyahu Stops VAT on Tourism

Special Events to Bring Israelis and Participants together

It truly is a wonder. The Dead Sea is but a small part of the Syrian-East African Rift Valley, but extremely unique within that unique natural phenomena. It lies some 420 m (app. 1300 feet) below sea level, and its shores are thus the lowest dry point on earth.

As if that is not enough the Dead Sea is also the saltiest body of water on earth with a salt (actually mineral) content of app. 33%, some 8.5 times saltier than any oceans.

The Dead Sea got its name due to no living creatures being able to live there. But that did not stop people of ancient times to understand its economic value in salt extraction as well as health care.

Today The Dead Sea is not just a tourist point, but also a place for health and beauty care. Even Cleopatra is said to have come here for health and beauty reasons. People come here from all over the world to benefit from the Sea’s and the areas therapeutic qualities. Some of the afflictions that can be treated here are skin problems like psoriasis and eczema, rheumatism and arthritis, general muscle aches, and more.

Treatments is a combination of bathing in the Dead Sea, the use of the famous black mud found in abundance on the shores and rich in many minerals, as well as sunbathing. Lying so deep there is a thicker atmosphere at the Dead Sea than anywhere else, making sunbathing healthier and safer.

Of course you don’t have to suffer from ailments to enjoy the Dead Sea. In fact you can even take it home with you in the form of a great number of beauty and health products being produced today by many various companies.

Of course when visiting the Dead Sea there are a number of natural and historical sites to see as well, such as Masada, Qumran, the nature reserve of Ein Gedi with a possible glimpse into the wildlife of the Judean Desert, such as the ibex and the hyrax.

Unfortunately the Dead Sea is seeing some hard times. Due to changes in water management on both the Israeli and Jordanian side, as well as a continuous lack of rain fall in the Middle East, as well as some other unknown reasons, the Dead Sea has been shrinking over the last 30 years or so.

There are talks between Jordan, Israel and the Palestinians of creating a channel from the Red Sea to the Dead Sea, to utilize the drop in height for hydroelectric purposes, but also to allow for water to enter the Dead Sea. This project is strongly contended and as of the writing of this no decisions have been made.

The Dead Sea is a contender in the New Seven Wonders of the World contest. I only discovered this today so there is not much time left to vote. I did and if you read this in time, maybe you will also want to do it.

Whether the Dead Sea is voted one of the New Seven Wonders of the World or not, it is worth a visit.

The English name Masada comes from the Hebrew Metzada, which simply means “Fortress”. And that’s exactly what it is. Rising to a height of app. 450 m above Dead Sea (app. 50 m above sea level) with steep slopes on all sides, Masada is almost impossible to attack and conquer.

It was for this reason that Herod the Great chose it for the magnificent palaces he built there. The northern palace was intened to be the family palace. Herod chose the most spectacular locations and building plan, hanging the palace on three terraces on and below the nothern point.

Within the palace compound he built two Roman baths, storage rooms for food, wine, oil, wood. Guarding the palace entrance he built what modern archaelogists have termed “The Commandant’s House”. The three levels of the palace were connected with a staircase shaded most of the way.

In addition he built the Western Palace, intended to be the palace where visitors could be received and stay. It too has a Roman bath house and storage rooms. Scattered alongside the walls that surround the plateau are additional rooms, probably for servants and slaves, as well as workrooms for baking and cooking, as stables for mules and more.

Herod also made certain that there was plenty of water. Masada’s water collection system is one of the most brilliant of the ancient world.

But Masada is better known for the events that took place on the eve of Passover in the year 73 BC. In 66 BC the Jews of Judea and Galilee had started a rebellion against the Roman Empire. For four years the rebels held out, but finally in the year 70 CE the Roman reconquered Jerusalem, an event that for all intents and purposes ended the rebellion.

The exception was a handful of men, women and children who continue their struggle for freedom from Masada.
Well, I will not give away all the details, just know that the way it ended caused reverberations down through the generations and way into the modern State of Israel.

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