Rain clouds over Arad
after our big hike yesterday,
we have an easier morning
we went to the lower city of tel Arad
through a Canaanite gate
dated way before Abraham
A temple from the Canaanite era
with altar and Holy of Holies
The people used to live in family units
rooms build around an open courtyard
this could have been a family bedroom
not very big
also some storage rooms
a deep well
Genesis 24
After Rebecca gave Abram's servant a drink, she said,
"I'll draw water for your camels too,
until they've had enough to drink"
So she quickly emptied her jar into the trough,
ran back to the well to draw more water,
and drew enough for all his camels
a single camel can drink a 100 liters in one time
This is the temple they found in Arad
from Hezekiah's time
pretty big deal because there's nothing left
of the temple in Jerusalem
and this one was build like it
we started the story of the bloodpath
the covenant with Abram
in the temple
but because of rain we finished it in the cistern
The shofar was the connector of the story
to the New Testament
time to drive to our next destination
a familiar shape: Masada
we are at the side of the siege ramp
you can see the stairs go up on the right of the ramp
nice photo-op
ready to go up
Some of our group started running up
but most of us walked
we paused to look at the wall the Romans build
surrounding Masada
Masada has a bloody history
a large Roman camp, still visible
2000 years later
They came after the Zealots that were holding up
here, the Zealots killed each other so they
would not be killed by the Romans
Through the gate
we looked down on a floor of a palace
this is from king Herod's time
Herod was cruel, but also a genius
who liked well build projects as big as possible
He often build almost impossible projects
like here 3 hanging palaces
view of the dead sea
and a Roman camp
we're going down in a cable car because it's Shabbat
and the site is closing
we're early back at the hotel
time to float in the dead sea
it feels weird
but it's fun
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