Traveling Israel: The Judaean Desert - Masada, Ein Gedi and the Dead Sea

By Oren Cahanovitc

This booklet takes you to the three most visited sites in the Judaean Desert: Masada, Ein Gedi and the Dead Sea. The Masada route takes in the main points of interest and tells two dramatic stories – the story of King Herod, a persecuted persecutor king who built himself a palace in the middle of the desert, and the story of the rebels, who 70 years later used the palace as their last fortress. Another story that my booklet deals with has nothing to do with the ancient history, but rather with the story we tell ourselves. Masada is not only an archeological site, but it was also built as a national symbol that has its own story. I have also included a description of an unknown trail that surrounds Masada. It can be combined, in its entirety or not, with a visit to the top of Masada.
Ein Gedi offers a variety of walking routes and you can visit the main sites included in the booklet: the ancient synagogue with its mosaic floor, on which it is written that cursed will be the man who tells the town secret; the Chalcolithic Temple, and the flora and fauna of Ein Gedi.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Oren Cahanovitc
• Release date: Dec 19, 2016
• ISBN: 9781370879489

Oren Cahanovitc

My name is Oren Cahanovitc, and as an adventurer (orenca.com) and a tour guide, I tell the story of Israel, this harsh yet beautiful land.

Book preview

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DAY TOUR

MASADA | EIN GEDI | THE DEAD SEA

Author & Publisher

Oren Cahanovitc

[e-mail]

www.travelingisrael.com

The idea behind this booklet is simple:

You are your own guide! So the booklet equips you with an independent itinerary for your tour of Ein Gedi, Masada and the Dead Sea, complete with maps, pictures and detailed information about the various sights.

© 2015 Oren Cahanovitc

[e-mail]

www.travelingisrael.com

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, mechanical, electronic, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission from the publisher.

ISBN 978-965-7667-05-7

Contents

Introduction

The Judaean Desert

Masada

Introduction

Conclusion

Around the Masada Trail

Safety rules:

Trail description:

The Tomb of Masada’s Defenders

Ein Gedi

Flora of Ein Gedi

Fauna of Ein Gedi

The Dead Sea

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Introduction

Floating in the Dead Sea is a unique experience, and the sight of the desert at dawn from the top of Masada is magical. There are many fascinating places to visit in Israel, but to understand a place that has been touched by history, you must first understand its stories. The Land of Israel is first and foremost a land of dramatic tales – biblical stories, stories of the rise and fall of the many civilizations that have lived here, stories of flourishing cultures but also of carnage and destruction, and most of all, stories about exceptional ideas that have changed the world and our perception of it. My name is Oren Cahanovitc, and as a traveler and a tour guide, my job is to share the story of this harsh yet beautiful land with you.

This booklet tells the story of the Judaean Desert and some of its main sites: Masada, Ein Gedi, and the Dead Sea.

You will need: walking shoes, water, sunscreen, a bathing suit and towel, waterproof sandals (the sand on the beach is actually crystals of salt and can be painful to walk on), a camera and some money (though there is an ATM at Kibbutz Ein Gedi).

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Bedouin tin shacks and dwellings.

The Judaean Desert

Route 1, the main road leading from Jerusalem to the Dead Sea, passes through a tunnel that is carved into Mount Scopus. One moment you’re gazing at Jerusalem and the walled Old City, and after a few seconds of darkness, you emerge from the tunnel with the majestic landscape of the Judaean Desert unfolding before your eyes. Standing at the observation point on Mount Scopus, you can see green olive trees on one side and desert hills on the other.

The Judaean Desert appears almost out of the blue because it is a rain shadow desert of modest size. Unlike the Negev Desert, which sprawls over southern Israel and is part of a

Reviews for Traveling Israel

[Jennifer Harris · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book is absolutely fantastic, this shared the history of Masada which ended very sadly an Bin Gide an the Dead Sea. If you haven't read it please give it a try you will like or love it, it's your call, but I would recommend this book.very highly