[Leica] (no subject)

[imagist3 at mac.com (George Lottermoser)]

fascinating travel photos
and
narratives
enjoying
(though not commenting much)

Regards,
George Lottermoser 
george at imagist.com
http://www.imagist.com
http://www.imagist.com/blog
http://www.linkedin.com/in/imagist





On Dec 23, 2010, at 11:47 AM, Peter Klein wrote:

> Thanks, everyone. Daniel, When I saw your first post, I remembered that
> you and Ewa met in Israel.
> 
> The landlocked Dead Sea is indeed dying--drying up.  Parts of the highway
> that used to be right at the shore are now some distance back from the
> water's edge.  The Jordanians have a plan to channel water from the Red
> Sea into the Dead Sea, the Israelis concur and may help. It's in the
> Wikipedia article you cited.  We heard a bit about this during our trip.
> 
> Masada has a spectacular view and an eerie history. After the destruction
> of Jerusalem in 70 CE, nearly 1,000 people took the mountain fortress, and
> held out there until the year 73 CE. They committed mass suicide the night
> the Romans breached the walls, knowing they would be killed or enslaved
> the next day.
> 
> Most of the group were "Zealots"--religious fanatics who had actually
> helped bring about the destruction of Jerusalem by refusing to compromise
> in any way, even to save the inhabitants of the city. One faction (the
> Sicarii) actually had made a practice of murdering fellow Jews who were
> less religious than they, or who favored accomodation with the Romans.
> While at Masada, they didn't just conduct raids against the Romans.  They
> supplied themselves by raiding nearby Jewish communities, often killing
> the inhabitants.
> 
> On the other hand, the Romans had been harsh rulers.  Sometimes they gave
> the Jews reasonable autonomy in their domestic affairs, other times they
> imposed idol worship and worship of the person of the emperor, and put
> down any dissent with killings and crucifixions. Jesus was one of
> thousands of Jews who died on the cross.
> 
> So Masada can be called both an example of heroic people willing to die
> for their faith and freedom, or the Jonestown of the ancient world.
> 
> There's some evidence that members of the nearby religious community of
> Qumran--the people who wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls--also took refuge at
> Masada.
> 
> Last night I finished editing a group of pictures from both Qumran and
> Masada, which I plan to post tonight. They include shots of the the Roman
> seige ramp, and the legion camp Daniel mentioned.