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| DESCENDING TO THE DEAD SEA AND ASCENDING TO QUMRAN |
An Independent Source of News & Views
| To read "The Wilderness of Abraham, Jesus & Israel- Palestine," click here. |
| Photography on this page by Charleston C. K. Wang, Shirley Wang, or Arthur Wang Copyright 2010-2012 All Rights Reserved Charleston C. K. Wang, Esq., Publisher |
CLICK ON ANY PHOTO FOR LARGER VIEW
| To view "Herodion: A Fortress During the Gospels," click here. |
CLICK ON ANY PHOTO FOR LARGER VIEW
THE DEAD SEA
Students of the St. Georges Course on "The Bible and its
Setting" descended down to the Dead Sea on Sunday, April
18, 2010. We visited this geological marvel after spending a
night out in the Judean Wilderness albeit in a Bedouin tent,
and in the morning, celebrating Eucharist among the animals
of the oasis. The Dead Sea lies at 1237 feet below sea level,
and thus, is the lowest salt water lake in the world. Naturally,
it is also referred to as the Salt Lake (Hebrew: יָם הַמֶּלַח, Yām
Ha-Melaḥ, "Sea of Salt, "Arabic: الميتالبحر al-Bahr al-Mayyit).
With salt concentration at around 30-35%, the Dead Sea is
about eight and a half times more salty than the Oceans. At
this salinity, life forms such as fish and aquatic plants cannot
survive. However, very small amounts of bacteria and
microbial fungi call the Dead Sea their home. The Dead Sea
water is also fabled for its medicinal and
cosmetic properties.
The salt increases the water specific gravity to about 1.24
more dense than pure water. The Dead Sea presents a rare
floating experience for even the neophyte swimmer - one
has only to lie on one's back, relax, and enjoy the experience
of floating. The key is to enter the Dead Sea totally calm and
relaxed. I who regularly swim a mile once a week outdoors
in summer and in a heated indoor pool in winter found my
attempts to swim even 50 yards thwarted by the density and
the simply horrible, burning taste of the water (hard on eyes
too). I did get an opportunity to walk around the beach
wearing my swimmer's Speedo and some thought I had
committed an illegal act.
Surprisingly, there are maybe fewer than a handful of
references to the Salt Sea in the Hebrew Scriptures
and none in the Christian Bible. Somewhere, probably on its
southeast end, would be located the doomed cities
of Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 18) and three other "Cities
of the Plain" - Admah, Zeboiim and Zoar (Deuteronomy 29:
23). See also Quran 7:80-81, 84; 29:34-35. The settlement of
Zoar was spared destruction when Abraham's nephew Lot
fled to Zoar from Sodom (Genesis 19:21-22). Before the
blight, the Dead Sea may have been a valley of natural
flammable bitumen pits (which may explain the fiery
destruction of settlements), which was called the Vale of
Siddim (Genesis 14:3, 8, 10). Much later, King David was said
to have hidden from Saul at Ein Gedi which is somewhere
close-by. In Ezekiel 47:8-9 there is a specific prophecy that
"the sea of stagnant waters...will become fresh," being
restored to water that will give life. A parallel vision is in
Zechariah 14:8.
Students of the St. Georges Course on "The Bible and its
Setting" descended down to the Dead Sea on Sunday, April
18, 2010. We visited this geological marvel after spending a
night out in the Judean Wilderness albeit in a Bedouin tent,
and in the morning, celebrating Eucharist among the animals
of the oasis. The Dead Sea lies at 1237 feet below sea level,
and thus, is the lowest salt water lake in the world. Naturally,
it is also referred to as the Salt Lake (Hebrew: יָם הַמֶּלַח, Yām
Ha-Melaḥ, "Sea of Salt, "Arabic: الميتالبحر al-Bahr al-Mayyit).
With salt concentration at around 30-35%, the Dead Sea is
about eight and a half times more salty than the Oceans. At
this salinity, life forms such as fish and aquatic plants cannot
survive. However, very small amounts of bacteria and
microbial fungi call the Dead Sea their home. The Dead Sea
water is also fabled for its medicinal and
cosmetic properties.
The salt increases the water specific gravity to about 1.24
more dense than pure water. The Dead Sea presents a rare
floating experience for even the neophyte swimmer - one
has only to lie on one's back, relax, and enjoy the experience
of floating. The key is to enter the Dead Sea totally calm and
relaxed. I who regularly swim a mile once a week outdoors
in summer and in a heated indoor pool in winter found my
attempts to swim even 50 yards thwarted by the density and
the simply horrible, burning taste of the water (hard on eyes
too). I did get an opportunity to walk around the beach
wearing my swimmer's Speedo and some thought I had
committed an illegal act.
Surprisingly, there are maybe fewer than a handful of
references to the Salt Sea in the Hebrew Scriptures
and none in the Christian Bible. Somewhere, probably on its
southeast end, would be located the doomed cities
of Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 18) and three other "Cities
of the Plain" - Admah, Zeboiim and Zoar (Deuteronomy 29:
23). See also Quran 7:80-81, 84; 29:34-35. The settlement of
Zoar was spared destruction when Abraham's nephew Lot
fled to Zoar from Sodom (Genesis 19:21-22). Before the
blight, the Dead Sea may have been a valley of natural
flammable bitumen pits (which may explain the fiery
destruction of settlements), which was called the Vale of
Siddim (Genesis 14:3, 8, 10). Much later, King David was said
to have hidden from Saul at Ein Gedi which is somewhere
close-by. In Ezekiel 47:8-9 there is a specific prophecy that
"the sea of stagnant waters...will become fresh," being
restored to water that will give life. A parallel vision is in
Zechariah 14:8.
RISING UP TO QUMRAN
All hope for the pilgrim is not lost, for in the hills next to the
Dead Sea, is Qumran, generally held to be one time home of
Essenes and depository of the famed Dead Sea Scrolls. The
Essenes are members of a reclusive Jewish Sect who were
flourishing during the time of Jesus (2nd century BCE to 1st
century CE). Essenes were far fewer in number than the
Pharisees and the Sadducees the two sects well
documented in the Christian Scriptures; they gathered for
study and community living under strict rules of asceticism,
voluntary poverty, daily bathing, and abstinence from
secular pleasures, including marriage. Essenes
disappeared during the Jewish Wars and some speculate
they may have combined holiness with zealous nationalist
fervor and as a consequence, being Zealots, they were
marked for destruction by the Romans. The existence of
Essenes is corroborated by Flavius Josephus, Pliny the
Elder, and Philo. Josephus mentions Essenes in his two
main works, Wars of the Jews and Antiquities of the Jews,
and he named the Essenes as one of the three major Jewish
sects of that period. Pliny's Latin text Natural History
speaks of Esseni. Josephus and Philo have
detailed reports of the communal meals and religious rites
of the Essenes.
The community at Qumran contained an extensive library of
Hebrew texts. This invaluable collection of 972 texts (so far
counted) was "discovered" during the winter of 1946-47 by a
Bedouin shepherd named Muhammad Ahmed al-Hamed.
Since then, scholars have confirmed the existence of
multiple copies of the Hebrew Bible and other non-
canonical writings, some scrolls being dated to 300 BCE.
These scrolls survived because they were hidden in caves
one half mile inland and were not kept in the buildings that
made up the Qumran community. Modern scholars have
classified the Dead Sea Scrolls into three groups: "Biblical"
manuscripts (copies of texts from the Hebrew Bible), which
comprise roughly 40% of the identified documents;
"Apocryphal" or "Pseudepigraphical" writings (known
manuscripts from the post-exilic Second Temple Period like
Enoch, Jubilees, Tobit, Sirach, non-canonical psalms, etc.,
that were not canonized in the Hebrew Bible), which
comprise roughly 30% of the identified scrolls; and
"Sectarian" manuscripts (previously unknown documents
that speak to the rules and beliefs of a particular group or
groups within greater Judaism) like the Community Rule,
War Scroll, Pesher on Habakkuk (Hebrew pesher פשר or
"Commentary"), and the Rule of the Blessing, which
comprise roughly 30% of the identified scrolls. The
attribution of these Sectarian writings to the Essenes is
disputed among the experts. For example, one school of
thinking advances the argument that the scrolls were the
product of Jewish scribes in the Jerusalem temple and
they were secreted to the Qumran caves to save
them from destruction before the besieged Temple was
stormed. Yet others see Qumran as ruins of a Hasmonean
fort and barracks, dating to before the Roman occupation.
Regardless as to who caused these scrolls to be hidden
away in jars in the Qumran caves, the primary conclusion
even for the textual critics is the accuracy of the
transcription by hand of the Hebrew Bible over time (before
the ages of printing presses, photocopying machines, and
digital optical scanners). Before the discovery of the Dead
Sea Scrolls, the oldest extant Hebrew manuscripts of the
Bible were Masoretic Hebrew texts dating to 10th century
CE (e.g.the Codex of Aleppo). The biblical manuscripts
found among the Dead Sea Scrolls push that date back a
thousand years to the 2nd century BCE. Before this
discovery, the earliest extant manuscripts of the Old
Testament were in Greek in manuscripts such as Codex
Vaticanus Graecus 1209 and Codex Sinaiticus.
Is there a connection between Qumran and Christianity?
Most scholars say no, although the Qumran rules of living
and Christian monastic rules bear a striking similarity. It is
further speculated largely without scholastic favor, that at
least one Essene survived the Roman wrath to seed the
Kabbalistic traditions. In addition to Qumran, another
famous site nearby in the hills next to the Dead Sea is
Fortress Masada. The mysteries of Qumran will continue to
be debated for quite some time to come, including raging
philological arguments over slight discrepancies in the
transcription. Charleston C. K. Wang, 5/15/2011.
PHOTO NOTES: Photographs on the Left Column depict
scenes from the Dead Sea. The pink panther drawing is
found on the back window of our tour bus and has helped
many a wandering pilgrim get back onto the correct
transport. The Right Column depicts scenes from Qumran.
The two beach photos below have their own notations.
All hope for the pilgrim is not lost, for in the hills next to the
Dead Sea, is Qumran, generally held to be one time home of
Essenes and depository of the famed Dead Sea Scrolls. The
Essenes are members of a reclusive Jewish Sect who were
flourishing during the time of Jesus (2nd century BCE to 1st
century CE). Essenes were far fewer in number than the
Pharisees and the Sadducees the two sects well
documented in the Christian Scriptures; they gathered for
study and community living under strict rules of asceticism,
voluntary poverty, daily bathing, and abstinence from
secular pleasures, including marriage. Essenes
disappeared during the Jewish Wars and some speculate
they may have combined holiness with zealous nationalist
fervor and as a consequence, being Zealots, they were
marked for destruction by the Romans. The existence of
Essenes is corroborated by Flavius Josephus, Pliny the
Elder, and Philo. Josephus mentions Essenes in his two
main works, Wars of the Jews and Antiquities of the Jews,
and he named the Essenes as one of the three major Jewish
sects of that period. Pliny's Latin text Natural History
speaks of Esseni. Josephus and Philo have
detailed reports of the communal meals and religious rites
of the Essenes.
The community at Qumran contained an extensive library of
Hebrew texts. This invaluable collection of 972 texts (so far
counted) was "discovered" during the winter of 1946-47 by a
Bedouin shepherd named Muhammad Ahmed al-Hamed.
Since then, scholars have confirmed the existence of
multiple copies of the Hebrew Bible and other non-
canonical writings, some scrolls being dated to 300 BCE.
These scrolls survived because they were hidden in caves
one half mile inland and were not kept in the buildings that
made up the Qumran community. Modern scholars have
classified the Dead Sea Scrolls into three groups: "Biblical"
manuscripts (copies of texts from the Hebrew Bible), which
comprise roughly 40% of the identified documents;
"Apocryphal" or "Pseudepigraphical" writings (known
manuscripts from the post-exilic Second Temple Period like
Enoch, Jubilees, Tobit, Sirach, non-canonical psalms, etc.,
that were not canonized in the Hebrew Bible), which
comprise roughly 30% of the identified scrolls; and
"Sectarian" manuscripts (previously unknown documents
that speak to the rules and beliefs of a particular group or
groups within greater Judaism) like the Community Rule,
War Scroll, Pesher on Habakkuk (Hebrew pesher פשר or
"Commentary"), and the Rule of the Blessing, which
comprise roughly 30% of the identified scrolls. The
attribution of these Sectarian writings to the Essenes is
disputed among the experts. For example, one school of
thinking advances the argument that the scrolls were the
product of Jewish scribes in the Jerusalem temple and
they were secreted to the Qumran caves to save
them from destruction before the besieged Temple was
stormed. Yet others see Qumran as ruins of a Hasmonean
fort and barracks, dating to before the Roman occupation.
Regardless as to who caused these scrolls to be hidden
away in jars in the Qumran caves, the primary conclusion
even for the textual critics is the accuracy of the
transcription by hand of the Hebrew Bible over time (before
the ages of printing presses, photocopying machines, and
digital optical scanners). Before the discovery of the Dead
Sea Scrolls, the oldest extant Hebrew manuscripts of the
Bible were Masoretic Hebrew texts dating to 10th century
CE (e.g.the Codex of Aleppo). The biblical manuscripts
found among the Dead Sea Scrolls push that date back a
thousand years to the 2nd century BCE. Before this
discovery, the earliest extant manuscripts of the Old
Testament were in Greek in manuscripts such as Codex
Vaticanus Graecus 1209 and Codex Sinaiticus.
Is there a connection between Qumran and Christianity?
Most scholars say no, although the Qumran rules of living
and Christian monastic rules bear a striking similarity. It is
further speculated largely without scholastic favor, that at
least one Essene survived the Roman wrath to seed the
Kabbalistic traditions. In addition to Qumran, another
famous site nearby in the hills next to the Dead Sea is
Fortress Masada. The mysteries of Qumran will continue to
be debated for quite some time to come, including raging
philological arguments over slight discrepancies in the
transcription. Charleston C. K. Wang, 5/15/2011.
PHOTO NOTES: Photographs on the Left Column depict
scenes from the Dead Sea. The pink panther drawing is
found on the back window of our tour bus and has helped
many a wandering pilgrim get back onto the correct
transport. The Right Column depicts scenes from Qumran.
The two beach photos below have their own notations.
THIS IS THE REAL AND FAMOUS FORTRESS MASADA BY THE DEAD SEA-
THE AREA HAS A NUMBER OF LOOK-ALIKES THAT HAVE FOOLED NEOPHYTE TOURISTS
THE AREA HAS A NUMBER OF LOOK-ALIKES THAT HAVE FOOLED NEOPHYTE TOURISTS
THE HILLS OF QUMRAN
On the Descending Road
to the Dead Sea
to the Dead Sea
| THIS PHOTO SHOWS ISRAELI HOLIDAY-MAKERS OUT CELEBRATING ISRAEL INDEPENDENCE DAY (APRIL 19, 2010 - A "SECULAR" HOLIDAY?) - VIEWERS ARE CAUTIONED THAT THE LOCATION IS A BEACH ON THE SEA OF GALILEE (NOT THE DEAD SEA, BUT A FRESH WATER LAKE). THE BEST BEACH SCENES, HOWEVER, ARE SAID TO BE FOUND ON THE MEDITERRANEAN OCEAN-FRONT SANDS OF THE METROPOLIS OF TEL AVIV, WHICH WE DID NOT VISIT |
| To view "The Call for Simon Peter, Fisherman," click here. |
DOUBLE CLICK FOR EXTRA LARGE IMAGE
& READ THE WORDS ON THE BOARD
& READ THE WORDS ON THE BOARD
| DOUBLE CLICK FOR EXTRA LARGE IMAGE & READ THE WORDS ON THE BOARD |
| To view "In Search of the Messianic Secret - Caesarea Phillipi," click here. |
| VIEW OF THE DEAD SEA FROM QUMRAN HILLS - JORDAN IS SEEN ON THE FAR SIDE QUMRAN IS ALMOST ON THE SAME PARALLEL AS JERUSALEM & LIES AT THE NORTHWEST END OF THE DEAD SEA. TO THE NWW IS ANOTHER RENOWNED PLACE - JERICHO, GATEWAY TO THE HOLY CITY FROM THE EAST |
THE CAVES OF QUMRAN
| THE AFTERNOON WAS OVERCAST AND NOT PERFECT FOR MYSELF TO GET THE BEST SUN TAN (IT ACTUALLY RAINED THE NEXT DAY) |
DOUBLE CLICK ON PHOTO FOR EXTRA LARGE IMAGE
| To read "Jury for Jericho ," click here. |
