The stolen toy

I really feel like a kid whose new toy was stolen. Actually, my toy is my travelling to Israel and Dubai. I have so many thoughts to share about the live of Jewish and Palestinians and what? Everything broke down.

 

Is it possible to convince people how many nice things were created on the past and now among the arid desert of the Arabian Peninsula, when again and again, the most blood was shed? This is their own blood and that of their children. Their own cities, where they have to live with their children were ruined. The farms that supposed to feed their families were burned. Bitterness and vengeance have altered the eyes of so many fighters for "faith" that soon these lands do not remain faithful. Is there a universal belief? Who has rights to punish "crooked believers"? Who gives us the right to be judgmental?

What luck we had to sneak in a lull and see what the Palestinians and the Jewish do, if they not fight. And why, the first, is this fight? How many times I'm asking this question and I'm not the only one. The history gives the answers, but they depend on who, when and why  wrote them. Everyone chooses those who supports his cause. Join point of course is that these lands are populated longer from Jewish and Palestinians, as well from Romans and neighboring Empires. Convenient summary, which is close to the facts of the millennium.

That is why the event, which I want to tell begins and ends with the reign of the cruel, selfish King Herod. Something remind you of that name, or the expression "evil like Herod? He is the son of a highly placed officer of the Roman Jewish ancestry (74/73 BC)  With the help of the Roman Senate, he became the King of Israel for 37 years. His name remains for generations connected with building of significant architectural monuments such as the Temple of Herod in Jerusalem nearly destroyed later, the fortresses Hedorium and Masada.  Imagine, he and Cleopatra had a monopoly on the asphaltum deposits in the Dead sea, which help a lot in building fleets.

If you're known as one of the most brutal rulers, who among other evils is ordered  the murder of 14000 innocent children in Bitleem, out of fear for his throne, who killed his own wife and child, then you won't be wondering why he had 2,000 people personal security. You won't be wondering that when relations with Rome worsen to extreme, King Herod ran in the fortress Masada.

I wonder if someone from modern rulers has surpassed Herod in self-protection? Whether if any protection has the power to keep them from what bed rulers deserved?

Masada is one of many archaeological monuments, which are supposed to show us the meaninglessness of the wars. King Herod, roman, accepts Jewish faith because he wanted to become King of Israel, but with the support of the occupiers. Later he had started war with them. What is its cause? Why exactly, he and many like him led people to war? Is the protection of the throne and crown their "high politics". Is this all the intrigue in the world, so thousands of people are dying?

I wonder, how can there be a “higher policy” in the World, and there is no overriding “global wisdom”? If it is a stalemate of unresolved  problems, then  it is better to talk about the traveling experience, for flowers, for birds of love, for everything else that makes people happy. Why should we put the finger on the exact spot where it hurts the most, it is better to drive around. We need a distraction, but In my “distraction” there are quite a few rocks. I will tell you something about the place – Masada (Fortress). Herod went there when Jerusalem become very "hot" for him in, even though there was no shadow under the scorching sun among the rocks of desert.. There he spent the last years of his life, in the siege of the Romans. Those`, who 3-4 decades ago gave him the Jewish crown.

 

We are on the road to Masada. The greenery around us is over, after the bus left the Jerusalem’s outskirts. The highway crosses the infinite white plain. On one side elevates  equally white high mountain plateaus. Here there are oases of Jewish kibbutzim.  It turned out that these groups do not differ too much from former Soc-collective  farms, but only the idea. Do you remember French philosopher Jan Jack Russo? But everything is divided according the work people do. If you need something extra, then the General Assembly decides. Residents gather every evening on the report and the design for the next day. Moreover, children live in hostels apart from fathers and mothers and spend too little under parental custody.  This was for a more effective protection of children in the attacks.

Great! So, this is the way to do good and strong people. O, yes only if you start your preparedness from childhood you may resist intense years in these wars? Maybe the discipline with which they are bred  contributes  to a surprisingly high standard of living in Israel, until recently. Unfortunately, the wars and the incoming Palestinians who together with Israeli nationality, receive unemployment progressively drain the country.

 

Masada was founded in the 1st century BC. by Alexander Janneus on a vast plateau near the Dead sea. It has a natural slope to the sea, and this has enabled the defenders to collect  pelting in huge underground reservoirs. In other similar repositories was stored their food. So the defenders of the fortress  resisted there 3 years of siege. The plateau was only 400 meters above sea level, but long was impregnable for the opponents.  Finally, 10,000 Roman army built an enormous trestle, which got to the plateau. The defenders, 960 cikarii (zioni), headed by Herod suicide and only women and children left alive.

 

Alexander Janneus and later Herod have created big and luxurious settlement. The fortress with all its reception halls, the Throne Hall, patios and sleeping accommodations were arranged on three terraces, one below the other, along the edge of the slope. The wind even now carries the freshness of the sea, although it is catches a few miles away. Little remains for us, despite the efforts at excavations in the 1960 's. However, it is enough to make us wander how in such a place at the former technique level were built marble halls, bathrooms and even a swimming pool on the middle of the desert.

 

I walked away from the band, so I can imagine the white walls of the three main buildings, sparkling in blue sky. It is the only one that has not changed. I have imagined the worried defenders, who knew that their end is coming.  I could see down into the plain eager Roman soldiers. I thought, if the war can be a good thing, which is more acceptable, their primitive, denouncing the enemy of slow death, or modern our instantaneous dealing with opponents?

 Our guide shows very thoroughly all that's left of the distant centuries and how it is protected now. Posters and three-dimensional shapes help us implement the idea of the fortress and the small village of servants.

 

I don't want to get a lift back. This place is like halfway between heaven and Earth. I look up, shoreless blue sky,  down - valley full of white, yellow and brown overlays of dolomite. Forward the gaze is lost in the blue of the Dead sea. A nice breeze and the spirit invites me to stay longer. What songs were sang the erstwhile inhabitants.

 

 

The blue Dead sea invites us, it is our next goal. In minutes, we come to the humble beach complex.  Once the picture has been another, medical sanatoriuns and hotels were scattered along the coast, but the withdrawal of the sea for miles  has destroyed their business. We stop at a nice shopping center, with regular commercial stores and restaurants.   A small path leads to the sea.
 

      I wonder how some tourists haven’t gone in the water, at least out of curiosity. There is also another attraction – black healing mud, thrown down in a pile right on the sand. Around it, like Devils lurking black, shiny bodies. I coated from head to toe for the first time in my life and I went timidly in the water. Nothing special, you don't feel a difference, try to swim, it's even easier. They told us to keep the eyes and nose out of the water, of course that I put on doubt, but why you should keep your head higher than your body? If I kick twice I can restore my balance. No, not kicking helps, but the surrounding people reacted quickly. I apologized telling that maybe my very heavy head irresistibly pulls down ....If this head weighs that much… it might be smart?

Here's a new method for measurement of brain weight, my patent. .