1031. Qumran, the Dead Sea, Bethlehem, and Jerusalem

In 1946 the Dead Sea Scrolls were found, in 11 caves in this area.

Here in Qumran, there was a colony of scribes, who copied many copies of the books in the Old Testament.  Those were the records now called the Dead Sea Scrolls.  Parts of all books of the Bible have been found in them.  

The Dead Sea Scrolls
The Psalms Scroll (11Q5), one of the 972 texts of the Dead Sea Scrolls, with a partial Hebrew transcription
Material	Papyrus, parchment and bronze
Writing	Mostly Hebrew; Aramaic, Greek and Nabataean-Aramaic
Created	Est. 408 BCE to 318 CE
Discovered	1946/47–1956
Present location	Various

Dead Sea Scrolls (also Qumran Caves Scrolls) are ancient Jewish religious, mostly Hebrew, manuscripts found in the Qumran Caves near the Dead Sea.

Caves at Qumran

Many thousands of written fragments have been discovered in the Dead Sea area. They represent the remnants of larger manuscripts damaged by natural causes or through human interference, with the vast majority only holding small scraps of text. However, a small number of well-preserved, almost intact manuscripts have survived – fewer than a dozen among those from the Qumran Caves. The 11 Qumran Caves are located about one mile west of the northwest shore of the Dead Sea, whence they derive their name. (from internet)

This large place carved below the surface was used to hold water for those scribes.   They lived at this place, ate in one large dining room, etc.

I took the pictures above and below.  It was very barren, but only a mile or two away were some springs, where crops could be grown for food.

Other ruins, part of the Qumran commune.

These date palms were about 50 years old, still producing.  We saw some donkeys around the ground, and our guide told us they bring donkeys there to eat the weeds, and keep the ground clean around the palms!  There are 500 million birds who pass there on their migrations, and they have to put nets over the trees to keep the birds from eating them all!

The Dead Sea in the distance.  In many restaurants all over Israel, there was a large amount of cosmetic products made from things from the Dead Sea.  They earn 4 billion dollars a year from minerals in the Dead Sea, and the cosmetic products!

 There is black mud around the shore, and people were rubbing it all over their bodies!  My roommate, LaWana put some on her arm, and then washed it off, and her arm still felt like she had rubbed oil all over it!
  
----------------Below from the internet -------------
 The Dead Sea is a salt lake bordered by Jordan to the east and Israel and Palestine to the west. Its surface and shores are 1,412 ft. below sea level, earth's lowest elevation on land. The Dead Sea is 997 ft deep, the deepest hypersaline lake in the world.  It is 9.6 times as salty as the ocean and one of the world's saltiest bodies of water. This salinity makes for a harsh environment in which plants and animals cannot flourish. The Dead Sea is 31 miles long and 9 miles wide at its widest point. It lies in the Jordan Rift Valley, and its main tributary is the Jordan River.

The Dead Sea has attracted visitors from around the Mediterranean basin for thousands of years. It was one of the world's first health resorts (for Herod the Great), and it has been the supplier of a wide variety of products, from asphalt for Egyptian mummification to potash for fertilizers. People also use the salt and the minerals from the Dead Sea to create cosmetics and herbal sachets.  

The Dead Seawater has a density which makes swimming similar to floating.  The Dead Sea is receding at an alarming rate, due to the Jordan river diverted to water crops. (from the internet)

These are bedouin villages near the Dead Sea.

More houses with flat roofs in the countryside in Israel.

  Bethlehem is under Palestinian control and therefore entrance to the city involves crossing a border checkpoint.  Tour buses have no problem, but have to pass a secure checkpoint. Normal people have to apply for years to go from Bethlehem to Jerusalem!
-------------------  (Below from the internet)  -- about going from Bethlehem to Jerusalem -----------------

How long would it take to walk six miles?

If you are in good shape, you could walk it in a couple of hours. If the terrain is relatively flat, you could easily cover six miles in an afternoon.

That’s not much of a hike.

If you wanted to walk from Jerusalem to Bethlehem, it’s only six miles so you could start in the morning and be there in the afternoon.

If you ever visit the Holy Land, you’ll see what I mean. The land of Israel is tiny compared to the United States. The whole country is only about 8500 square miles. That’s roughly the size of New Jersey and only a bit smaller than Vermont. From Dan in the north to Beersheba in the south is only 150 miles. For those of us who are used to thinking about the distance between, say, Miami and Seattle, visiting the Holy Land forces us to adopt an entirely different way of thinking.

  On a typical tour, you may wake up in Caesarea on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea and end up next to the Sea of Galilee that evening. In between you might visit Mt. Carmel, Megiddo, Nazareth and Cana. Along the way you’ll pass by the sites of many of the Old Testament events. And it’s very typical to start at the Sea of Galilee, visit Capernaum, the Mount of the Beatitudes, Korazin, Jericho and end the day in Jerusalem. It’s a full day but not because of the distance. The visitor to the land of the Bible soon realizes that most of the key events took place within 100 miles of Jerusalem.

One of the most important events took place six miles from Jerusalem.

Two thousand years ago there was not much there. Bethlehem was indeed a “little town” as described in the familiar Christmas carol by Phillips Brooks. Although well-known as the birthplace of King David, the town itself was home to perhaps 200 permanent residents. Because it was close to Jerusalem, we can assume that the various inns and guesthouses were full of pilgrims making their way to and from Jerusalem and on their way to various ancestral hometowns to pay the census tax required by Caesar Augustus (Luke 2:1-3)

.Just hold this thought in your mind. Jerusalem and Bethlehem were next-door neighbors, the first a large city and the second a tiny hamlet that would not normally be a major destination. Bethlehem in that day was a place you stayed on your way to the big city. You spent the night in Bethlehem and the next day you walked six miles to Jerusalem.

Six miles. That’s not very far.

The above information is from: https://www.keepbelieving.com/sermon/six-miles-from-jesus/

It is believed that Jesus was born in a type of cave, which is where the shepherds took the sheep when they were about to give birth to a lamb.  The picture below was from a room in that area which through the years has been created and decorated to celebrate the birth of Jesus.  In several of the places we visited, and Bishop Clark told us scriptures and history, and we sang various hymns, I took short videos which I can't put on this blog.  They are really special to listen to, and I wish I could include them.

Below is a sign to what is believed to be the shepherd's fields.  Our guide in Bethlehem was Christian, but as Bethlehem is controlled by Jordanians, they have to get clearance through security to visit Jerusalem.  He had been trying to get clearance for 7 years!  And only 6 miles away.  Our bus driver talked with some friends of his while we were in various sites in Bethlehem, and told them he was a guide for some "Mormons".  One of them said "Be good to those Mormons, and take good care of them!  They are good people!"

In the days of Joseph of Egypt, we were told that his son Benjamin was born in Bethlehem.  So the places we visited have been the site of Old Testament events ever since that time.

In various places we would stop and read scriptures that were about that area.  There were many tourists, and it was almost impossible to find a quiet place, but after coming home, and thinking about it, I can get the feeling again of those places!

A large city mall in Bethlehem!  Below a large wall with writing.

Another building, not a hotel, that probably housed several related families.

We went in a beautiful shop in which were many wood carvings, made from olive wood.  The above of the Prophet Joseph Smith was one of them.  They have had enough LDS (Mormon) visitors that they create some art especially for them.  We also saw many beautiful pieces that would appeal to Catholics, and other religions.  Our guide said that sales in that store support 7 related families.  Large pieces are carved from one solid piece.

There is an interesting story behind this sign on an elevator in our hotel.  There were 4 elevators and this was on only one.  So the devout Jews ride on this one on their Sabbath day (Saturday).  The elevator goes from the ground floor directly to the 8th (top) floor, and stops automatically on each floor coming down, only on their Sabbath.  The traditional Jews have 613 special laws they should obey, and one is the amount of steps, and other efforts they are allowed on the Sabbath Day.  This elevator enables them to not have to "work" by pushing the buttons to each floor!

The photo above is what has been excavated of the Pool of Bethesda.  It was where Jesus healed a man on the Sabbath Day.

This was in a talk given by President Thomas S. Monson in the October 1996 General Conference:

Just a few weeks ago my wife, Frances, and I visited the National Gallery and admired the display of inspired genius which met our gaze and touched our hearts. A large painting occupied most of the wall of one room. It was an incomparable piece by the renowned Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, completed in the year 1670 and titled Christ Healing the Paralytic at the Pool of Bethesda. The centuries have not dimmed its beauty, dulled its appeal, nor diminished its impact.

I could not avert my eyes, nor could I transfer my thoughts. I was carried back through time as I saw the crippled man lying on his crude crutch with his arms extended and his hands upturned as he appealed to the Savior of the world. The words and thoughts expressed in the book of John coursed through my mind. I share them with you this morning:

“Now there is at Jerusalem by the sheep market a pool, which is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda, having five porches.

“In these lay a great multitude of impotent folk, of blind, halt, withered, waiting for the moving of the water.

“For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water: whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had.

“And a certain man was there, which had an infirmity thirty and eight years.

“When Jesus saw him lie, and knew that he had been now a long time in that case, he saith unto him, Wilt thou be made whole?

“The impotent man answered him, Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool: but while I am coming, another steppeth down before me.

“Jesus saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk.

“And immediately the man was made whole, and took up his bed, and walked.”1

At length, after pondering this scripture, I left the reverie of the room; however, the impact of that masterpiece was indelibly impressed on my soul.

I have thought since of the majesty of the Master’s command, the tenderness of His heart, and the incredible joy His act had brought to the afflicted man."

We then went to a major road in "Old Jerusalem" where vendors had many shops.  Now and then a car or truck tried to go through the narrow walking road, and we all had to go to the side to let them pass!

The Arabic name is the translation of "way of pain."  The writing over a doorway below is presumed to be the home of Simon.  In Luke 23: 26 it reads:  "And as they led him away, they laid hold upon one Simon, a Cyrenian, coming out of the country, and on him they laid the cross, that he might be it after Jesus."

The Via Dolorosa (Latin for "Way of Grief," "Way of Sorrow," "Way of Suffering" or simply "Painful Way";  is a street within the Old City of Jerusalem, believed to be the path that Jesus walked on the way to his crucifixion. The winding route from the Antonia Fortress west to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre—a distance of about 2,000 feet—is a celebrated place of Christian pilgrimage.

The above scene of vendors with breads was common, and below is an example of the narrow streets with many little shops selling their wares.

The scene above, and below is another scene of the gigantic cemetery used many years.

Due to the many different tours all visiting many of the same sites, our tour guide, Bishop Clark Christain would walk with his cane and a red sock tied to the top, so we would know the direction in which he was going!