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Luxury travel blog » Places » Middle East » Israel » Losing it on a Judean Desert Adventure in Israel

Losing it on a Judean Desert Adventure in Israel

February 13, 2016 by Carol Perehudoff 23 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links.

Visiting Israel? Try a Judean Desert jeep tour. This otherworldly desert above the Dead Sea is where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered, where biblical history was made and where adventure beckons. And where things get lost for centuries …
Judean wilderness Israel

Judean Desert Adventure

I’m scrambling around in a panic, flinging things out of my suitcase. “Where is it? Where is it?”

Gone. That’s where my notebook is. A week’s worth of notes, quotes and impressions of my whirlwind tour through Israel. For a jet-lagged travel writer, or at least for this jet-lagged travel writer, a notebook is a lifeline to a destination. With so much to see in Israel my brain is on overload; my notebook has been my personal external hard drive, a place to park my thoughts so they don’t get lost.

Except now they are. Lost.

Judean Desert trip Israel

The desert

Qumran

I sink down onto the bed in my Jerusalem hotel and try to recall when I last had it. We were driving on Highway 90 east of Jerusalem, the pale blue Dead Sea on one side, the dry Judean Hills on the other. As we passed the cliffside caves at Qumran, where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered in 1947, I snapped a photo from a distance, patches of black specks in the limestone. I think I scribbled some notes.

Qumran caves, Dead Sea Scrolls Judean Desert

Qumran, look closely and you’ll see the caves

How the Dead Sea Scrolls were found

The Dead Sea Scrolls, including the oldest version of the Old Testament ever found, were discovered by a Beduin goat-herd searching for a lost goat from his flock. He saw a cave and, wary of wild animals, tossed a stone in before entering. The sound of breaking pottery rang out. It was a jar that housed one of the scrolls, scrolls that hadn’t been seen for 2,000 years.

Dead Sea Scrolls, Isaiah Scroll Photo from Israel Gov't

Isaiah Scroll Photo credit: Israel Gov’t

The scrolls were mostly made from parchment (dried animal skins), some from papyrus. Even a copper one would later be found. The story I was told is that the goat-herd found seven scrolls, so weathered and hardened at first he thought they might be made into a pair of shoes. In the end, they were taken to an antiquities dealer who saw at once the scrolls were something remarkable, and the Dead Sea Scrolls’ reintroduction into the world began.

Road on a Judean Desert jeep tour

Into the desert

Judean Desert Jeep Tour

I still had my notebook when our small group got out of the van and crammed into a white four wheel drive for our Judean Desert jeep tour. The Judean Desert isn’t large. It’s a 1500-square-km desert that stretches from the Mountains of Judea to the west to the Dead Sea in the east.

Confession: I wasn’t thrilled about going on a Judean Desert jeep tour. From the highway the Judean Hills looked like a bleak stretch of nothingness, and I thought it would be a lot more fun to float in the Dead Sea.

Judean Desert jeep tour adventure

Which way to the desert?

Into the desert

But then we were bouncing our way up the hills, roaring along a road that in some places seemed only to be separated from the desert itself by the rows of stones flanking it. Immediately I was glad I’d come. The pinks, taupes and sun-patted golds of the rock in the afternoon light had me blinking in confusion as my brain reset my idea of how beautiful bleakness can be.

A Dead Sea view

We stopped at the edge of a cliff overlooking the Dead Sea, a stark vision of waves of rock and the windless sea, the hills of Jordan in the background. “You’re standing on the highest mountain in the lowest place on earth,” said our guide, Barak.

“Where are we exactly?” I asked.

He looked at me as if it were obvious. “Mount Sodom.”

Judean Desert jeep tour guide

Welcome to the desert

Sodom and Gomorrah

Ah. Right. I nodded. No one knows exactly where the sin-filled cities of Sodom and Gomorrah sat, but they were around here somewhere – if, of course, they existed at all. Earlier, Barak had pointed out a column called “Lot’s Wife,” the woman who hadn’t listened when the angels told her to flee and not to turn around as Sodom was destroyed. When she looked back anyway, she was transformed into a pillar of salt.

2nd Judean Desert Confession: I’ve never understood what was so bad about turning around. (There are many theories – the most plausible being because Lot’s Wife looked back, she betrayed her longing for that way of life. And FYI: her name was Edith.)

An extraordinary spot

Despite my personal opinion of the harshness of Lot’s wife’s lot in life, it seemed extraordinary that I was standing in a place straight out of biblical history (the Book of Genesis to be exact). It was even stranger to think that the 11 km long Mount Sodom is at least 80% salt – I had a vision of the entire mountain dissolving into a salty soup as we stood here.

Judean Desert Adventure, canyon

Why does this pose look so fake?

Desert with a view

Driving deeper into the desert we came to a chasm. “Holy wow!” I said, as we scrambled out with our cameras and notepads and looked at a huge rent in the ground that looked as if some mighty god had hacked into it with an axe

“It’s like the Grand Canyon,” said Steve, one of the men in our group.

An apocalyptic Grand Canyon, I thought. No tourists. No signs or hotels, just land so hard and ancient it looks as if it has stood under the hot sun forever, until finally cracking open like dry split wood.

Judean Desert scenery

The unsung Grand Canyon of Israel

Party in the Judean Wildnerness

In the middle of this nothingness was a parked van. Two men and a woman had spread out a blanket and were having a picnic. It surprised me as much as if we’d run into them on Mars.

“Have some coffee!” they said, welcoming us, as if we were old friends and not cultures and continents apart. “Sit down!”

Judean Desert jeep tour, strangers in the wildnerness

Have some coffee!

Who could turn an invitation like that down? Not me. I sat on the blanket for a minute, then waved goodbye and the next day I was in Jerusalem, as if our Judean Desert jeep tour had all been a dream. And now without my notebook, in a way it was.

Judean Desert jeep tour view, Dead Sea at sunset

Sunset falls early in the desert

Dead Sea Scrolls in Jerusalem

At the Israel Museum in Jerusalem we toured the Shrine of the Book, a space-age building that looks like a creamy white mint. Inside the dimly-lit round interior, I studied the scrolls on display, protected behind glass.

Dead Sea Scrolls Israel Museum Shrine of the Book

The Shrine of the Book

Hidden by the Essenes

It was mind twisting to think how long these slim scraps of parchment have lasted. Written between the 3rd century BCE and the 1st century CE, the Dead Sea Scrolls were probably – or at least possibly – hidden in the Qumran caves by the Essenes, a devout and secretive Jewish community that lived and prayed in that remote desert spot.

Ancient Jerusalem Israel Museum

Ancient Jerusalem in a nutshell – at the Israel Museum

The oldest known Hebrew Bible

In the 11 caves at Qumran, about 900 manuscripts would be found all together, including copies of the Book of Isaiah, Deuteronomy and prophecies by Ezekiel, Jeremiah and Daniel. One of the most complete and the largest is the Great Isaiah Scroll that contains all 66 chapters of the Book of Isaiah.

The memory of passing the exact spot the scrolls had sat for two millennia gave me a thrill, as if I’d driven through a page of the bible itself. And I didn’t need a notebook to relive the moment. I wondered what other secrets the Judean wilderness has yet to give up.

Judean Desert hills

The mysterious Judean hills

The notebook

Later that night when I downloaded my photos, I came across a photo someone had taken of me on Mount Sodom, standing triumphantly on the crest of the cliff. I peered closer. Was that my notebook in my hand? It was! The last sighting. I must have set it down soon after. Had a gust of wind blown it into the chasm as I sat on the edge? Did it fall behind a rock?

Wandering Carol Judean Desert

The notebook.

 

And maybe it will sit in the desert for millennia, preserved in the hot dry air. And centuries later someone will find it, old and leathered, the ink faded and pages clotted together, and wonder, like the goat-herd, if it would make a good pair of shoes.

Travel Guide for the Judean Desert and the Dead Sea Scrolls

Visiting Qumran

The Jewish Essenes sect lived at Qumran during the Hellenistic Period (about 134 to 104 BCE), retreating to this isolated spot to lead a spiritual life. Today, Qumran is a National Park. At the Qumran Visitors Center you can listen to an audio presentation about the Dead Sea Scrolls, tour the remains of the settlement and view one of the caves where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found.

Qumran is approximately 40 minutes from Jerusalem.

Visiting the Israel Museum in Jerusalem – the Shrine of the Book

Founded in 1965, the Israel Museum is Israel’s largest cultural institution. In addition to the Shrine of the Book, there are sections for Archaeology, Fine Arts and Jewish Art and Life as well as an outdoor model of ancient Jerusalem from the Second Temple period.
How to get to the Israel Museum. The museum is located in Jerusalem on 11 Ruppin Boulevard, Hakyria, near the Knesset (Israeli Parliament). Visitors can take a public bus, taxi or join a tour.
Tickets are available at the entrance or online. Adults are 54 NIS, children 27.

Judean Desert Jeep Tour

Our 4 x 4 Judean Desert Jeep Tour was with Camel Lot Tours. Contact barakhorwitz@gmail.com for more info.

Day trip from Jerusalem

It’s easy to do a day tour to the Judean Desert and the Dead Sea from Jerusalem. Many tour companies operate trips that include King Herod’s hilltop fortress of Masada and time to float in the Dead Sea.

Read more travel blog posts about Israel

Visiting Israel and not sure where to go? Here’s a 7-day Israel Itinerary.

Dead Sea Night Adventure

Caesarea from King Herod to the Crusaders

Attitude at the Mount of Beatitudes: A trip to the Holy Land

One day in Old Jaffa, Tel Aviv

For more information on visiting Israel check out Go Israel, the Israel Tourism Board site. My visit was subsidized by the Israeli Tourism Board, all opinions and lost notebooks are my own.

Filed Under: Israel, Soft adventure

About Carol Perehudoff

A former freelance travel columnist for the Toronto Star, Carol has won more than 20 writing and blogging awards and honours. A spa and luxury travel expert, she's written for top travel publications around the globe.

Comments

  1. Carol Perehudoff says

    February 26, 2016 at 9:19 am

    Wow, I’d love to explore Qatar, Bob. It must have been some trip.

  2. Bob Ramsak says

    February 26, 2016 at 9:15 am

    This looks excellent. I was on a brief desert excursion in Qatar last weekend and can’t get those landscapes out of my mind. This looks entirely different.

  3. Lesley Peterson says

    February 24, 2016 at 9:05 am

    Loved this post, Carol. I love deserts and the Judean desert looks starkly beautiful with all that pale stone.

  4. Elaine J. Masters says

    February 15, 2016 at 11:07 pm

    I’ve lost diaries and stories scribbled in notebooks too. It can free you and look at this cool story. Nice to have reunited in a picture at least.

  5. Carol Perehudoff says

    February 15, 2016 at 5:40 pm

    Thank you, Scott! I still can’t believe my notebook is gone. I just can’t believe it. Ah, well.

  6. Carol Perehudoff says

    February 15, 2016 at 5:40 pm

    Thanks, Joe. I’d love to read about your adventures.

  7. Joe Ankenbauer says

    February 15, 2016 at 4:49 pm

    I love following your adventures in Israel! I’ve visited before, but not as thouroughly as you! I love it!

  8. Mar Pages says

    February 15, 2016 at 1:01 am

    The yellows are fantastic, so much to see! So sorry about your notebook, that truly is a loss! Hopefully your photos help in jogging your memory, you have really great ones. :)

  9. Laura says

    February 14, 2016 at 11:01 pm

    So sad to lose a notebook full of your notes from a trip. It feels really devastating. But the jeep safari actually looks like a really cool thing to do. I’ve been to that part of Israel and I really was surprised by the landscape. It’s really quite interesting.

  10. scmacleod says

    February 14, 2016 at 10:42 pm

    Carol, I love how your dry sense of humor comes through your writing! Can’t imagine the sinking feeling of losing your notebook. Great write up, despite losing that!

  11. Carol Perehudoff says

    February 14, 2016 at 2:09 pm

    I agree, Stephan. The story of the Dead Sea Scrolls lying in the Judean Desert for so many years is mind boggling.

  12. Carol Perehudoff says

    February 14, 2016 at 2:08 pm

    Well if you do go, Fiona – have a look for my notebook!

  13. Carol Perehudoff says

    February 14, 2016 at 2:08 pm

    Thanks, Shobha – I’m still crying over that notebook, but I’m thrilled I got to visit the Judean Desert. What an experience.

  14. Carol Perehudoff says

    February 14, 2016 at 2:07 pm

    Thanks, Tess. Yes, it was a great experience.

  15. Carol Perehudoff says

    February 14, 2016 at 2:07 pm

    I never found the notebook, Sue!

  16. Carol Perehudoff says

    February 14, 2016 at 2:06 pm

    Oh, thanks Janice & George. That’s really sweet of you to say.

  17. Janice & George (@SandInSuitcase) says

    February 14, 2016 at 11:33 am

    Oh, we feel your pain over that lost notebook! But your posts on Israel and Jordan haven’t suffered :-). They’re as rich and detailed and inspiring as ever… So cute about being invited to join the couple in nowhere for coffee.

  18. suereddel says

    February 14, 2016 at 11:21 am

    Sounds like a wonderful trip. Did you ever find that darn notebook? You captured everything very well despite not having your notes. ;)

  19. Serendipity Tess says

    February 13, 2016 at 9:23 pm

    This looks stunning! Definitely something I’d love to do myself one day!

  20. Shobha says

    February 13, 2016 at 7:33 pm

    so sorry you lost your notebook! on the other hand this desert tour sounds amazing. I’ve never heard of it but I’d love to see where the scrolls were found.

  21. Fiona @ London-Unattached says

    February 13, 2016 at 5:21 pm

    What an amazing adventure! It’s not somewhere I’ve been or even thought of visiting till now…

  22. Stefan says

    February 13, 2016 at 4:04 pm

    The Judean Hills look stunning! Didn’t know the story of the Dead Sea Scrolls – incredible! Really want to visit more of the country (only went to Jerusalem which was wow).

  23. lesleycarter says

    February 13, 2016 at 1:35 pm

    I stopped at many of the same spots during my trip. I loved the Judean Desert jeep tour. Sunset was spectacular.

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