Ascending, Descending and Floating - A Visit to the Lowest Point on Land

As a multi-faith pilgrimage center, paths visualized by so many lead to Jerusalem. But the Holy City is also the start of many, often epic, journeys. Some of which, literally go deeper than anywhere else. After seeing journeys brought by millions of years of geological activity and thousands of years of by caravan in Jordan’s deserts, the next part of my adventure through the mythical and geological trails of the Middle East took me to the lowest point on land, the Dead Sea.

The Dome of the Rock viewed from the Mount of Olives
with the Jewish Cemetery in the foreground

Overlooking Jerusalem, the Mount of Olives (800m high) gives visitors a spectacular panoramic view of the city, including the old city walls and the gold-topped Dome of the Rock. A much fought-over city throughout history and still a place where tension between faith arises from time to time, at the Mount of Olives, one sees commonalities that the three great Abrahamic spiritual paths share, that of transcending to a heavenly abode. Christians believe it is from here where their Messiah Jesus ascended to heaven while Jews believe a Messiah will appear on Judgement Day. Despite burial space running ever lower, it is still the wish of many Jews to be buried on the Mount of Olives to arise into the new world when the Messiah appears. Meanwhile, Muslims believe a seven-arch bridge will appear at the end of days which only the righteous will cross into heaven.

At the foot of the peak are olive trees, which once covered the entire mount. An olive tree was said to be the first sign of life to grow after the flood in Genesis, part the renewal of God’s Kingdom. Away from its mystical aspect, crossing to the other side of the Mount of Olives from Jerusalem has the feeling of entering another world geologically. Part of a mountain ridge, the fabled mount is also a watershed between the fertile plains of western Israel and the Judean Desert to the east, two very different environments that could easily be mistaken for being not only continents apart but worlds apart.  The dramatic change in scenery that gradually comes into view when descending the Mount of Olives into the Judean Desert doesn’t only feel like going through a warp to visit another planet visually, but also bodily with the effect that the descent has on the ears! Descending further than one can descend anywhere on land, over 400 meters below sea level, the effects of the descent becomes apparent when noticing the ear-popping effect similar to that experienced when landing in an aeroplane!

At the start of the Snake Path

In a region synonymous with biblical journeys passed down over two thousand years, the many millions of years of geological journeys brought by seismic activity along the fault between the African and Arabian Plates, winds, rains and ancient seas are revealed passing along the escarpments, ravines and valleys (wadis) of the Judean Desert. Through the dramatic appearance of the Judean Desert, sight is the obvious sense that can make one feel that they are in an other-worldly region, but through tuning into sensations brought about by tuning into our other senses, the region can also feel other-worldly in an atmospheric sense when focusing attention to the breath, noticing how much drier the air was when arriving at base of the ancient fortress Masada. Built by Herod the Great around 2,000 years ago, Masada is considered as a symbol of resolve by many Israelis having served as a last refuge for Jews rebelling against the Roman Empire back in 72AD. For the present-day tourist, there are two options to choose from reach the fortress of Masada at the top of a 400m high rocky plateau above the Dead Sea from its eastern side. There is the ancient steep and winding Snake Path or for modern comforts, a cable car ride is also available.

As one who is known to like a good hike, and after having hiked to the monastery at Petra, Jordan, a few days earlier, my natural choice was to take the Snake Path. Even though I had recently done a similar hike in the last few days as well as having undertaken numerous challenging treks, a little anxiety can still occasionally play on my mind at the start of a hike or a similar physical challenge. And where it crept into my mind when setting out along the Snake Path was the immediate sight of the scale of it, being long and winding and with the hikers who had already made good progress up the path looking so small being so high up!

Ascending the first set of steps, I soon began to notice the effects they had on my calf muscles, noticing that they were having to worker harder. I found that when focusing on and being with these effects that it brought my attention to the stage I was at along the path rather than continually looking to see how close I was to reaching the ancient fortress. When going up steep paths, I usually find it very difficult to stop as having to start moving again already part of the way up a steep incline as it so often takes a lot of effort to get going again. Going around the corners where there weren’t steps and where the gradients were briefly a little less demanding were a good opportunity for me to take it easier as well as a take a much-needed water refreshment.

The Dead Sea viewed from the Snake Path

While gradually ascending the Snake Path, the view over the Judean Desert gradually became more expansive, with a good view of the Dead Sea with the scale of how low down it is becoming so much more obvious. After eventually arriving at the top of the more than 700 steps over 2km, the impressive nature of the fortress becomes the focus of one’s attention. The remoteness of its location in a largely uninhabited region has left the ancient site well-preserved. Most of the contents of the fortress, including many of the building materials that can still be seen among the ruins there today would very likely have come up the Snake Path.

Ancient Jewish ritual baths (Mikveh), Masada

Within the remains of the fortress there are remains of intricate mosaics and a Jewish ritual bath (mikveh). Mikvehs were also used by the Essenes at nearby Qumran. Largely since disappeared from history, the Essenes, thought by historians to be rebellious sect who left Jerusalem during the Second Temple period (2^nd century BCE-1st century CE) as ‘Sons of Light’ giving up worldly living for the standard of their time for a communal life in the desert, left behind a chronological record of the of the time, the Dead Sea Scrolls. Initially unearthed by Bedouin shepherds in 1946 at the Qumran caves, the scrolls give us an insight into the religious and political life of the time. Being open to interpretation, the scrolls have brought controversy in our own time as they challenge the accepted version of Biblical events. Twenty of the scrolls discovered that have been pieced together by conservationists from the fragmented form they were found in relate to calendars. Ritual bathing was an important part of daily life to the Essenes, which could possibly have influenced John the Baptist. The scrolls clearly have a history underneath the effects that time has had on them after been left open to the elements for around 2,000 years, but do we tend to believe the metaphors contained within written histories? This question I will leave up to the reader to decide.

Floating in the Dead Sea 

After descending from Masada, I felt I needed to experience a 'mikveh for trekkers'and the perfect place for it wasn’t far away! Despite its name, the Dead Sea is a terminal lake holding water whose journey started in the Hills of Galilee before flowing along the Jordan River via the Sea of Galilee before eventually evaporating when reaching the Dead Sea. The effects of the impermanence of the Dead Sea’s water level can certainly be felt by the hot temperatures when preparing take to the sea itself. Taking to a sea with a salinity over 30 per cent isn’t like a traditional holiday at the beach, as before entering the sea, bathers are told not to jump in or splash, as the salinity can hurt someone’s eyes and car irritate the skin on your face. The salinity though allows the visitor the famous experience of being able to sit up on its surface. For me, it was a unique setting in which to practice mindful yoga! Though it isn’t too difficult to sit up on the Dead Sea surface, one has to be mindful not to lean back too far as you can capsize head first which could harm your face. While floating in the Dead Sea, I tuned awareness to the body, including which muscles were working to enable the sitting posture needed to float, as well as the sensations of contact with the heavily saline water, noticing the waters quality in allowing my physical shape to enter the sea and the salinity strength of being able to support me. Along its journey from the Sea of Galilee through the Jordan River, the water has collected over twenty different types of minerals, some of which don’t exist in any other sea or ocean. Some of the main minerals collected in its flow include calcium, iodine, magnesium and potassium which concentrate into a mud on the sea bed. Applying the famous mud helped sooth my calf muscles after the hike!

Evidence of a receding surface level

Travelling along the banks of the Dead Sea, the concept of impermanence can be seen. Courtesy of the hot climate and recent human activity of diverting water supply from the River Jordan, the level water of the Dead Sea is estimated to be receding by approximately one meter per year. Features that have resulted from this are ‘sinkholes’ caused by groundwater dissolving layers of salt and ‘ghost resorts’, from where the water level has receded since built. The lines in the Dead Sea’s banks left behind by the water level effectively providing a chronological record going back over 12,000 years. In the Dead Sea Scrolls are descriptions of ancient astronomy in the Book of Job, using a rotating sky as a unit of time and the rise of constellations for marking the start of seasons. Under clear skies in the desert, the past merges with the present many of these stars are seen today as they were when the scrolled were written and when the water level was higher, thus tuning into a continual now where reality of the present raises questions regarding the continual course of this natural wonder.

A huge thank you to Abraham Tours for making this experience possible