The tour that I\u2019m leading stood this morning at precisely the same place from which this photograph of Qumran\u2019s Cave 4Q was taken. Roughly 3\/4 of the scrolls found in the immediate vicinity of the Qumran ruins were discovered in Cave 4Q. \u00a0(Public domain photo from Wikimedia Commons)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
Our principal \u201csubstantive\u201d visits today were to Qumran, where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered, and to Masada, where, following a two-year-long siege, it\u2019s likely that the Qumran community met its end.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s a snippet from the supposed final speech of the Zealot leader at Masada, Elazar Ben Yair, as it\u2019s given in Josephus\u2019s The Jewish War<\/em>:<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cBrave and loyal followers! Long ago we resolved to serve neither the Romans nor anyone other than God Himself, who alone is the true and just Lord of mankind. The time has now come that bids us prove our determination by our deeds. \u00a0We have never submitted to slavery, even when it brought no danger with it. We must not choose slavery now, and with it penalties that will mean the end of everything if we fall alive into the hands of the Romans. \u00a0God has given us this privilege, that we can die nobly and as free men and leave this world as free men in company with our wives and children.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
According to Josephus, the Jewish defenders of Masada killed their wives and children and each other rather than submit to the Roman yoke.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
I sometimes refer to Masada as \u201cGod\u2019s anvil,\u201d and it was in fine form today at about 115 degrees (and perhaps somewhat higher than that). \u00a0Nonetheless, I think that our group enjoyed it and found it fascinating. \u00a0Qumran was also quite hot, and we tried to be very efficient in our use of outdoor time there.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
We had lunch at Ein Bokek, where most of the group also took the opportunity to \u201cswim\u201d (really, to float) in the Dead Sea. \u00a0It\u2019s a very odd experience. \u00a0Laden with so much salt and so many minerals, the water simply doesn\u2019t behave the way we\u2019re accustomed to it behaving.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Posted from Jerusalem, Israel<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u00a0 \u00a0 Stephen O. Smoot presses forward with his critique of a major \u201cHeartlander\u201d publication: \u00a0 \u201cA Review of the\u00a0Annotated Edition of the Book of Mormon\u00a0(Part 3A)\u201d \u00a0 *** \u00a0 \u00a0 Our principal \u201csubstantive\u201d visits today were to Qumran, where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered, and to Masada, where, following a two-year-long siege, it\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1019,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-74706","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
Caves and a Fortress<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\" Stephen O. Smoot presses forward with his critique of a major "Heartlander" publication: "A Review of the\u00a0Annotated Edition of the\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/06\/caves-and-a-fortress.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Caves and a Fortress\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\" Stephen O. Smoot presses forward with his critique of a major "Heartlander" publication: "A Review of the\u00a0Annotated Edition of the\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/06\/caves-and-a-fortress.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Sic et Non\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-06-04T18:38:08+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/186\/2016\/05\/800px-Aerial_view_of_Masada_Israel_02.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Dan Peterson\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Dan Peterson\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/06\/caves-and-a-fortress.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/06\/caves-and-a-fortress.html\",\"name\":\"Caves and a Fortress\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2019-06-04T18:38:08+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-06-04T18:38:08+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/77113e9b09701bd1599fa272c4f65045\"},\"description\":\" Stephen O. Smoot presses forward with his critique of a major \\\"Heartlander\\\" publication: \\\"A Review of the\u00a0Annotated Edition of the\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/06\/caves-and-a-fortress.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/06\/caves-and-a-fortress.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/06\/caves-and-a-fortress.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Caves and a Fortress\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/\",\"name\":\"Sic et Non\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/77113e9b09701bd1599fa272c4f65045\",\"name\":\"Dan Peterson\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5ed1a72d26805e35a503e3167599df7c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5ed1a72d26805e35a503e3167599df7c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Dan Peterson\"},\"description\":\"\\\"Life was very unsatisfying until I discovered Dan's blog, which gave me a reason to live.\\\" (gemli, 7 November 2019)\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/author\/danpeterson\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Caves and a Fortress","description":" Stephen O. Smoot presses forward with his critique of a major \"Heartlander\" publication: \"A Review of the\u00a0Annotated Edition of the","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/06\/caves-and-a-fortress.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Caves and a Fortress","og_description":" Stephen O. Smoot presses forward with his critique of a major \"Heartlander\" publication: \"A Review of the\u00a0Annotated Edition of the","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/06\/caves-and-a-fortress.html","og_site_name":"Sic et Non","article_published_time":"2019-06-04T18:38:08+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/186\/2016\/05\/800px-Aerial_view_of_Masada_Israel_02.jpg"}],"author":"Dan Peterson","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Dan Peterson","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/06\/caves-and-a-fortress.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/06\/caves-and-a-fortress.html","name":"Caves and a Fortress","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#website"},"datePublished":"2019-06-04T18:38:08+00:00","dateModified":"2019-06-04T18:38:08+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/77113e9b09701bd1599fa272c4f65045"},"description":" Stephen O. Smoot presses forward with his critique of a major \"Heartlander\" publication: \"A Review of the\u00a0Annotated Edition of the","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/06\/caves-and-a-fortress.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/06\/caves-and-a-fortress.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/06\/caves-and-a-fortress.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Caves and a Fortress"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/","name":"Sic et Non","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/77113e9b09701bd1599fa272c4f65045","name":"Dan Peterson","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5ed1a72d26805e35a503e3167599df7c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5ed1a72d26805e35a503e3167599df7c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Dan Peterson"},"description":"\"Life was very unsatisfying until I discovered Dan's blog, which gave me a reason to live.\" (gemli, 7 November 2019)","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/author\/danpeterson"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74706","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1019"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=74706"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74706\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=74706"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=74706"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=74706"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Masada](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/186\/2016\/05\/800px-Aerial_view_of_Masada_Israel_02.jpg\")
<\/a>