Today we got to choose options of what we wanted to do. I'd been to Masada and trekked in the desert and been slathered in Dead Sea mud at the spas, so I decided on the archaeology trip. As we got in the bus in front of our hotel, the Hyatt Dead Sea, our guide pointed out the Roman fortress remains that stood on the hill right across from the parking lot. That's the deal with Israel.
History is everywhere.
No oil, but you can dig in the dirt anywhere and find history. We were going to Qumrun, where the Dead Sea scrolls were discovered, and a monastery in the middle of a new housing development in Jerusalem. The controversies over the sites, who really lived there, why, when, what they did, were terrific fodder for our group of travelers. Not that we needed it. Maybe it's that Talmudic study thing, where we have learned to think about things from every angle imaginable.