BETWEEN JERUSALEM AND THE DEAD SEA The improved and upgraded Route 1, connecting Jerusalem to the Dead Sea, now makes sites of interest to pilgrimage tourists more accessible than ever before. Following the opening of the outdoor Good Samaritan Museum, located on the traditional site of the New Testament Parable of the Good Samaritan, the inn itself, built over what is considered to be the original inn, has been repaired, and it is open for visits every day of the week. The website offers the ability to plan ahead and book in advance. The museum, both the indoor and outdoor parts, features an impressive collection of mosaics - most of which are original - moved from Byzantine Christian churches and Jewish and Samaritan churches in the West Bank (Judea & Samaria), as well as one large mosaic from an ancient Gaza synagogue. The site is managed by the Israel Nature & Parks Authority (INPA), which also manages two nearby abandoned ancient monasteries, the fifth-century Martyrius Monastery, located off the highway east of Jerusalem,
and the nearby Laura of Euthymius from the same period. Both are open to visitors, free of charge. Herodion, site of the model of King Herod’s palace on the mountain where the original stood, is also managed by the INPA, and it may be of interest to pilgrims. Likewise, two additional INPA facilities, the Qumran National Park and the Enot Tzukim Nature Reserve, both on the shores of the northern Dead Sea and also managed by the INPA, may draw interest too. The former is located in the vicinity of Qumran, where Essene scribes wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls. Some of Jesus’ pronouncements as recorded in the New Testament bear similarities to expressions in the scrolls, and St. Paul quotes scrolls written at Qumran. Enot Tzukim, a few kilometers south, is a nature reserve dating back to Herodian times. Some Christian groups hold prayer services there, at pools formed by underground freshwater springs where fish swim. Turning north again and just off the first section of the road leading from Route 1 to the Galilee, Qasr-el-Yehud, on the shores of the Dead Sea, at the Jordan River’s southern edge, has been upgraded and rehabilitated by the INPA. This historical site, considered to be the place where Jesus was baptized but which was only open intermittently, is now open to all at no charge throughout the week - as are all INPA religious sites. Recently, Israeli and foreign engineers sounded the all-clear around three churches on the western bank of the Jordan River at Qasr el-Yahud, after mines that had marooned the shrines for decades were cleared.
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