Sunday, March 15, 2009

Cave Of Letters

The Cave Of Letters is located west of the Dead Sea and south of Jerusalem in the Judean desert of Israel.

There have been some remarkable archaeological discoveries made in this cave complex. In November of 2004 PBS aired an excellent Nova episode about it. This cave has now been probed using ground penetrating radar and various other high tech methods.

I was in Israel in the early 1970’s, and I travelled all over the country. From the north where Jesus allegedly walked on water near to the modern contested area called the Golan Heights, Bethlehem and Jerusalem, and then via the Jordan River down to the Dead Sea. I’ve sat a couple of feet away from the dome of the rock which is one of the holiest locations in the world to Muslims, Jews, and Christians, and I have dangled my bare feet in the Sea of Galilee (Lake Tiberius).

During the rein of the Roman Emperor Hadrian a great many Jews were killed by the Romans in the area that was then called Judea. Later the Romans renamed it Syrian Palestine.

I have been to Hadrian’s wall in northern England several times, and I have walked much of it. In my coin collection I have several Roman coins issued during the rein of the Emperor Hadrian which contain his image. He was a bearded scoundrel also. Hadrian originally came from the area that today is called Spain. I’ve also spent a good bit of time in Hadrian’s massive villa about 9 or 10 miles east of Rome in central Italy. And many times I have been inside of the church that Charlemagne built 1,200 years ago.

I am now 60 years old. I guess if I am going to achieve any level of wisdom it better come quickly. The older I get the more I am convinced that organized religions are fairy tales that have caused a great deal of suffering and warfare. Blind unquestioning faith appears to be one of the most negative things that human beings have ever invented.

To view the excellent PBS video about the Cave of Letters in America go to: http://www.hulu.com/watch/23348/nova-ancient-refuge-in-the-holy-land

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