Baptism Site “Bethany Beyond the Jordan” and Masada

Scenic road chapters

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Baptism Site “Bethany Beyond the Jordan”

   Down here you are well below sea level, close to four hundred metres under it, and the air shows it: thick, warm and heavy, with a mineral haze rising off the Dead Sea a few kilometres to the south. The baptism site known as Bethany Beyond the Jordan, Al-Maghtas in Arabic, lies on the east bank of the river Jordan, the place many Christians identify with the baptism of Jesus by John. Across a narrow, muddy channel of water stands Qasr al-Yahud on the western side, close to Jericho, and the two banks look at each other across one of the world's most heavily watched borders.

   Read the complete Baptism Site “Bethany Beyond the Jordan” write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Baptism Site “Bethany Beyond the Jordan” is where the day begins. Next is Tower.

2. 2. Tower

   Umm ar-Rasas rises out of the plateau east of the King's Highway with little warning, a walled rectangle of Byzantine and early Islamic ruins on a flat expanse of wheat fields and sheep. In ancient times it was called Kastron Mefaa, a Roman military camp that later developed into a town, and it remained inhabited through the Byzantine period and into the early Islamic centuries before it faded away. UNESCO listed it in 2004, and the most remarkable piece of the site is the floor of the Church of Saint Stephen, a mosaic from the eighth century that shows cities of the region in tiny, detailed vignettes, including Jerusalem and Philadelphia, the ancient name of Amman.

   Read the complete Tower write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Tower comes up about 71 km into the recorded legs. Next is Masada.

3. 3. Masada

   The Dead Sea lies more than four hundred metres below sea level, the lowest point on land, and Masada rises above its western shore as a vast flat-topped rock with sheer cliffs on every side. King Herod built a palace fortress here in the first century BC, with storerooms, cisterns, bathhouses and a three-tiered palace hanging from the northern cliff. After the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem in AD 70, a group of Jewish rebels held out on the rock against the Roman army. The Romans built a siege ramp up the western side, and according to the historian Josephus, when the walls were breached, the defenders chose to die rather than be captured.

   Read the complete Masada write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   about 286 km into the recorded legs you reach Masada. Next is back through Tower.

4. 4. back through Tower

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Tower write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   back through Tower, late in the day. Next is Baptism Site “Bethany Beyond the Jordan”.

5. 5. Baptism Site “Bethany Beyond the Jordan”

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Baptism Site “Bethany Beyond the Jordan” write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Back at Baptism Site “Bethany Beyond the Jordan”. That is the ride.