The first stop on our way south to Eilat, and the border crossing into Jordan, was Qumran, home of a 1st Century Jewish sect, the Essenes, and the site where the Dead Sea Scrolls, written by these extremely ascetic men, were found. Avner, an esteemed Israeli archaeologist, served as our guide through the continuing excavations and among the dozens of caves strewn through this desolate region along the coast of the Dead Sea.
