To call it a "wilderness" is not strong enough, not descriptive enough. That land surrounding the Dead Sea is a wild part of earth, burned by the sun of day and frozen by the winds of night. The rocks of this terrible terrain between the depths of Jericho and the heights of Jerusalem are jagged and upended. It is eternally dry.

Jarib had foolishly set out from the Jordan River banks without enough water. The animal skin was only half full as he began his journey. His travel to the high Jerusalem was taking much longer than he expected. The path he followed, instead of always climbing up, was snaking through rock valleys and over rock cliffs and down into rock ravines. Some of the ravines were now dark in shadow. The sun was lowering more quickly than he had expected. His water gone, Jarib w…