Shalom everyone! I bring you greetings, this time from Masada. This is still the third day of touring, and I have to write a whole article about this place alone as there are too many things to tell.
Jewish history began in the first half of the second millenium BCE with the patriarchs - Abraham, his son Isaac, and his grandson Jacob. A famine which spread in the country during that time forced Jacob and his sons, the forbears of the 12 tribes of Israel, to migrate to Egypt, where their descendants became enslaved.
Several centuries later, Moses took his people out of Egypt, from bondage to freedom, and led them back to the nation of Israel. For forty years they wandered through the Sinai desert, where they were welded into a nation and received the Torah, which are the five books of Moses, and are the first five books of the bible, and they also received the Ten Commandments during this time, which gave form and content to the monotheistic faith of their patriarchal ancestors.
Masada, Metsada in Hebrew, which means fortress, and it is the name of the mountain in which the Masada fortress was built. It is actually a plateau or a mountain with a flat top and it is quite isolated from its surroundings, as there is only one narrow, winding pathway leading up, fittingly called 'the Snake'.
From a distance, this is what Masada looks like. Masada was made famous because of the Masada siege that happened in the fortress during the first Jewish Revolt in 73/74 BCE.
This is the signage that signals the way to Masada, and you notice the surroundings that it is desert all around. Everything looks barren.
But before we got to Masada, we stopped at a rest stop, where we bought snacks and dates again, and more souvenirs to bring back. The surrounding mountains look like desert, but we saw these beautiful flowers in full bloom which was such a refreshing sight in the stark surroundings.
What made it even more beautiful was the profusion of different colors. Flowers blooming in the desert? It is definitely possible in Israel. :-)
See the contrast? This place was like an oasis in the desert. I absolutely cannot forget the flowers still. Every time I see the same kind of plant anywhere, I remember these flowers.
Masada is a dramatically located site of great natural beauty overlooking the Dead Sea, a rugged natural fortress on which the Judean King Herod constructed a sumptuous palace complex in classical Roman style.
After Judea became a province of the Roman Empire, Masada became the refuge of the last survivors of the Jewish revolt, who chose death rather than slavery when the Roman besiegers broke through their defences. As such, the place is very significant and symbolic for the Jewish people.
Taking a picture at the entrance. Masada is one of the greatest archaeological sites in Israel, and perhaps, even the whole world. Its dramatic ascent can now be accessed by cable car, but before it could only be done on foot, and I imagine, for Herod the Great, perhaps by horse?
Upon entering the Visitor's Center, there is a museum where artifacts discovered during excavation are on display, in nine spaces, representing different historic points. We did not stay at the museum though, we just went to the site on top. The picture we see above is a 3D model of the mountain, just so we have an idea of the whole place.
We took the cable car, and we pretended to look sad as we were left behind. Drama. Ha ha.
According to the visitor information, the cable cars travel 900 meters in 3 minutes from the bottom to the top. Quite fast eh?
This picture was taken from the cable car above to see the view at the bottom, from where the cable cars take off.
In 66 AD, Masada was a Roman garrison, when a group of Jewish extremists called the Sicarri, overcame the Romans and settled there. This was during a time when Roman rule was quite repressive, and the Jewish people somehow wanted their freedom.
When you get to the top, the first thing you see is the Israeli flag waving proudly in the wind, on top of the mountain. A symbol of sovereignty and freedom.
In the next several years, more people joined the group already there, following their expulsion from Jerusalem by the Romans and the destruction of the Second Temple. The Sicarii used Masada as a refuge, and also a base from which they raided the countryside.
It was very sunny when we got there, we were just thankful we were not there in the summer months as it would have been burning hot!
The siege of Masada happened in 72 AD. The temple in Jerusalem was destroyed in 70 AD, and some more families joined those who were already in Masada and took refuge there.
In this picture we see another 3D model, this time made of bronze or something similar. We see the layout of the buildings on the mount.
A fortress is believed to have existed on the site since the 2nd century BCE and it is known that Herod the Great fled to it in 42 BCE when the Parthians took Jerusalem. Realizing the strategic importance and security aspects, Herod enclosed the plateau with a wall and defensive towers.
Here is the same model, taken from another angle, for us to see how it looks like from another side.
After fortifying it, King Herod also constructed a palace, storerooms, and ancillary buildings to provide a refuge should he be deposed by the former Jewish Royal house or in the event of an invasion. Herod actually lived in fear all his life, he was afraid that he would be assassinated, or be deposed, or that people would revolt against him. That is why he built these magnificent buildings, to somehow endear himself to the people.
In this picture Mendy was describing all the buildings in detail before we went to see the remains but of course I can no longer remember what he said.
The Sicarii that overtook Masada were actually a group of zealots, who opposed the occupation of the Romans. Their leader was a man named Eleazar Ben Yair, determined to continue the struggle against Rome from the mountain fortress.
In 73 CE, the then Roman governor, Flavius Silva, marched against Masada, along with the Tenth Legion, auxiliary units, and thousands of Jewish prisoners of war.
This is the remains of a bathhouse in the area. These has mosaic or tiled floors and some had frescoed walls. The largest of the rooms was the caldarium, commonly known as the hot room, or what we know today as the sauna, which was this one.
Its suspended floor was supported by rows of low pillars, to allow hot air from the furnace outside to circulate under the floor and through clay pipes along the wall, in order to heat the room.
This is another part of the bathhouse, and we see the designs on the wall and the floor as well. King Herod surely wanted all his palaces to be extravagant and well designed.
So, if the palaces were on top of the mountain and the only access is from snaking paths on the sides, where do they get water for the bathhouses and cooking and all? According to records, the complex contained a network of large cisterns such as the picture above which was filled with rainwater from the mountain during winter. There were also 12 large cisterns on the summit which could hold altogether about 40 thousand cubic meters of water.
Our guide said that during the winter months, when it rains, flash floods would suddenly occur, so they actually constructed canals for the rainwater or the floods to flow directly into these cisterns, and they are coated with plaster for the water not to seep through the soil.
I say King Herod was a master builder because he was able to envision the whole thing and had it built according to the topography and all.
There were two palaces on the summit, the Western palace and the Northern palace. There were also storerooms but I can no longer remember which is which, so I'll just share the pictures to you.
This is the remains of the synagogue. It consisted of four tiers of plastered benches along the walls, with columns supporting the ceiling. The synagogue is said to be considered to be the best example of the early synagogues which predate the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem.
Here we are seated on one part. listening to Mendy explain some things about the complex.
This must have been the courtyard or something, I really am not sure, but the place was surely extensive.
More of the ruins in the background, perhaps residences or something like that. Or it could have been one of the storage rooms.
If you look at the copper model, this structure is the one on the cliff, and this was part of the Northern Palace. It must have looked so grand back then.
Looking at the steep slopes of Masada, one can be sure that it was virtually unassailable, that's why it took the Romans almost 3 months to reach it.
Looking down, we see part of the snaking path which is used to access Masada on foot. The climb can take up to 2 hours, and imagine climbing it at midday! Just thinking about it makes me sweat!
I think these are also cisterns, part of the network of several to catch rainwater and store them for the dry months.
You can see why it is called snake path. The path snakes its way toward the edge of the cliff and moves upwards.
We see square things on the ground, those are some of the base camps of the Roman soldiers as they laid siege to Masada.
How hard it must have been to bring up construction materials at the top. Kudos to all the people who built the fortress.
These brave souls opted to climb and I salute them. Perhaps if it was during the end of the day, or very early in the morning and there was no time constraints, it might have been something of a goal to do for one day.
These people may be on individual tours that's why they wanted to climb up. If you're on a group, you don't have that luxury as there is a set itinerary that must be followed, plus we were maximizing our time to be able to see and visit all the places we wanted to see.
They look so tiny from the top as they near ground level. One must be physically fit to even attempt going up and down the fortress on foot.
Here we see another base camp of the Roman soldiers. They tried different ways of entering the fortress and failed many times.
After some time, they built a siege ramp, which is this slanting ramp we see at the picture, to enable the attackers to enter into the fortified hill. After they built this, they were able to bring up a battering ram and enter the fortress.
When they did so, they were surprised to see that the fortress has been destroyed, the supply room burned, to prevent the supplies from getting into enemy hands, and almost all of them dead, save for 2 women and 5 children, who lived to recount the story to the historian Josephus.
What happened then? After holding out for so long against the siege? Why were almost all of them dead? Rather than surrendering to the enemy and be subject to them, they chose to die bravely, and rather than die in the hands of the enemy, those died the way they wanted to.
Since suicide is forbidden in Judaism, what they did was they drew lots as to who would kill whom, and then when there was only one man left, he was the only one who actually committed suicide.
The story of Masada and its consequent siege has been deeply ingrained in Jewish tradition. The Secarii did not kill themselves because they were scared or hopeless, they believed that it was God's will that they die bravely, and more importantly, free.
For many, the story symbolizes heroism, courage and strength, not only that last harrowing decision to kill themselves, but also the fact that the people of Masada managed to hold out for nearly three years.
Jewish history began in the first half of the second millenium BCE with the patriarchs - Abraham, his son Isaac, and his grandson Jacob. A famine which spread in the country during that time forced Jacob and his sons, the forbears of the 12 tribes of Israel, to migrate to Egypt, where their descendants became enslaved.
Several centuries later, Moses took his people out of Egypt, from bondage to freedom, and led them back to the nation of Israel. For forty years they wandered through the Sinai desert, where they were welded into a nation and received the Torah, which are the five books of Moses, and are the first five books of the bible, and they also received the Ten Commandments during this time, which gave form and content to the monotheistic faith of their patriarchal ancestors.
Masada, Metsada in Hebrew, which means fortress, and it is the name of the mountain in which the Masada fortress was built. It is actually a plateau or a mountain with a flat top and it is quite isolated from its surroundings, as there is only one narrow, winding pathway leading up, fittingly called 'the Snake'.
From a distance, this is what Masada looks like. Masada was made famous because of the Masada siege that happened in the fortress during the first Jewish Revolt in 73/74 BCE.
This is the signage that signals the way to Masada, and you notice the surroundings that it is desert all around. Everything looks barren.
But before we got to Masada, we stopped at a rest stop, where we bought snacks and dates again, and more souvenirs to bring back. The surrounding mountains look like desert, but we saw these beautiful flowers in full bloom which was such a refreshing sight in the stark surroundings.
What made it even more beautiful was the profusion of different colors. Flowers blooming in the desert? It is definitely possible in Israel. :-)
See the contrast? This place was like an oasis in the desert. I absolutely cannot forget the flowers still. Every time I see the same kind of plant anywhere, I remember these flowers.
Masada is a dramatically located site of great natural beauty overlooking the Dead Sea, a rugged natural fortress on which the Judean King Herod constructed a sumptuous palace complex in classical Roman style.
After Judea became a province of the Roman Empire, Masada became the refuge of the last survivors of the Jewish revolt, who chose death rather than slavery when the Roman besiegers broke through their defences. As such, the place is very significant and symbolic for the Jewish people.
Taking a picture at the entrance. Masada is one of the greatest archaeological sites in Israel, and perhaps, even the whole world. Its dramatic ascent can now be accessed by cable car, but before it could only be done on foot, and I imagine, for Herod the Great, perhaps by horse?
Upon entering the Visitor's Center, there is a museum where artifacts discovered during excavation are on display, in nine spaces, representing different historic points. We did not stay at the museum though, we just went to the site on top. The picture we see above is a 3D model of the mountain, just so we have an idea of the whole place.
We took the cable car, and we pretended to look sad as we were left behind. Drama. Ha ha.
According to the visitor information, the cable cars travel 900 meters in 3 minutes from the bottom to the top. Quite fast eh?
This picture was taken from the cable car above to see the view at the bottom, from where the cable cars take off.
In 66 AD, Masada was a Roman garrison, when a group of Jewish extremists called the Sicarri, overcame the Romans and settled there. This was during a time when Roman rule was quite repressive, and the Jewish people somehow wanted their freedom.
When you get to the top, the first thing you see is the Israeli flag waving proudly in the wind, on top of the mountain. A symbol of sovereignty and freedom.
In the next several years, more people joined the group already there, following their expulsion from Jerusalem by the Romans and the destruction of the Second Temple. The Sicarii used Masada as a refuge, and also a base from which they raided the countryside.
It was very sunny when we got there, we were just thankful we were not there in the summer months as it would have been burning hot!
The siege of Masada happened in 72 AD. The temple in Jerusalem was destroyed in 70 AD, and some more families joined those who were already in Masada and took refuge there.
In this picture we see another 3D model, this time made of bronze or something similar. We see the layout of the buildings on the mount.
A fortress is believed to have existed on the site since the 2nd century BCE and it is known that Herod the Great fled to it in 42 BCE when the Parthians took Jerusalem. Realizing the strategic importance and security aspects, Herod enclosed the plateau with a wall and defensive towers.
Here is the same model, taken from another angle, for us to see how it looks like from another side.
After fortifying it, King Herod also constructed a palace, storerooms, and ancillary buildings to provide a refuge should he be deposed by the former Jewish Royal house or in the event of an invasion. Herod actually lived in fear all his life, he was afraid that he would be assassinated, or be deposed, or that people would revolt against him. That is why he built these magnificent buildings, to somehow endear himself to the people.
In this picture Mendy was describing all the buildings in detail before we went to see the remains but of course I can no longer remember what he said.
The Sicarii that overtook Masada were actually a group of zealots, who opposed the occupation of the Romans. Their leader was a man named Eleazar Ben Yair, determined to continue the struggle against Rome from the mountain fortress.
In 73 CE, the then Roman governor, Flavius Silva, marched against Masada, along with the Tenth Legion, auxiliary units, and thousands of Jewish prisoners of war.
This is the remains of a bathhouse in the area. These has mosaic or tiled floors and some had frescoed walls. The largest of the rooms was the caldarium, commonly known as the hot room, or what we know today as the sauna, which was this one.
Its suspended floor was supported by rows of low pillars, to allow hot air from the furnace outside to circulate under the floor and through clay pipes along the wall, in order to heat the room.
This is another part of the bathhouse, and we see the designs on the wall and the floor as well. King Herod surely wanted all his palaces to be extravagant and well designed.
So, if the palaces were on top of the mountain and the only access is from snaking paths on the sides, where do they get water for the bathhouses and cooking and all? According to records, the complex contained a network of large cisterns such as the picture above which was filled with rainwater from the mountain during winter. There were also 12 large cisterns on the summit which could hold altogether about 40 thousand cubic meters of water.
Our guide said that during the winter months, when it rains, flash floods would suddenly occur, so they actually constructed canals for the rainwater or the floods to flow directly into these cisterns, and they are coated with plaster for the water not to seep through the soil.
I say King Herod was a master builder because he was able to envision the whole thing and had it built according to the topography and all.
There were two palaces on the summit, the Western palace and the Northern palace. There were also storerooms but I can no longer remember which is which, so I'll just share the pictures to you.
This is the remains of the synagogue. It consisted of four tiers of plastered benches along the walls, with columns supporting the ceiling. The synagogue is said to be considered to be the best example of the early synagogues which predate the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem.
Here we are seated on one part. listening to Mendy explain some things about the complex.
This must have been the courtyard or something, I really am not sure, but the place was surely extensive.
More of the ruins in the background, perhaps residences or something like that. Or it could have been one of the storage rooms.
If you look at the copper model, this structure is the one on the cliff, and this was part of the Northern Palace. It must have looked so grand back then.
Looking at the steep slopes of Masada, one can be sure that it was virtually unassailable, that's why it took the Romans almost 3 months to reach it.
Looking down, we see part of the snaking path which is used to access Masada on foot. The climb can take up to 2 hours, and imagine climbing it at midday! Just thinking about it makes me sweat!
I think these are also cisterns, part of the network of several to catch rainwater and store them for the dry months.
You can see why it is called snake path. The path snakes its way toward the edge of the cliff and moves upwards.
We see square things on the ground, those are some of the base camps of the Roman soldiers as they laid siege to Masada.
How hard it must have been to bring up construction materials at the top. Kudos to all the people who built the fortress.
These brave souls opted to climb and I salute them. Perhaps if it was during the end of the day, or very early in the morning and there was no time constraints, it might have been something of a goal to do for one day.
These people may be on individual tours that's why they wanted to climb up. If you're on a group, you don't have that luxury as there is a set itinerary that must be followed, plus we were maximizing our time to be able to see and visit all the places we wanted to see.
They look so tiny from the top as they near ground level. One must be physically fit to even attempt going up and down the fortress on foot.
Here we see another base camp of the Roman soldiers. They tried different ways of entering the fortress and failed many times.
After some time, they built a siege ramp, which is this slanting ramp we see at the picture, to enable the attackers to enter into the fortified hill. After they built this, they were able to bring up a battering ram and enter the fortress.
When they did so, they were surprised to see that the fortress has been destroyed, the supply room burned, to prevent the supplies from getting into enemy hands, and almost all of them dead, save for 2 women and 5 children, who lived to recount the story to the historian Josephus.
What happened then? After holding out for so long against the siege? Why were almost all of them dead? Rather than surrendering to the enemy and be subject to them, they chose to die bravely, and rather than die in the hands of the enemy, those died the way they wanted to.
Since suicide is forbidden in Judaism, what they did was they drew lots as to who would kill whom, and then when there was only one man left, he was the only one who actually committed suicide.
The story of Masada and its consequent siege has been deeply ingrained in Jewish tradition. The Secarii did not kill themselves because they were scared or hopeless, they believed that it was God's will that they die bravely, and more importantly, free.
For many, the story symbolizes heroism, courage and strength, not only that last harrowing decision to kill themselves, but also the fact that the people of Masada managed to hold out for nearly three years.
These days citizens who join the army do their oath taking here at Masada, and it is also a UNESCO World heritage site.
From Masada, we can see the Dead Sea, where we went to after a quick lunch at Qumran.
This is Qumran National Park, where we had lunch before we went to swim at the Dead Sea. We did not visit the area in detail but we did during my 2008 trip so I'll be sharing that with you soon as well.
That's the parking area for buses down below with the palm trees. They look small no?
This then wraps up the story of Masada, and may it also inspire you when you are going through difficult times. Not everything is hopeless, when you know that your God is with you. And no matter what the circumstance, you can still say, it is well with my soul.
Shalom and until next time!
For more travel articles, please go to this page.
From Masada, we can see the Dead Sea, where we went to after a quick lunch at Qumran.
This is Qumran National Park, where we had lunch before we went to swim at the Dead Sea. We did not visit the area in detail but we did during my 2008 trip so I'll be sharing that with you soon as well.
That's the parking area for buses down below with the palm trees. They look small no?
This then wraps up the story of Masada, and may it also inspire you when you are going through difficult times. Not everything is hopeless, when you know that your God is with you. And no matter what the circumstance, you can still say, it is well with my soul.
Shalom and until next time!
For more travel articles, please go to this page.
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