Masada - The Last Stand

After packing to leave our lovely Dead Sea Hotel, our skin now silky smooth and our ailments healed from our Dead Sea "spa float", we loaded the bus and headed a short distance up the highway to a famous historical site known as Masada.  

View of the Multi-Colored,Wind-Chiseled Sand Below Masada

It was already so very hot that morning in the desert, we elected to save time and preserve our weary bodies by riding the cable car to the top of the 1,300 foot cliffs on the Western side. Our other option was to take the “snake trail” to the top, a very long and steep climb (950 feet in elevation) to the fortress above.   If we had taken the time to climb by foot, we would have traversed one of the three ancient routes to Masada and we would have personally experienced how wonderfully secure that fortress was.  Each of the three trails to the top was met by a fortified gate making Masada virtually impenetrable by its enemies. 

Riding in the Cable Car up to Masada

Once at the top of the mountain we discovered a magnificent twenty-three acre plateau where we gathered under a small shade tent for protection from the sun's scorching rays while Hanna used a model to explain the story of Masada.  

Our Family and Friends in the  Desert Atop Masada

Hanna Telling Us the Story of Masada Using a Model.  You can see part of the "Snake Path" winding up the side of the cliffs in the model.  As it "snakes" around the mountain, it climbs over 950 feet in elevation during its five mile path.  It can take an experienced hiker three to four hours to ascend.  Glad we were able to ride the cable car!

Masada actually means fortress and this particular desert fortress according to Josephus Flavius, was built by Herod the Great between 37 and 31 BC.  Herod, an Idumean, had been made King of Judea by his Roman overlords but was despised by his Jewish subjects.  Herod, as the master-builder, fearing a revolt, “furnished this fortress as a refuge for himself.”

Evan Enjoying His View From the Top of the Fortress

It was interesting to learn of all the innovations Herod had designed to ensure his survival and multiply his pleasure.  He had a thick casement wall around the entire plateau, eighteen storehouses, barracks, an armory filled with weapons, enormous rock-hewn cisterns for an abundant supply of fresh water, bath houses, a synagogue for worship, a residential palace for entertainment and relaxation, and a ceremonial palace, the largest structure, which covered one entire acre of the 23 acre mountain top plateau and was used as his administrative center.  

An Example of an Actual Fresco Found in Masada - The Black Line Indicates Herodian Period Stones Below the Line and First Century Stones Above.  

Herod constructed eighteen long storehouses. Archaeologists have found labeled jars and containers of differing shapes and sizes indicating that each storehouse held a different commodity; oil, grains, wine, etc.  They have even discovered in one of the storehouses, a supply of ancient wine bottles sent to Herod from Italy.  One of the labels found was addressed to Herod and says, “King of the Jews”.  

Mark Checks Out the Storehouses

They devised intricate water channels that led to cisterns; keeping the inhabitants of Masada supplied with plenty of fresh water during the year.  They had engineered a way to catch the rainwater running from the streams down the mountain and divert them to this system of enormous rock-hewn cisterns which held their water supply.

The Bathhouses, of which there were several, were ingenious. They consisted of a large courtyard surrounded by porticos and several rooms all of which were tiled with mosaics and most of which had lovely frescos on the walls; the largest room was the hot room or caldarium. The suspended floor of the caldarium was supported by a number of short columns allowing hot air from the furnace room to be blown under the floor and then through the terra cotta pipes embedded in the walls.  This process not only allowed the bathhouse to produce steam from the water on the hot floors, but it also afforded the bathers a temperate atmosphere. The temperature of the room could be adjusted according to preference.  They really took their bathing experience seriously!

Some of the 200 Columns that Supported the Floor in the Caldarium

Terra Cotta Pipes Encased in Caldarium Walls to Heat the Bathhouse

Herod had a synagogue incorporated into the northwestern portion of the casement wall and oriented toward Jerusalem.  This synagogue is considered to be one of the oldest and the best examples of the early synagogues pre-dating the destruction of the Temple in 70 A.D.  Archaeologists have found fragments of two scrolls containing portions of Deuteronomy and Ezekiel hidden in pits dug under the floor of a small room located within the Synagogue.  

Just outside the Synagogue, there is a little, private study which houses a rabbi who is hand writing a copy of the Torah.  What a sacred and honorable privilege!   

Rabbi Copying the Law

On the Northern edge of the steep cliff, affording a magnificent view, was Herod’s luxurious residential palace.  It was separated from the fortress by a wall which provided both ultimate security and total privacy.  This palace consisted of three terraces, the upper one serving as the king’s residence and the bottom two were  designed with pleasure, entertainment, and relaxation in mind.  A narrow staircase carved into the rock face of the mountain connected the three terraces.  Because it was difficult to find and haul actual marble slabs up the face of this steep mountain fortress, Herod, wanting his palace to look luxurious and caring about ever detail, insisted on having the walls of his palace covered in frescos painted to resembled fine marble.  This was the ultimate bachelor pad and sported private bathhouses, gorgeous Corinthian columns, artfully designed mosaic floors, frescoed walls, lovely porticos, and a fantastic view of his kingdom.  

Model of Herod's Three Terraces Built into the Side of the Mountain in His Residential Palace on Masada

About 75 years after Herod's death, during the period of the revolt of the Jews against Rome, a group of Jewish rebels in 66 AD overcame the Roman garrison of Masada.  After the fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the Temple in 70 A.D., they were joined by other Jewish zealots and their families who fled Jerusalem.  

With Masada as their base, for two years they raided and harassed the Romans.  Finally in 73 A.D. the Roman Governor, Flavius Silva, along with the Tenth Roman Legion, several auxillary units, and thousands of Jewish prisoners-of-war, marched against the zealots in Masada.  The Romans laid siege to Masada, established eight camps at the base and built a circumvallation wall six feet thick and seven miles long connecting the camps.  In fact, the wall and eleven of the Roman barracks can still be seen in the desert sand below Masada.  (See below)

Two of the Roman Camps (Barracks) and Part of the Surrounding Wall is Still Seen in the Desert Below

Anyone who has climbed the famous “snake path”  to Masada will understand why the Romans had to content themselves with a siege.  They knew that an army ascending those treacherous mountain paths would have made an easy target for the defenders above.  For three years these Jewish Zealots held off the Romans.  Yet the Jews could never really feel secure.  Daily they looked down from their fortress at the Roman Tenth Legion below, watching in fear as they built battering rams and other weapons, preparing to attack.

Evan Capturing the View Through One of the Look Outs in the Casement Wall

After some time and much hard work, the Romans constructed a rampart of thousands of tons of stone and earth leading up to the western approaches of the fortress.  In the Spring of 74 A.D. they moved a battering ram up the ramp and finally breached the walls of the fortress.

Atop Masada,  Pointing Out the Roman Rampart Below

View of the Rampart Built by the Romans to Take the Fort

Upon entering the fortress the Romans found that the entire population of Jewish Zealot defenders had taken their own lives rather than be taken alive by their enemy.  Because suicide is forbidden among the Jews, they drew lots and were assigned to kill each other, leaving only one person in the end who had to kill himself.  

Josephus records that they also set fire to their fortress; purposely avoiding setting fire to their storehouses because they wanted their enemy to see how well prepared they were to survive. They didn’t want the Romans to mistakenly think they had ended their lives because they had run out of supplies.  

They were the originators of the idea, “Live free, or die.”  In the end it took more than nine thousand Roman soldiers, support personnel and slaves to bring down less than one thousand Jewish Zealots.  It’s one of those stories historians love and about which movies are made.  

Even though 960 Jews ended their own lives here in the first century, Masada has become very symbolic for the Jewish people as a place of survival - sort of oxymoronic, isn't it?  Masada represents the Jewish spirit and determination to be free and on their own land.  All Israeli soldiers come here, to Masada, after finishing their IDF basic training to walk up the "snake path" during the night and to take their oath by torchlight, "Masada shall not fall again."

IDF Soldier on Masada