The mountain fortress – Masada

Any pilgrimage to Israel should include a cable car ride, or a walk, up to the palatial ruins of Herod the Great at Masada. The Judean King captured this desert outpost in 43 BC from the Hasmonean rulers who had first developed it. According to the historian, Josephus, Masada was the last stand for 960 Sicarii (Jewish extremist rebels) opposing the Romans in 73 AD. The site’s new visitor centre welcomes almost one million people on an annual basis to the UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Located between ancient Sodom and Ein Gedi, the cliffs made of chalk, dolomite and marl strata stand out in an uninhabitable region. Since it borders the Dead Sea which is the lowest point on earth, even when you stand on top you are at only 58 meters above sea level.

Most hikers start an hour before sunrise and hike up the Snake Trail or the Roman ramp trail to access the top. Mid-day heat can reach in the high 40 degrees centigrade. These paths can be closed in the summer if the temperature becomes too intense. The Masada cableway is an easier option for visitors. Models of the original fortress layout covering the eighteen acres (seven hectares) can be found in the visitor centre or out on the open surface.

Our group had a breath-taking view of the Dead Sea region and the harsh desert conditions surrounding this whole area. Clambering down a plethora of stairs on the outskirts of the three-level palace enlarges the imagination about the massive engineering feat this was as Herod entertained special guests and family members. A Western palace and a northern palace provided all the luxury a king could desire. At least one of the cisterns held 200,000 gallons (750,000 liters) of collected rainwater.

For years, the rhomboid shaped mesa on the eastern edge of the Judean Desert, near the Dead Sea, was the final destination for youth members of the Israeli Defense Forces as they stood before their flag and swore that “Masada shall never fall again.” This practice was instituted by the eye-patch wearing Moshe Dyan for his Israel Armored Corps. Some young men choose the location for their Bar Mitzvah celebration. For almost two millennia this isolated site had remained unexplored until an Israeli archaeologist and military chief-of-staff Yigael Yadin excavated it in the 1960’s.

The cliffs on the east stand 434 meters high (1424 feet above the Dead Sea) in a sheer drop off and created a strong fortress for the original inhabitants. Herod topped the plateau with a thirteen-hundred-meter-long casement wall, four meters high, and interspersed it with towers. The double-walled barrier provided housing for the residents who lived between the inner and outer walls. The ruins display the existence of large cisterns filled by carved channels to collect the rainwater from the surrounding slopes. Storehouses, a large three level palace, an aviary for pigeons, barracks, luxury baths, an armory and even a synagogue are evident. A few strategic paths guarded by gates were the only access points. Eight Roman siege camps can still be seen easily from the top.

The Sicarii had overcome a Roman garrison at Masada in 66 AD and after the fall of the Temple in Jerusalem in 70 AD other survivors fled to this fortress. The Roman governor, Lucius Silva led the Tenth legion in a siege by first building a circumvallation wall to cut the Sicarii off from any outside support. A siege ramp, made up of rubble, was completed in the spring of 73 AD through the enforced labour of 15,000 Jewish prisoners of war and the might of the Tenth legion. A battering ram, pushed into place by relatives of the Sicarii, immobilized the warriors at the walls. The Sicarii responded by burning the ample supplies at their disposal and committing mass suicide. Only two women and five children (hiding in a water conduit) survived to greet the Roman conquerors.

Part of the treasures uncovered under the floor of the synagogue included parts of Deuteronomy and Ezekiel. The vision of the valley of dry bones gains a breath of life when one looks all around. Fragments of Genesis, Leviticus, Psalms and other scrolls were located as well. The names of the last eleven men chosen to kill the others were found on small ostraca. The Israel Nature and Parks Authority and the Israel Antiquities Authority have now declared that no further excavation will be permitted on the main site.

On special occasions, because of the excellent acoustics, visitors can attend operas or concerts at the foot of the mountain. The Italian tenor, Andrea Bocelli, performed here in 2011. Summer light shows can also be seen on the rock walls of the citadel. At the plateau’s edge, on the summit, there is an Echo balcony, where you can yell into the desert and have a thousand voices yell back. A few historians claim that the Sicarii used this to their advantage against the Romans to convince them that there was a larger group hidden away on top.

Eleazar ben Jair, the leader of the Sicarii, convinced the holdouts to take their own lives on April 15, 73 AD. Since 2000 AD, millions of visitors from around the world have stood in awe at what this palatial fortress was designed for amidst the harsh conditions of the surrounding area. This is only one of the many engineering marvels orchestrated by Herod the Great at a tumultuous time of history. While there is still peace in the region, this is definitely a must see for the pilgrim to the Holy Land.