Masada stands as a symbol of Jewish resistance to foreign rule. Herod the Great, hated by the Jewish population, built a fortress atop an isolated mesa overlooking the Dead Sea. The fortress even included two palaces for Herod. The fortress was essentially a back-up plan if he were forced to flee Jerusalem. Masada was also strategically located to block an invasion route crossing a shallow bank in the Dead Sea. Herod never had need of the fortress.
During the revolt against Roman rule in 66 AD, about one thousand Jewish extremists held out in Masada for three years. The Romans used slave labor to build a ramp upon which they could move a siege engine against the walls. When the Romans arrived at the top, they found the inhabitants had committed suicide rather than be carried away into slavery.
In modern times, Israeli soldiers are sworn into the army at Masada. They climb the snake path to reach the top. We took a cable car!
We carried our water with us, toured the ruins on top and breathed in the fabulous views of the Dead Sea. Upon our return to below sea level, we applied mineral rich Dead Sea mud to our bodies and floated effortlessly in the briny water!
Qumran was a pottery manufacturing site in the first century. When the revolt failed, the temple priests carried their scrolls here, placed them in clay jars and hid them in caves in the cliffs above. The scrolls are the famous Dead Sea Scrolls.
Masada Masada Qumran Qumran Dead Sea
Dead Sea
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