06/07/2017
Masada! Article! Enjoy!
Welcome to Herod the Great’s fortress in the Judean desert, perhaps the most spectacular piece of ground in all of Israel! So powerful, in fact, that IDF recruits take their military oath here. Masada is Hebrew for “fortress” and after you see this imposing rock you’ll agree it was aptly named.
Although not mentioned in the Bible by name, it is possible that this was David’s place of refuge during his flight from Saul and where he wrote some of his psalms. If so, David was probably referring to Masada as the “stronghold” (1 Samuel 22:4-5, 23:14, 24:22), using it to depict God as his fortress and rock of refuge (Psalm 18:2, 31, 71:3, 144:2).
You can walk the trail to the top (a gorgeous option for the sunrise), but the cable car ride might seem like the better option tomorrow when your sore muscles are aching. At the summit are some of the best views of the Dead Sea, and some very intense winds. This stop will be on your top-five memories of Israel. Do not miss it!
After seeing these astounding ruins, you have to wonder why such a powerful king needed a fortress like Masada. According to Josephus, the captured Jewish rebel who sided with the Romans and the only historical source for Masada, Herod had two great fears:
“It is said that Herod prepared this fortress as a refuge in time of need against two dangers which he always envisaged: the one, that the Jewish people might depose him and put a king from the royal house which had reigned before him on the throne; and the second, even worse than the first, the fear of Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt….”
The first fear eventually did happen, but it was long after his death during the Great Revolt of the Jews (66-73 A.D.). After the fall of Jerusalem in 70 A.D., many Jewish rebels fled to the fortress atop the Rock of Masada where their comrades had overthrown the small Roman garrison in 66 A.D.
The Roman army followed and surrounded the hilltop fortress with a siege bank, six feet thick and over two miles long, fortified by towers every 60 to 80 yards. The large camp in the northwest corner was the headquarters of the Roman commander, Silva. The other camps outside of the wall included a large compound on the east side and two guard posts to watch for those attempting to escape from the fortress. The four smaller camps integrated into the wall could house up to 500 Roman soldiers. The merchants who followed the Roman legions chose an area close to the headquarters for their houses and brothels.
At almost 200 feet above sea level, on a 2,000-foot mountain that covers nearly 23 acres, 967 Jewish revolutionaries made their final stand against Rome. Thanks to thorough excavations you can see it all as if it happened yesterday, even cooking fires on the mosaic floors where a paranoid Herod once strolled safely in his refuge (one of many he built for escapes). It was said that 10,000 men could stay here for 10 years because of the food cache and his water system of dams in the wilderness to contain the flash flood routes that filled his cisterns. The water system was so effective that Herod’s soldiers even had a swimming pool!
The end of the Roman siege came on April 16th (73 A.D.) when Silva rolled a massive iron battering ram up the 375-foot siege ramp and bashed through the gates. Rather than die as Roman slaves, these Jewish rebels chose mass su***de. They drew lots to pick ten elite fighters who would kill the other men (after they went home to kill their own families). Of those ten, the last man ran himself through after killing the other nine. Two women and five children lived to tell the tale to the 15,000 bewildered Romans. In a last gasp of rebellion the zealots burned everything except the storehouses of food, a final message to the Rome that they were not starving, but defiant free men.
Some discovery highlights in the fortress are Herod’s 15 storerooms that were filled with jars of provisions to withstand any siege, as well as weapons (many arrowheads), a synagogue with rare coins, several copies of Old Testament scriptures hidden in the floor, multiple cisterns, and Herod’s intricate thermal bathhouses.
As you walk amongst the ruins, note the black line that runs along most of the existing walls. Below the line are the original walls left standing by the Romans; above the black line are the reconstructed walls from the original rubble. If you are feeling the spirit of the Jewish rebels who chose to die here you can bravely choose to walk back down the 2.5 miles on a trail aptly named “the Snake Path” (an option that will take about 45 minutes). Better to be able to choose than be told what to do, right?
