Masada is a place of legend – and a place I had always wanted to visit – and on my recent trip to Israel, I did.
It was spectacular in so many ways – it’s really hard to know where to start. There’s history and geology and tragedy and Peter O’Toole…
I guess it starts with this amazing free standing rock plateau on the edge of the Judean Desert – overlooking the Dead Sea.
It looks high – but in some ways it’s not… the top is just 33 meters above sea level … of course the base is more than 200 meters BELOW sea level… (the Dead Sea is just a stone’s throw away).
It was the obvious place to build a fortress – but it has been captured more than once – so was probably not as good a fortress as it might initially seem.
King Herod the Great built palaces there, to host great feasts and, if the tour guides are to be believed, occasionally push an enemy off the top.
Some years after Herod, Jewish rebels fleeing their Roman overlords set up on the mountaintop. The battle to remove them is the stuff of legends. The Roman governor Lucius Flavius Silva took the tenth legion to Masada to remove the Jews. It wasn’t that easy and took months, rather than the few days they predicted.
To get to the mountaintop, the Romans had to build a massive stone and dirt ramp against the western wall – then make a huge siege tower which was pushed/hauled up that ramp to breach the walls.
According to history (or legend), when the Romans entered Masada – all the defenders and their families had committed suicide rather than become slaves to the Romans.
Archaeologists do dispute some of the ‘facts’ of the siege of Masada… but it adds a great atmosphere to the ruins. At one point our guide insisted we were standing at the very place where the last Jewish defender killed himself…
Maybe… maybe not. But the ruins of Masada have a special poignancy – although coming back down of the mountain does bring one back to earth with a thud.
Comments
15 responses to “A visit to King Herod’s palace”
Thanks for this post, Janet, and for the photos. Knowing of the legend of the mass suicide at Masada, the place has always fascinated me. I’m unlikely to get there myself now so seeing your photos was the next best thing.
I was so lucky to get to visit, Anne. I was in Israel for my day job – and managed to get a day off. I took a bus tour from Tel Aviv. I usually don’t take tours, but in this case – it was an easy and safe way to do it. I’m so glad I did. It was really amazing.
Your travels whisper to me of days gone by and lure me in … Great post, Janet. I’m getting a definite itch in both feet!
Melanie – for all I complain sometimes, my day job has given me the chance to see some amazing places I might never had otherwise seen. I am very lucky.
Absolutely fascinating, Janet. Thank you. I’m forwarding the link to friends who have always wanted to see it.
Eileen
Thanks Eileen. It really was a fascinating place. I spent maybe three hours there, but would love to go back and spend longer. There is so much to see. J X
What lovely pictures, Janet. And certainly much dryer than your last set of pics! The cable car seems a worthwhile improvement on my visit to Masada but I’m not sure about MacDonalds. I crawled up in 1966 and have never forgotton the magnificent beauty and poignancy of the mountain.
Heather
Wow Heather, I’m so impressed that you walked all the way up. The cable car is definitely a good thing – but I’m also not sure about Macdonalds. Although, it did keep all the kids away from the place where I went to have some bread and humous and salad for lunch. J X
Fascinating post, Janet. I saw the film years ago but it made a huge impression on me. Definitely one to add to the bucket list.
What a fantastic outing this must have been, despite the heat. Ever since I saw the film of the legend I’ve wanted to visit this place. Probably the reality was slightly different, but the romance of the story survives, alongside the ruins. Quite jealous of you for being there!
Looking at the ramp climbing up the westen slope of the rock really blew my mind… The vast effort it must have taken to build that ramp – which still survives two thousand years later. With today’s technology, building that ramp would be quite a feat and to think of them doing it all by hand… Wow. Which actually is the word that kept popping into my head all through that trip … wow.
What a fascinating post, Janet. I really loved all those photos with their captions. What an incredible experience. I know so little about this part of the world – or its history.
It’s a fascinating part of the world, Beverley. With so much history. Well worth a visit when you can.
That’s amazing! I know next to nothing about Masada but will have to do some reading to correct that.
Of course there’s nothing like a McD’s to bring your historical high to an end by bringing you back to the unpleasant reality of commercialism. :/
It seems McDs is everywhere. There have been times, in strange parts of the world, where I have been grateful for their bathroom – but I’m not a fan of the food. 🙂