June 8, 1997: Masada was built by Herod the Great 1,440 feet above the shores of the Dead Sea. It was used by Jewish partisans in a battle against the Romans in A.D. 73 . Nearly 1000 Jewish men, women and children held off their Roman attackers here for 3 years. Eventually, they realized they would be taken by 15,000 Roman troops and they subsequently committed a mass suicide rather than surrendering to the Romans. 
Beautiful views from the top (I am on the left). 
My journal entry: "What an incredible, impressive fortress. We hiked up the Roman siege ramp. It didn't take too long. At the top, just a little exploring showed an old synagogue, one of the very first they believe, a bath house, Mikvah, the first ritual bathing pool they found, but since then others ahve been discovered, reading rooms, cisterns and all kinds of other rooms. The cisterns really were amazing. There were several of them and they were massive. Herod always wanted to know there was water - and there certainly was. The view from the top was quite impressive. you could see where the Roman camps had been in these brown square outlines. some Mosaics were partially preserved on teh floors and they were very pretty. The hike down was a heck of a lot longer and harder (on the knees) than the hike up! It took forever and a day. It t really made me realize how safe they must have felt, at least at first. I was so hot, sweaty and thirsty when I got to the bottom. I'm so glad I was able to see that. So many of these things we see and do can't really be explained or even seen in pictures. you just have to experience them first-hand. It was incredible."Verdict: Yes! Amazing!
No comments:
Post a Comment