Masada

(31.316, 35.354)

Masada is the dramatic ruin of a lavish fortified palace on a plateau overlooking the Dead Sea that was built by Herod the Great between 37 and 31 BCE. From 66 to 73 CE, the fortress would be the home of the final Jewish holdouts in a revolt against Rome. That final stand takes on contemporary Zionist symbolism as, reputedly, Israeli Defense Forces soldiers that complete basic training are sworn in on the sight in a ceremony that ends with the declaration, "Masada shall not fall again."

The construction of such a facility (including bathhouses) in such a desolate place is testament to both the skill and the audacity of the Romans. Perhaps the most notable engineering feat was the creation of series of lower level dams and cisterns that permitted capture of brief seasonal floods to provide water for year-round use on the plateau. But the fact that the Romans could mobilize and compel enough surplus slave labor to survive the harshness of the construction environment and build such a frivolity is also remarkable. The fact that a group of Jews would rather die here than submit to Roman rule may be testament to how horrible that rule was, and/or how uniquely committed the Jewish people have been to preserving their own identity.

05/27/2011 10:30 IDT Masada	05/27/2011 10:32 IDT Visitor center
05/27/2011 10:33 IDT Masada	05/27/2011 10:35 IDT Opera theatre
05/27/2011 10:36 IDT Masada National Park	05/27/2011 10:36 IDT Entering visitor center
05/27/2011 10:41 IDT Model	05/27/2011 10:43 IDT Admission prices
05/27/2011 10:46 IDT Visitor center	05/27/2011 10:48 IDT Visitor center
05/27/2011 11:01 IDT Tram	05/27/2011 11:02 IDT Tram pulley
05/27/2011 11:02 IDT Cable up to Masada	05/27/2011 11:02 IDT Cable up to Masada
05/27/2011 11:08 IDT Tram	05/27/2011 11:08 IDT Control panel
05/27/2011 11:09 IDT Snake path	05/27/2011 11:09 IDT Wadi
05/27/2011 11:09 IDT Snake path	05/27/2011 11:10 IDT Tram
05/27/2011 11:12 IDT Tram info	05/27/2011 11:13 IDT Snake path
05/27/2011 11:13 IDT Cables down to visitor center	05/27/2011 11:14 IDT Bridge from tram
05/27/2011 11:14 IDT Snake path	05/27/2011 11:15 IDT Opera theatre
05/27/2011 11:15 IDT Cables down to visitor center	05/27/2011 11:16 IDT Valley
05/27/2011 11:16 IDT Snake path gate info	05/27/2011 11:17 IDT Tourists
05/27/2011 11:17 IDT Tourists	05/27/2011 11:18 IDT Stairs up to palace
05/27/2011 11:19 IDT Looking southwest from the palace	05/27/2011 11:21 IDT Climbing to the palace
05/27/2011 11:21 IDT Dead tree	05/27/2011 11:21 IDT Black line marks point of reconstruction
05/27/2011 11:23 IDT Reconstruction line	05/27/2011 11:23 IDT Tzachi
05/27/2011 11:23 IDT Western Palace	05/27/2011 11:22 IDT Quarry sign
05/27/2011 11:22 IDT Quarry	05/27/2011 11:26 IDT Quarry
05/27/2011 11:26 IDT The group	05/27/2011 11:26 IDT Commandant's Residence
05/27/2011 11:26 IDT Commandant's Residence	05/27/2011 11:27 IDT Commandant's Residence
05/27/2011 11:28 IDT Commandant's Residence	05/27/2011 11:28 IDT Surviving wall painting
05/27/2011 11:29 IDT Surviving wall painting	05/27/2011 11:29 IDT Commandant's Residence
05/27/2011 11:30 IDT Main entrance square	05/27/2011 11:30 IDT Main entrance square
05/27/2011 11:31 IDT Storerooms	05/27/2011 11:31 IDT Model view from west
05/27/2011 11:31 IDT Model view from northwest	05/27/2011 11:33 IDT Life in a fortified palace
05/27/2011 11:33 IDT Model view from northeast	05/27/2011 11:36 IDT Storerooms complex
05/27/2011 11:37 IDT Escaping the sun	05/27/2011 11:38 IDT Storerooms complex
05/27/2011 11:39 IDT Storerooms complex	05/27/2011 11:39 IDT Storerooms complex
05/27/2011 11:41 IDT Large bathhouse	05/27/2011 11:35 IDT Wall painting
05/27/2011 11:41 IDT Bathing info	05/27/2011 11:42 IDT Bathhouse model
05/27/2011 11:43 IDT Bathhouse map	05/27/2011 11:45 IDT Cold room
05/27/2011 11:46 IDT Cold room	05/27/2011 11:47 IDT Bathhouse
05/27/2011 11:47 IDT Bathhouse	05/27/2011 11:49 IDT Suspended floor pillars
05/27/2011 11:50 IDT Tzachi	05/27/2011 11:51 IDT Suspended floor reconstruction
05/27/2011 11:51 IDT Bathhouse	05/27/2011 11:52 IDT Leaving the bathhouse
05/27/2011 11:53 IDT Furnace	05/27/2011 11:53 IDT Architectural remnants
05/27/2011 11:53 IDT Discovery of the lots	05/27/2011 11:53 IDT Pathway
05/27/2011 11:54 IDT Pathway	05/27/2011 11:55 IDT Discovery of the lots
05/27/2011 11:55 IDT Catapult stones	05/27/2011 11:57 IDT Catapult stones
05/27/2011 12:04 IDT Upper terrace	05/27/2011 12:07 IDT Upper terrace
05/27/2011 12:07 IDT Upper terrace	05/27/2011 12:07 IDT Upper terrace
05/27/2011 12:08 IDT Upper terrace	05/27/2011 12:08 IDT Upper terrace
05/27/2011 12:09 IDT Upper terrace	05/27/2011 12:09 IDT Wadi
05/27/2011 12:09 IDT Remnants of Roman encampment	05/27/2011 12:10 IDT Upper terrace
05/27/2011 12:11 IDT Model of northern palace	05/27/2011 12:11 IDT Looking down at the northern palace
05/27/2011 12:12 IDT Looking south at the storeroom complex	05/27/2011 12:14 IDT Heading west
05/27/2011 12:15 IDT Stairs down to northern palace	05/27/2011 12:15 IDT Western entrance square
05/27/2011 12:16 IDT Grackels?	05/27/2011 12:20 IDT Pidgeon
05/27/2011 12:23 IDT Guard room	05/27/2011 12:23 IDT Guard room
05/27/2011 12:23 IDT Walking south	05/27/2011 12:24 IDT Pathways
05/27/2011 12:24 IDT Cistern	05/27/2011 12:25 IDT Cistern
05/27/2011 12:25 IDT Overlooking cistern	05/27/2011 12:25 IDT Cistern
05/27/2011 12:26 IDT Cistern	05/27/2011 12:26 IDT Cistern
05/27/2011 12:27 IDT Model of wadi and lower cisterns	05/27/2011 12:28 IDT Model
05/27/2011 12:30 IDT Model	05/27/2011 12:31 IDT Map of water system
05/27/2011 12:32 IDT Path to northern palace	05/27/2011 12:33 IDT Walking south
05/27/2011 12:34 IDT Roman siege ramp	05/27/2011 12:35 IDT Pottery
05/27/2011 12:35 IDT Resting	05/27/2011 12:35 IDT The synagogue
05/27/2011 12:36 IDT The synagogue	05/27/2011 12:36 IDT The synagogue
05/27/2011 12:43 IDT Stables	05/27/2011 12:43 IDT Stables
05/27/2011 12:44 IDT Stables	05/27/2011 12:44 IDT Casemate of the scrolls
05/27/2011 12:44 IDT Casemate of the scrolls	05/27/2011 12:45 IDT Stables
05/27/2011 12:45 IDT Columbarium	05/27/2011 12:45 IDT Columbarium
05/27/2011 12:45 IDT Columbarium nests for birds	05/27/2011 12:45 IDT Columbarium
05/27/2011 12:45 IDT Columbarium	05/27/2011 12:46 IDT Columbarium
05/27/2011 12:46 IDT Columbarium	05/27/2011 12:46 IDT Breaching point
05/27/2011 12:47 IDT Roman siege ramp	05/27/2011 12:47 IDT Catapult stones
05/27/2011 12:47 IDT Looking west	05/27/2011 12:47 IDT Byzantine church
05/27/2011 12:48 IDT Byzantine church	05/27/2011 12:48 IDT Byzantine church
05/27/2011 12:48 IDT Byzantine church	05/27/2011 12:49 IDT Headed back down
05/27/2011 12:51 IDT Israeli flag at Masada	05/27/2011 12:52 IDT Mom
05/27/2011 12:54 IDT Water channel?	05/27/2011 12:58 IDT Reboarding the tram
05/27/2011 12:58 IDT The tram	05/27/2011 13:00 IDT Cables down to visitor center
05/27/2011 13:01 IDT Moving cable track	05/27/2011 13:04 IDT Exiting the tram
05/27/2011 13:04 IDT Exiting the tram	05/27/2011 13:11 IDT Back on the bus
05/27/2011 13:14 IDT Visitor center	05/27/2011 13:14 IDT Masada
05/27/2011 13:14 IDT Masada	05/27/2011 13:15 IDT Opera theatre
05/27/2011 13:17 IDT Masada

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