Devastated by the Romans and the heat

Today we went to the ancient fortress of Masada. This was originally another palace built by Herod the Great but it is more famous for being the fortress that was captured by Jewish rebels, led by Israel Bar-Yehuda, in the year 66 when the Jewish revolt against the Romans began. After the destruction of Jerusalem in the year 70 they held out against the Romans until it fell to the Romans in 73. According to Josephus, the Jewish Roman historian, when Roman troops entered the fortress, they discovered that its 960 inhabitants had committed a mass suicide. Later there was a monastery on top of the 1300 feet (400 metre) high plateau. It is amazing that everything used to build and service it had to be carried up... we went up by cable car.

The imposing Masada - which means fortress

The Dead Sea can be seen at the top of the picture

A model of what Herod's palace might have looked like... in the photo below the top is clearly seen and then the step down to the second level and a little further down to the third level.

 

The synagogue which is still used for bar mitzvah and bat mitzvah ceremonies. Masada is a symbol of Israeli nationalism - God, bible, land and people are all intertwined. And so in the little room behind is found a scribe hand writing copies of the Torah, the first five books of the Bible. 

 

Meanwhile, back in the year 73, the Romans were down there in that camp and they made a huge ramp (below) which they used to break into Masada. The cliffs on the western side are lower, but nonetheless the Romans had to build a 375 foot ramp from which the assault tower was used to break into the fortress.

 

Long after the Romans had captured Masada Byzantine monks built this chapel

 

If it looked hot up on Masada, it was! In fact when we got to En Gedi for a swim in the Dead Sea it was a "pleasant" 44 degrees!!!!!!!

The Dead Sea is 423 metres (1,388 ft) below sea level and one with 33.7% salinity, it is also one of the world's saltiest bodies of water… which means you can’t sink!

The oasis of En Gedi... two springs nearby keep this part of the desert green.

The Dead Sea is dropping at an alarming rate as Israel and Jordan draw off water for urban and agricultural use. This has caused areas around the Dead Sea to collapse as you can see in the sink holes below.

 

The last stop was Qumran, where in 1947 Bedouin shepherds found what became known as the Dead Sea scrolls. Qumran was the site of a Jewish religious community and so when the Romans were on their destructive streak the scrolls were hidden - they found some 15,000 pieces of scrolls which made up some 900 manuscripts.

Replicas of the jars the scrolls were found in and one of the scrolls

 

Cave number 4 - they found 11 caves containing the scrolls