Jessi and I spent an afternoon at Masada on our little Dead Sea
expedition. Masada is located high above the Dead Sea and the
surrounding area, so it had pretty incredible views. The history of the
place is possibly a little uncertain, but the legend (as I understood
it) is that Masada was a Jewish rebel outpost that was under siege by
the Romans. When the Romans finally conquered it, they found no one
alive- apparently the rebels had all basically committed suicide rather
than be conquered. While this may or may not be true, it definitely is
still some part of the Israeli identity (perhaps more earlier than
currently), and even modern-day military graduations have taken place
here, with the soldiers in essence vowing that Masada will never again
fall under foreign control. Any way you look at it, it's an interesting
place, with a lot of history and ruins.
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| View from Masada, including a Roman base. |
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| Old storehouse. |
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| There was still paint visible. |
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| View over the fort. |
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| Part of a palace. |
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| There was a gondola up to Masada that was made in Switzerland! |
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| You can see the remains of a Roman base below Masada. |
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| The siege ramp built by the Romans. |
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| I thought the geology of the area was really cool. |
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| Mosaics! |
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| View from the top. |
It
was actually really really hot when we were there, which I guess it
what you get in the desert in the afternoon with no shade, but I still
enjoyed wandering around the area. We brought a Camelback backpack with
us, and managed to drink about 2 liters between the two of us in the
short time we were on the top of Masada. Jessi, Jr. was a doll and
napped the whole time! After we toured the top, we just had time for a
quick (and late) lunch before driving back to Tel Aviv, and we didn't
get lost this time!
