Masada – a UNESCO World Heritage Site

Masada is a mountain in the Judean desert but it is not just any mountain. It has a story. And we’ll be observing it from two sides:

1. From the time of Herod that built Masada as one of his palaces and as a refuge, should he ever need it.

2. From the time of the Zealots in the Big Revolt against the Romans, almost 100 years after Herod built this monumental refuge.

Today’s post will focus on Herod. He was granted the title of "King of Judea" by the Roman Senate, as such he was a vassal of the Roman Empire, expected to support the interests of his Roman patrons. He was the greatest builder in the Jewish history and he is known for his colossal building projects throughout Judea. One of these projects was Masada, a fortress on a mountain top in the Judean desert. He built it for himself and his family should they need it.

In this video, you will get to see the archaeological remnants of this palace. I was fortunate enough to participate in the archaeological diggings of Masada for two summers.

Herod suffered throughout his lifetime from depression and paranoia and he was constantly worried that people would revolt against him. So paranoid was he that he executed two of his own children and his beloved wife, Mariamne. There was a saying (by the Romans) that “…it is better to be a dog in Herod’s backyard than to be one of his children…”.

The archaeological remnants found were befitting a King’s refuge. This was no ordinary refuge: 2 palaces – the Western and Northern palace; 17 huge store rooms full of supplies: food, wine, seeds…everything that he and his family would need in order to survive there for a long time; Water: 24 cisterns filled with fresh water that could last for many years of consumption by his family and himself; A Roman bath, and that as you may well imagine, needs much water and wood to light a fire to heat the water. It is truly, an amazing project, even in today’s technology, to execute in the middle of the desert far from any source of supply.

By the way, after all this effort, he never even once used it as a refuge. He passed away in his Palace in Jericho.

Almost 100 years after that, all this sophisticated complex was captured by the Zealots and it was the last stronghold of the Jews in the Big Revolt against the Romans. In 73 AD, the 10th legion of the Roman Empire, after a long siege and after they built a ramp from the West side of the mountain, the Romans were able to batter through the walls and capture Masada.

They were taken by surprise with what they found on the mountain top. And about that, we’ll talk in my next post. Stay tuned.

Masada is one of the sites we’ll be visiting during the upcoming http://bit.ly/ReLIVEtheBibleTour on Feb-2017. TOUR IS FILLING UP. Be sure to catch the last few places. Click on above link to register, view itinerary and cost and all other pertinent details.

I would like to thank TravelPulse for this video.

Enjoy this video.