The Dead Sea and the tragic tale of Masada

Day 4

Today I was bobbing up and down in the Dead Sea trying to get my legs to touch the bottom and it's really hard.  The weather is very hot and sunny and we were walking down to the beach in our towelling robes at 8.30am.  No one bats an eyelid as everyone is doing it.

The handrail into the Dead Sea.  We didn't use it as we are not old enough.  Carol modelling her dressing gown

Floating in the Dead Sea

View of our hotel from the beach with a bit of advice.  So we did.

We left the Dead Sea Resort mid morning and drove a matter of twenty minutes along the desert road on the West Bank of the sea to Masada.  I remember vaguely seeing a documentary on it but had not taken in all the details.  You go up to a rock plateau by cable car and get a fantastic view of the Dead Sea and the desert and hills on the way up but you are not prepared for the vast expanse of ruins at the top.  

From the cable car

Herod the Great built two enormous palaces as well as open areas the size of many football pitches.  You really can't get a true impression of the size of the plateau unless you see an aerial photo. The main northern palace has spectacular viewing platforms jutting out from the rocks.  I cannot imagine how these were built.  Even though it is in the desert and on top of a rock mountain, the complex was supplied with water from reservoirs holding enough water for a thousand people for a year.  Herod had built dams to divert the rainwater from flash floods draining  down the mountains into aqueducts which entered the mountain through holes made when rocks were mined to build the palace.  They grew their own fruit and vegetables and had a dovecote for pigeons which provided meat.  The pigeon dung was used to fertilise the plants. Just brilliantly planned. 

The storeroom, built with aisles like a supermarket

 Herod built it as part of a line of fortifications protecting the country and although he sent his family there, there is no evidence that he actually visited it himself.  It fell into disuse when the Romans conquered the area but was occupied again by the rebels in the last great uprising against them when 200 fighting men and their families numbering another 600 took refuge there.  The Romans systematically put down the uprising in the land and Masada was the last remaining resistance.  They sent 8000 men to sack the fortress.  The Romans set up 8 camps and over 4 years built a ramp up to the fortress walls.  They pushed a battering ram up and pummelled the walls.  The Jews replied with fire arrows which set fire to the battering ram tower but a change in the wind blew the flames on to the wooden gates.  It was over.  The Romans retired for the night to their camps ready to march into the fortress the next day.  However, the Jews held a meeting and their leader sent for all the heads of the families.  He persuaded them that it was better to die as a free Jew than live as a slave.  Now, a Jew cannot commit suicide without losing his chance of resurrection at Judgement Day so 10 men drew lots.  10 pot shards have been found with names inscribed on them and it is thought that these were the men who killed the women, children and the other men.  One man who had drawn the fatal lot then killed the remaining 9 men before committing suicide.  In this way, only one man lost his soul.  2 women and 5 children hid in a water reservoir and were captured by the Romans and it their recorded testimony which told this tragic story.  Up until about 10 years ago, Masada was the place of national pride and all school children had to visit it by law and army conscripts were sworn in there  Ideas have changed somewhat now but it is still the most visited historical monument in the country.

Some of the birds which still live on Masada. Can't remember the name but they are only found in this area and have bright orange flashes under their wings

The remains of the ramp built from the valley floor to the Gates of Masada.  The round hump in the centre is where those who were killed were buried.

Nearby, in some caves in the rock face, the Dead Sea Scrolls were found but they are now kept in a museum in Jerusalem, so more of that later.  Also the land at the bottom of the fortress was very oddly shaped, like flat topped carved out sand dunes.  Something to do with the combination or layers of rock but they looked familiar.  They had been used in the first Star Wars film and a couple of other lesser films.

We drove on to Jerusalem and our ears popped as we climbed up above sea level again.  We stopped at a viewing area and saw the sun set over Jerusalem.  We could see the Mount of Olives, which now of course is covered with houses but also the Church of the Ascension.  We could also see the golden dome of the mosque where there have been riots recently, and the walls of the old city and our guide gave us a brief history of the Jewish Temples that have been built and destroyed on that site over the centuries.

The Mount of Olives, which is outside the old city.

And so to our very nice hotel where there is free wifi throughout. Yippee, it actually works as well.