Masada is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and one of Israel’s most popular attractions. For our first night in Israel, we stayed at the Masada Youth Hostel and Guest House. FYI: The Hostels in Israel are like no other. This place was more like a convention centre! We visited the ruins of this mountaintop fortress that overlooks the banks of the Dead Sea.
There is a cable car to get to the top of Masada. (There is also a switch-back pathway to the top, but it looked BRUTAL, and it was HOT in the desert!) Masada has the ruins of one of the palaces of Herod the Great at the top of the mesa, as well as the remains of Roman camps at the base of the fortified hill.
I didn’t know much about the history of Masada prior to visiting, and actually found the site rather informative. In 73AD Masada had been under Roman siege for two years as one of the last Jewish strongholds when it was finally taken. Rather than succumb to Roman rule and slavery, the Jews of Masada chose to commit mass suicide.
Judaism prohibits suicide, so the men of Masada drew names, and killed each other down to the last man who would commit suicide. There was a whole exhibit showing pieces of the clay shards with names found on the site. Almost 1000 people were killed.
The synagogue at the top of Masada is thought to be one of the oldest in Israel. While we were at the site, there was a group singing in the synagogue. It was simultaneously eerie and beautiful.
From Masada we made our way to the Tiberias. Stay tuned…
~j