Masada, a Unesco World Heritage site, is situated not far from the shores of the Dead Sea in Israel. This ancient and majestic fortress is located on the top of a sheer rock cliff that rises 400 meters above the desert that surrounds it.
The fortress was built originally in the second century BCE by a Judean King and, at that time, was one of eight other strongholds in the desert used to protect the land against the Seleucid armies.
In the first century BCE, Herod continued developing these fortresses and Masada in particular by adding bathhouses, huge storage areas to keep supplies in, and even swimming pools and turning them into magnificent and bold palaces.
The most dominant buildings at the site are the Western Palace with its lovely geometric mosaic floor and, without doubt, the palace on the north end which balances down the rock in terraces. This palace still has a few stunning marble columns and attractive frescoes that remain from the original construction.
The story of Masada was recorded by the famous historian Josephus Flavius; he wrote that about 75 years after the death of Herod the Great, a Jewish revolt against the Romans began, and a group of Jewish rebels took control of the fortress of Masada. After the fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the temple in 70 CE, these rebels were joined by a group of Zealots and their families who had escaped from Jerusalem.
For a period of time, the rebels harried and attacked the Roman forces wherever and whenever possible. Eventually, Roman soldiers under the command of Lucius Flavius Silva besieged Masada. The Jewish Zealots managed to hold out for about 3 years, during which time the Romans built a rampart up the cliffside.
Josephus described how when the Romans broke through the defenses they found that all 950 Jewish rebels defending Masada had taken part in a mass suicide. Thus, the fall of Masada brought an end to the Jewish State that lasted for nearly 1,900 years.
During excavations of the site in the early 1960s under the direction of Yigal Yadin and conducted by the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, archeologists found a great deal of evidence from the siege. However, only about 30 skeletons were uncovered during the dig.
Today Masada holds a special legendary status for the Jewish people, and after Jerusalem, it has become one of the most popular tourist sites. When Moshe Dayan was chief of staff, he introduced a practice for soldiers completing their basic training to hold their swearing-in ceremony on the top of Masada. This ceremony begins with the soldiers climbing Masada during the night and ends with the declaration that “Masada shall not fall again.”