Masada and the Dead Sea

On Saturday, November 1st (after a day to "recuperate" from the Sea of Galilee and Nazareth adventures), we left Be'er Sheva around 9 am and drove towards the Dead Sea. At Highway 90, which borders the Dead Sea and runs from Jerusalem all the way down to Eilat, Israel's southernmost city, we turned south for 10 km., to the site of Lot's Wife, a pillar of salt (or several pillars) just off the highway. Next, we made our way to Masada, the legendary fortress palace built by King Herod (reigned 37 BCE-4 BCE), and inhabited by the Jewish Zealots during their last stand against a Roman legion some 15,000 strong in 73 AD. The mountaintop is much larger than one first expects. We only covered about half of the area (but 2/3 to 3/4 of the sites) in the 2 hours or so we were on the mountaintop. I thought it was fantastic, but to Dawn, all the ruins started to look the same after an hour or so. Most impressive were the elaborate cool, tepid, and hot bathhouses Herod had constructed. It was amazing to stand at the point were the Romans breached the nearly impenetrable fortress, and imagine that yes, at this point the slope wasn't quite as steep, and they could put their ramp up to the gates. At first, however, the wind blew the fire the Romans were trying to set to the gates towards the Romans, but as fate would have it, the wind switched from a northerly (hurting the Romans) to a southerly direction and the Zealots knew that the next morning at daybreak, the fortress would be breached. It was then that they committed mass suicide, rather than submit to a life of slavery under the Romans. Some 970 Zealots perished. The last 10 men left drew lots to see who would kill the other nine first, before turning the sword on himself. The men had already killed their wives and children. Pottery shards with their names have been found and are thought to be the "lots." Today, the newest inductees into the IDF (Israeli Defense Force) swear an oath here that, "Masada shall not fall again."

I can also say that I too "fell" at Masada, as I fell and skinned a knee on the concrete at the top of the mountain. Later, at En Gedi, where Dawn tried her hand at swimming in the Dead Sea, I realized that I had forgotten my bathing suit, and reflected that that was OK, because I did not want the Dead Sea water with a 30% salinity (instead of the normal 3% salinity of ocean water) to touch my cut knee or my cut fingers (from chopping vegetables earlier in the week). I entertained myself watching Dawn and a large group of 20 something German tourists float in the Dead Sea, and looking through the pictures of the last several days.

An amazing fact about Masada: The Roman legion, 15,000 strong, laid siege to Masada for 8 months before determining that the Zealots had too much food and water to wait it out any longer, and they would instead attempt to attack. Evidently, the supply lines fortifying the Roman legion took a great amount of resources!