Day 7 – Sunday

Visit ancient city of Masada, our guide leads us up to this ancient city on top of a mountain.  Our guide says we are taking the cable car, so we don’t get to hike it like I was hoping to do.  He says “If God wanted me to walk up this mountain He wouldn’t have invented cable cars.”  Masada, which means “the fort” was built by Herod.  His son Archeleous was given control over Judea/Jerusalem/Masada and he gave it to Tiberius Caesar.  So he turns it over to his army to establish it as an army post to control the trade route between the Red Sea and the Mediterranean Sea.  In 66 AD the uprising of the Jews against Roman occupation begins, four years later 967 people flee Jerusalem and siege this desert community of Masada seeking refuge from the Romans (70 yrs after Masada was built by Herod).  They attacked Masada and drove out the Romans and these Jewish refugees settle here.  Vespasian appoints Silva to break this Jewish resistance and he assembles an army of 10,000 men and 5,000 slaves to attack this city in 71 AD.  Two years later, they breach the wall but on the eve of this event the resisters committed suicide to keep the Romans from the pleasure of torturing and killing them.  The Romans honored this act of their enemies.

Flavius Josephus was one of 10 men, still alive from this event.  He was a Jewish trader, hired by the Romans, adopted by Rome to detail Jewish history.  Only because of his writings do we know about Masada today.

Saw original frescos over plastered walls inside homes here.  There is a black line marking the original structure from what has been recently reconstructed on the walls here.  Hundreds of date pits found here, beef jerky was also a common food for residents of Masada.  On the northern end, was Herod’s palace, it contained 3 terraces on the 3 cliffs which mark this mountain.  The oldest synagogue  (house of gathering, assembly) in the world is here.  Scrolls detailing this history were found inside this synagogue.

Leaving Masada, we see one adventurous guy start his jog down the mountain.  He gets about a 10 min head start and we take the cable car back.  He arrives just as we do.  Get a magnum bar at gift shop.  Met a worker from LA there.  He made a comment that “Israel is perfect except...", he couldn’t put his finger on it, but that it was missing something.  I said the only thing missing here is Jesus.  Following our trek up Masada, many of us head back to the sea for a float.  Had a blast lounging at the Dead Sea with several new friends.