Masada

Driving up we began to see road signs for Masada

I couldn't believe we would be going there after such a full day

but we got close enough for our first peak

The dead sea is in the background

There is a low line with some black squares on the left

those squares are cisterns, brilliantly engineered by Herod the Great

 to catch the flood waters at the time when the wadi would run high

 walking up to Masada

at the back side where the siege-ramp is

Herod called himself "the Great" because he wanted to be remembered

He build 9 mayor building projects

Masada is 21 acres, the second biggest palace was in Rome, 9 acres

The names with the boxes around them are the people murdered by Herod

He killed one of his sons by chaining him to an iron chair above a fire, lowering him between diner courses.

He did the same idea with his (favourite) wife Mariamne 

He put a chocking collar on her and tightened it between diner courses

strange that people have trouble believing that he killed 

little babies in Bethlehem, it seems to fit the pattern

 We hiked to the lower cisterns

there are 14 of them

Then we hiked in a fast pace to the top coming through the double wall

Herod didn't need to make a double wall but

He wanted to be remembered

 Taking pictures on top of Masada

 This was the first time this Israel trip 

that I was somewhere were I'd been before

but the first time we came by cable car and only saw a little bit

This time we hiked, looking down where we came from

also visible are the Roman camps, they are from the time of the Zealots

around 70AD the Romans came to destroy them

The Zealots (pharisees with knifes) took control of Masada

after Herod's death

Margaret & Jo

We hiked down stairs with very big steps

We were now in one of the water cisterns on top of Masada

water was brought here from the lower cisterns to be available

looking at the waterline left on the plaster, this cistern has been full

Colleen & grace

 I tried hard to avoid looking at any of the signs

so coming into this rectangle deep pit, I had no idea what it was

It was a swimming pool

we found that building swimming-pools

 is a building signature from Herod the Great

He apparently liked building them even though he couldn't swim

this is desert! with a fresh water swimming pool

no wonder he needed these big cisterns

 just to "help" people no to look at the signs 

Todd asked Moria & Marc to sit on this one

there were actually people (from our group) 

that asked them to move so they'd be able to read the sign

they smiled and didn't move, then they got it

 inside was this

 looks like a synagogue, made by the Zealots

Jesus said: do not sit in the chief seats

Within the hearing of all the people, Yeshua said to his talmidim,  “Watch out for the kind of Torah-teachers that like to walk around in robes and be greeted deferentially in the marketplaces, the kind that like to have the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets

 “When you are invited by someone to a wedding feast, don’t sit down in the best seat

 We hiked down

 to see the leftovers

 from the lower hanging palace

 They'd made some colourful panels

this is original plaster in colour 2000 years old amazing quality

 cool bird
John got in trouble with Todd
He was playing with the birds instead of paying attention

view from the top to the middle palace

must have been so beautiful

 more original plaster

 store houses on top

some records say there was enough stored here for 

10.000 soldiers for 10 years

this was one of Herod's escape fortresses