I had a really fun day today. It started nice and early (about 3:30am) I arrived at Masada before sunrise and hiked up to the ancient ruins atop the mountain...here are some photo's.
Masada has an interesting history. Herod build a fortress here about 30 BC. Then the Jews revolted in 66 CE and took possession of the fortress and defended it for months before their final demise.
This is the western side of the fortress which is where the Romans breached the defenses
Guard towers
This is a Byzantine or crusader church
This is the Northern Palace
The Store rooms
The Army Commander's residence
I thought I was fit but goodness me it was tough getting up there ( and back down again, there is a cable car but I am on a budget) even at 5 in the morning it must have been close to 30 degrees (it is summer in the Judean Wilderness). I then went to En Gedi (see next blog), on the way to the dead sea we stopped at the qumeran mountains you will remeber that this is the place where they found the dead sea scroll (see photo)
and finally I went to the dead see.
That is Jordan on the other side of the dead sea. This whole region I was in today is in the West bank.
- Posted from my iPad
Location:ג'ורג' וושינגטון,Jerusalem,Israel
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