| Today, Sunday, July 5, 2026, our group visited the fortress of Masada, located at the Dead Sea. This fortress had been built around 40 BCE/BC. Herod built it as a “vacation home” to enjoy for himself, as well as to entertain dignitaries who came to visit. Unlike all the other mountains around it, Masada stands alone, not attached to any other mountains, making it secure. Throughout the site, one can see the exquisite detail that Herod put into the design. For example, a bathhouse unlike any other. This bathhouse began with a cold water room, then into a tepid water room, only to finish in a hot room, where a lot of business with dignitaries was likely conducted. However, many years later, around 70 BC/AD, Masada became a temporary safe-haven for a group of Sicarii Jews running from the Romans after the immediate destruction of the Second Temple. Jews were able to live up there, surrounded by the Roman Army who besieged them, for 3 years, living off of the stored food they kept in the storage houses Herod had built, and in the cisterns Herod had set up for water. After 3 years, the Romans were able to break through. However, as told in the books of Josephus, the night before the Romans invaded, the Sicarii Jews living up there decided to kill themselves, rather than be taken as slaves by the Romans. When the Romans invaded the next day, all the Jews were dead, with the exception of 2 women and 3 chuldren who hid in a cistern. Herod’s famous fortress helped these Sicarii Jews of about 1000 to fend off the Romans for 3 years. By 73-74 CE/AD, Masada had been conquered by the Romans. |
