Masada, Dead Sea and Ein Gedi Nature Reserve

Masada is an ancient fortification in the Southern District of Israel situated on top of an isolated rock plateau.  Masada was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2001. There are two hiking paths, both very steep.  In fact, the hiking paths are often closed during the day in the summer because of the heat.  Alternatively visitors can take a cable car to the top of the mesa.  A visitors' center and the museum are at the base of the cable car.

Model of Masada

Masada is located on the eastern edge of the Judaean Desert, overlooking the Dead Sea.  Herod the Great built palaces for himself on the mountain and fortified Masada between 37 and 31 BCE. Some 75 years after Herod’s death, at the beginning of the Revolt of the Jews against the Romans in 66 CE, a group of Jewish rebels overcame the Roman garrison of Masada. After the fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the Temple (70 CE) they were joined by zealots and their families who had fled from Jerusalem. There, they held out for three years, raiding and harassing the Romans.  According to Josephus, the siege of Masada by troops of the Roman Empire at the end of the First Jewish–Roman War ended in the mass suicide of 960 people, the Sicarii rebels and their families hiding there.  Next to Jerusalem, it is the most popular destination of tourists visiting Israel.

Roman Water System at Masada.  Herod had a huge network of 12 cisterns on two levels dug out of the stone at the base of the mountain on the northwestern slope. During the winter rain water would collect here as it dripped and flowed down the side of Masada. However the rain water from Masada was not enough. So they devised a system of catchment areas. To the west a gorge was transformed into a dam to catch the flood water and the water was diverted through a system of aqueducts, using only gravity to bring the water to the cisterns on Masada’s western side. The 12 cisterns were positioned so that when one filled up it would overflow into the next cistern. Together the cisterns at the base of Masada could hold about 40,000 meters.  The water would be transferred up to other cisterns on the top of Masada by donkeys and slaved to provide water for immediate use. 

Our team at Masada Paul, Jill, Michael, Richard, Shawn, Tanya, myself, Mark, Pat and his wife

Remains of Synagogue

Remains of the Masada bathhouse

Dead Sea seen from Masada.  

The Dead Sea is commonly known as the Earth's lowest point, it occurs at 1,371 feet below sea level, making its shores the Earth's lowest point not under water or ice.  It is also the second saltiest body of water on Earth, with a salinity of about 30 percent. 

The Dead Sea measures 42 miles long and 11 miles wide at its widest point. It lies in the Great Rift Valley. The Jordan River is its main tributary.  The Dead Sea is located in the Great Rift Valley which extends from the Taurus Mountains of Turkey to the Zambezi Valley in southern Africa.  The Dead Sea lies between the hills of Judea to the west and the Transjordanian plateaus to the east. Its eastern shore belongs to Jordan, and the southern half of its western shore belongs to Israel. The northern half of the western shore lies within the Palestinian West Bank and has been under Israeli occupation since the 1967 Arab-Israeli war.

The Dead Sea has attracted interest and visitors from around the Mediterranean basin for thousands of years. It was a place of refuge for King David, one of the world's first health resorts (for Herod the Great), and it has been the supplier of products as diverse as balms for Egyptian mummification to potash for fertilizers. The area holds significance in Jewish, Muslim and Christian faiths as the location for events important in their historical records.

The Ein Gedi National Park is the second largest oasis in Israel. The park is found in the Dead Sea Valley, which is an effect of the Great Rift Valley. Visitors can follow trails past waterfalls, springs, caves, canyons and an early Bronze Age temple.

It is one of few places in the Israeli deserts where streams are running all year long. 

Our Tour Guide Michael Turkenich