photos: Masada from a distance - the Judean desert (very stark!) - Snake Path/two Roman camps (diamond-shaped outlines of rocks)/part of siege wall - Michelle on the Snake Path with cable car overhead - Dead Sea--south end

Masada! Such an amazing and powerful event in history! Such an incredible and dramatic place to visit! It is my most favorite site in all of Israel, Every time I have been on a tour of the Holy Land, I’ve waited impatiently for the day when our group ascends this huge rocky fortress by the Dead Sea and I can walk among the ruins where this moving event occurred.

This is where I spent last Saturday, March 18th. And it was the most fantastic and fulfilling time there ever--because I was able to take all the time I wanted without being rushed about by a tour schedule. I wandered wherever I chose, read all the descriptions of the various ruins, pondered the history, imagined who had walked here, considered the events of that night long ago, was awed by the beautiful clear views and vistas of the bleach-brown Judean desert, the blue-green Dead Sea, and the mountains of Moab beyond, took in the remains of the Roman camps, the circumvallation wall, and the siege ramp itself, and took photo after photo of everything that interested me, confident that I had plenty of space with 1 gig of memory in my camera!

I went to Masada with my home repair team supervisor, James (from South Africa) and his wife, Michelle, and Larry and Mary Bennett (from Great Falls, Montana). It was a perfectly beautiful sunny morning when we took off at 7:00 a.m. on our adventure. James drove the van we use for work, and headed east, out of Jerusalem, into the bleak desert hills of the desert, descending down down down into the Jordan Valley, past bedouin tents, Jewish settlements, and the city of Jericho (which was blocked off because of last week’s confrontation with the Palestinians at the prison). From there, the highway turns south, along the Dead Sea--where, at 1200 feet below sea level you are at the lowest point on earth! We traveled past huge date palm orchards, produce hot houses, the Ahava Dead Sea cosmetics factory, Qumran (where the Dead Sea scrolls were discovered), En Gedi (where David hid from Saul), always surrounded by the stark Judean desert.

Finally, just an hour and 15 minutes from home, we saw it: the flat-topped mountain fortress of Masada coming at us in the distance! James stopped and let me get some photos as we approached, and I could feel my excitement building. Driving up to the entrance, I saw that much had changed since my last visit in 1997: new parking garage, ticket windows, huge visitor center, hotel, and displays. It’s much more “tourist friendly,” but also more commercialized.