Masada

On my last day based in Jerusalem, I joined a backpacker minivan group and headed for a day trip to the Israeli controlled West Bank.

A visit to Masada was to be followed with a dip in the Dead Sea and a visit to Jericho, which vies with Damascus in it's claim to be the World's longest continually inhabited settlement.

Masada is a hilltop Fortress which was conquered by the Romans. The Romans laid siege to the place and when they finally took the stronghold they found that everyone had killed themselves rather than be taken as slaves.

Archeologically it is interesting because the site was then abandoned, leaving behind the clearest possible evidence of how the Romans went about their seigecraft.

This picture of the dry barren flat from the foot of Masada to the Dead Sea shows a clear square which was one of the Roman army encampments during the siege.