"But the stores laid up within would have excited still more amazement... For here had been stored a mass of corn, amply sufficient to last for years, abundance of wine and oil, besides every variety of pulse and piles of dates."
Josephus Flavius
. . . — — Map (db m220341) HM
"For the actual top, being of rich soil and softer than any plain, was given in the king to cultivation: in order that, should there ever be a dearth of provision from outside, those who had committed their lives to the protection of the fortress . . . — — Map (db m220352) HM
Generations go by and the mountain remains. Herod built for himself a magnificent fortress-palace, and the Romans and the Jewish rebels added a drama of siege and slaughter. Here the early monks of the Judean desert sought communion with the creator . . . — — Map (db m128331) HM
Masada has been inscribed upon the World Heritage List in accordance with the Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage, 1972. Inscription on this List confirms the exceptional universal value of Masada . . . — — Map (db m220251) HM
Visitors to Masada in ancient times reached the summit just as we do today, from the east. After climbing to Masada up the Snake Path, they too made their way to the southeastern entrance of the Northern Palace. Here they reached a planned . . . — — Map (db m220357) HM
Who could be entrusted with the defense of the refuge fortresses in the desert built by a king who feared rebellion from within and enemies from without?
The commandants of the desert fortresses were apparently trusted associates of the king, . . . — — Map (db m220358) HM
"There too, he built a palace on the western slope, beneath the ramparts on the crest and inclining towards the north" (Josephus Flavius, The Jewish War VII, 289).
The Northern Palace is without a doubt the architectural pearl of Masada and one . . . — — Map (db m220304) HM
"The former (path) they call the snake, seeing a resemblance to that animal in its narrowness and continual windings... One traversing it must firmly plant each foot alternately. Destruction faces him, for on either side yawn chasms so terrific as . . . — — Map (db m220359) HM
The sleeping and guest quarters of the Northern Palace show great similarity to a palace in Rome attributed to a close associate of Emperor Augustus, Marcus Agrippa, who is known to have been Herod's patron. The king's sleeping quarters were . . . — — Map (db m220303) HM
