WHS#66

Masada is one of the the most visited tourist attractions in Israel. It's the total package: spectacular scenery, Roman ruins, and Jewish significance. This shows when arriving at the cable car station in the middle of the Judean Desert because it is absolutely packed with tourists on the May morning when I visited on a day trip from Jerusalem in 2018. When I first arrived, I found that the experience of exploring the remaining structures might not be as interesting as it sounded on paper. Having seen so many Roman ruins on my trip to the Holy Land, especially highlights like Jerash, Bet Shean, and Korazim, Masada's ruins didn't impress me that way. However, there are definitely a few very different things about Masada that make it a deserving WHS.

The cable car stations are the only modern structures in the vicinity of the site, which is a blessing and a curse. Almost the entire landscape is completely uncompromised, but the modern structures are somewhat distracting. I would've preferred they leave the site inaccessible to keep the visitor numbers lower, but to each his own. Walking through the inner parts of Masada, it honestly wasn't very picturesque, since the view of the vast deserts below is blocked, and the buildings didn't seem as impressive as others I had already seen. The small jagged blocks of sandstone used just didn't offer the same majestic Roman feel to them as the marbles and basalts in the Galilee sites. They were pretty much the same old residential areas, bathhouses, cisterns, and churches. There's a room with a few original frescoes, though, so check that out. That's where similarities stop.

More buildings are actually armories, barracks, surrounding walls, and other military structures, as this is a fort. There's also the palace of King Herod at the far end, overlooking the Dead Sea. There's also a cool columbarium, just to note. Then there's the setting. Being located on a tiny isolated plateau may mean good views for the tourists that come here today, but back then, that meant challenges, as it may mean for those who choose to walk the trail up. Firstly, how did they keep a water supply? This was no lush Machu Picchu, this is the Judean Desert. With gravity and climate against them, they devised a complex system of drainage basins, pathways, and donkeys to make sure their cisterns were always filled (sorry, that's as far as I can explain it at this point). But it wasn't just hard for the inhabitants, it was even more difficult to invade. That's why Masada is home to the best examples of Roman siege works in the world. Its military camps and siege ramp can be seen from the edge of the fortress, making their historic mark on the desert landscape.

Lastly, this is, of course, one of the most symbolic sites for Jews as the site of their mass suicide to escape surrender to the invading Romans, and that's a theme that should stay with you as you immerse yourself in the Masada experience. Overall, Masada is a unique, not to mention extremely scenic, site in the world. It's significance as a monument to Judaism, a model Roman military remain, and a once lively fortress and palace with a unique water supply system mean it's definitely worth exploring and looking into deeper than I once looked at what I thought of as underwhelming Roman structures. Lastly, the parts of Masada that didn't have to be reconstructed are actually marked by a black line, like in the photo, so it's really easy to see how authentic the site is.