Masada: Israel’s inspirational desert fortress

The Masada Plateau with the Snake Trail in the background -- Jews held off Roman legions for 3 years  (wikipedia)

MASADA, ISRAEL, January 30, 2016 – At any given time, Israel is a troubling destination to visit. With the Middle East in a constant state of instability, making plans to visit the Holy Land to view the Biblical landmarks can be a challenge. Once there however, the desert country brings to life the history of some of the world’s great religions.

But there is another site in Israel that should be on every visitor’s must-see list. Masada is an ancient fortress situated on the crest of an isolated plateau overlooking the Dead Sea.

Masada's desolate ruins are impressive  (Taylor)

Located at the eastern edge of the Judean Desert, it was at Masada that a band of approximately 960 Jewish Sicarii rebels held off the Roman army for three years before being breached in 73 AD.

Like so much of the historical accuracy in the Holy Land, Masada is the subject of considerable architectural debate, but there can be no question about the existence of fortress itself, and therein lies much of its appeal.

Much of the controversy centers around the accounts of a 1st-century Jewish Roman historian named Josephus who is responsible for nearly all the written information about the story of Masada. The problem arises in the fact that most scholars regard Josephus as a less than reliable source for the details surrounding Masada.

Model of Herod the Great's three tiered palace which he never occupied  (Taylor)

Masada sits atop a 1,400-foot desert plateau that spreads over an area of 23 acres. Though never occupied by Herod the Great, he built a palatial villa there on three descending terraces at the northern end of the rock. Due to the angles, there are only partial views of the palace from above.

In 2001, Masada became a UNESCO World Heritage Site which can be reached by walking up the Snake Trail from the Dead Sea side, by the Roman Ramp Trail on the western side or by cable car.

According to Josephus, the Sicarii were an extremist group that split from a larger Jewish assembly known as the Zealots. They fled Jerusalem in 70 AD and settled at Masada after the massacre of a Roman garrison.

Water was a key factor in Masada's survival  (wikipedia)

The governor of Rome pursued the Sicarii and surrounded Masada but were stalled in their siege due to the strategic location of the fortress. Thanks to an ingeniously designed system of cisterns, the Jews often taunted their enemies by drenching them with fresh water in the severe desert heat of the region.

Eventually, the Romans began constructing a circumvallation wall and then a siege ramp against the western face of the plateau. Construction of the ramp was frequently stopped because the Jewish defenders were able to pelt the Romans from above with rocks.

In the end, the Romans succeeded by using Jewish captives to build the ramp. The Sicarii halted their stone bombardments in order to keep from killing their brethren.

After three long years, the Roman legion eventually breached Masada and captured the fortress. Upon their arrival however, the Romans discovered that most of the 960  inhabitants were dead and all the buildings except for the food storerooms had been burned. Only a handful of women and children survived

Partial view from above of Herod's palace at Masada as it exists today  (Taylor)

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Josephus writes that the Jews of Masada either chose suicide or killed each other rather than suffer capture by the Romans.

Whether the Jews committed mass suicide remains a topic for conjecture. Other details that have proven to be either inaccurate or ommitted is also subject to scholarly debate.

The Snake Path was the primary access point to the Masada Fortress  (wikipedia)

What is known however, is that the elaborate system of channels that provided an ample water supply for the inhabitants does exist, as do the remnants of Herod’s northern villa. The siege did take place and the defenders were dead when the Romans entered the fortress.

A cable car is the fastest, easiest and most efficient way to reach Masada  (wikipedia)

As the debate continues, so does the symbolism of Masada in modern-day Israel. For Jews, Masada is a sign of unity against its adversaries. The site was regarded as so significant that the former Israeli military leader, Moshe Dayan, initiated the practice of holding swearing-in ceremonies for various units of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) at Masada.

Over time the practice has been somewhat displaced, but Israel’s paratroopers still commemorate the Six Day War of 1967 at the Western Wall of Masada.

The Masada plateau is a symbol of determination and pride for Israel  (wikipedia)

Like so many places throughout the world, Masada is a site that much be visited in person to understand the full magnitude of its meaning.

For Americans Masada is, in its own way, much like the Battle of the Alamo. For Jews, given the historical chronology, they would likely tell us that the Alamo is more like Masada.

Like so many sites in the Holy Land, archaeology often creates more questions than answers. Whatever the truth may be about Masada however, cannot be diminished by a lack of information because the site speaks for itself.

This article first appeared in Communities Digital News

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Ancient basilica now open to the public in Rome

Entrance to the ancient basilica of Porta Maggiore discovered nearly 100 years ago  (wikipedia)

ROME, January 15, 2016 – For lovers of history, Italy’s capital is a living outdoor museum  Rome captures the imagination with its massive monuments like the Colossuem, the Forum, the Pantheon, the Vatican and, even, the Victor Emmanuelle Monument.

One of the everpresent problems with construction projects in cities like Rome, Athens and Jerusalem occurs when excavations begin and the builders bump into a new layer of ancient history.

Such was the case in 1917 in the outskirts of Rome during the construction of a railway line between Rome and Cassino. That’s when a secret pagan basilica was accidentally discovered following the cave in of an underground passage that unearthed a hidden chamber filled with stucco reliefs of gods, winged cherubs and pygmies.

Originally built by a wealthy Roman family, who belonged to a little-known called Neopythagoreanism, the subterranean basilica predates Chrisitianity. As might be deduced from the name, the cult was based upon the writings of the Greek philosophers Pythagoras and Plato.

Porta Maggiore is beneath a modern rail line  (wikipedia)

Situated directly beneath the rail line at street level, the 40-foot basilica is the only one of its kind in the world. Since its discovery nearly a century ago, Porta Maggiore, as it is now called, has been lovingly cleaned and preserved to the point where it can be viewed by the public, even though the restoration process continues.

Excavated from tufa volcanic rock, Porta Maggiore consists of three naves lined by six rock pillars and an apse. Carved reliefs of centaurs, griffins and satyrs adorn the arched walls along with depictions of classical lengendary Greek heroes like Achilles, Orpheus, Paris and Hercules.

According to the director of the site, Dr. Giovanna Bandini, “There were lots of cults worshipped at the time and the empire was in general fairly tolerant towards them. But this one was seen as a threat because it discounted the idea of the emperor as a divine mediator between mortals and the gods.”

In the first century A.D. getting the emperor angry was not a good thing to do. The Statilius family, which was responsible for the building, was accused of practicing black magic and other illicit rituals by Agrippina, the mother of Emperor Nero. A senate investigation took place and, though Titus Statilius Taurus continued to proclaim his innocence, his pleas fell upon deaf ears.

With no hope remaining, Titus Statilius Taurus committed suicide in 53 A.D.

Following Taurus’ death, the basilica fell into disrepair and was eventually sealed up by the Emperor Claudius before being forgotten about for centuries.

Tufa rock is relatively easy to excavate, which is also one of the reasons why Rome has an abundance of catacombs beneath the city.

Archways hearken to a time in history some 2,000 years ago  (wikipedia)

For the restoration process, scaffolding was built to allow access to the arched ceiling, which is covered with various stucco renderings. Some of the reliefs were decayed, but all things considered, restorers found the condition of the artwork to be in remarkably good condition.

Porta Maggiore is accessed by a door which hidden from the street by a mesh fence. The basilica itself is completely invisible to the outside world, but when trains rumble over- head, the illusion can be broken as a reminder that we still live in a contemporary world.

Artist's rendering of how Porta Maggiore might have looked in the 1st century (wikipedia)

A depiction of Medusa’s head guards the entrance with the lower parts of the walls painted in deep ox-blood red colors featuring wild birds and women dressed in togas.

Special care is taken to control temperature and humidity to preserve the artwork. The temperature must not rise above 64.4 degrees Fahrenheit while the humidity must constantly range between 87% and 92%.

Stucco begins to dry out below 87% humidity causing it to crack. Says Dr. Bandini, “This place is unique in the Roman world in terms of its architecture and design. It was a precursor to the basilicas built during the Christian era, centuries later.”

Visitors are now welcome, but space is limited. Arrangements for a tour can be made at www.coopculture.it or by calling +39 06 399 677 00

Rome is a timeline of history and civilization. So to say that Rome is a city in ruins is a compliment of the highest order.

This story first appeared in Communities Digital News

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