Climbing to the top of Mount Massada at Sunrise

Location:
Israel

Hiking

By Caitlin Dickson

Led by an Israeli tour guide, we left the warmth and comfort of our Greyhound bus and began the trek to the top of Mount Masada. The fact that I had to keep up with the group was the only thing keeping my eyes open, as it was 3:30 in the morning and I hadn't slept at all the night before in anticipation of this great adventure. On the way up our tourguide, Yoni, attempted to prefaced our arrival with some historical facts about the place at which we were about to spend the day. The information, however, just seemed like background noise against the fierce concentration we all had just to make it safely up the mountain. Before long our ascent seemed to reach a plateau and I knew we had finally arrived. I grabbed a stone and took a seat as my eyes followed an enormous, red sphere, its rays finally unveiling the vast expanse of desert surrounding us, bordered only on one side by the Dead Sea. Yoni explained to us how the 1800 ft by 900 ft sandy stretch we were sitting on had been built by King Harold between 37 and 31 BC as a refuge in case of a Roman revolt. Until 66 CE, the time of the first Jewish-Roman War, Masada's plateau was occupied by a great many members of a Jewish sect known as the Sicarii. It is believed that an attack on Harod's fortress led by Roman troops induced a mass suicide in which all of the Sicarii voluntarily perished in anticipation of their defeat, supposedly burying or destroying all of their possessions, leaving their homes and temples bare for the Roman occupation.

The rest of the day consisted of valuable history lessons and tours of King Harod's since preserved creations, including a swimming pool and an underground water storage. The excursion culminated in an even more difficult downward hike along an almost uncharted snake path. As I stood at the bottom of the mountain, sipping the most delicious, fresh-squeezed orange juice from a stand that marked the end of the path, I gazed up toward the plateau and marveled at the society that once inhabited Masada's village in the sky, and the legacy they have left behind.