Photos of Masada National Park

The reason why the Masada ruins are world-famous is not only because of the long history, the dangerous terrain, the once magnificent palace, but also the spirit of Masada. The Jews wrote in a fearless spirit "I would rather be jade than broken." The touching story of "Wai Quan". In 70 AD, the Romans occupied Jerusalem and slaughtered the Jews, and the surviving Jews took their families and fled to Masada. After a long siege, the Romans finally broke the fortress, but they were greeted by a dead city—all the Jews in the fortress were dead, not by starvation, and the granaries still full, but by a Tragic death. In order to avoid being captured and humiliated, the 967 Jews on the mountain decided to commit suicide en masse, but this violated Jewish teachings. So they drew lots and decided that ten people would kill everyone first, then choose one of the ten to kill the other nine, and then the remaining person would commit suicide. Only the remaining dead person violated Jewish teachings. History written in blood, no one will forget. The Jews who have returned to their country will come to Masada when they enlist in the army, relive the history, and make an oath "MasadaShallNeverFallAgain!" which means: Masada will never fall again! The remains of the Masada site are well preserved and reconstructed to pay homage to the site and its former heroes. A particularly impressive building here is Herod's northern palace, built on three rock terraces overlooking the gorge below. Near the palace is a large Roman-style bathroom with colorful mosaic floors and frescoes on the walls. In addition, many other buildings of the site, such as the Western Palace, mikveh (Jewish ceremonial bath), storerooms, watchtowers, and synagogues are all related to the history of Masada, so it is also a well-known base for patriotic education in Israel.