Masada Off The Beaten Path

Most often at Masada, people visit the northern palace, the bathhouse, the commanders quarters, the beit kenneset and the western palace....well make the effort to walk to the far southwest corner of the mountain and search for the entrance to the cistern. If you catch it in the morning you may find a beam of light entering and if no people have been into the cistern to stir up some dust it may well look like this photo. Remember this HUGE space was carved out to provide the building material for all the structures on the mountain.

I was Intreduced to this beautiful stream in the desert by Martin (Martin.s.) in one of my visits there. Its a Small beautiful oasis,
Fresh water spring which is great to discover after a short hike.

Getting there is just near thehotels area just that instead of turning into the hotels road you should follow the brown signs that will lead you there...

If you're coming from Arad (which would most likely would mean that you have been at Martin's :-P ) Look at the amazing landscapes and the dead sea which you can see between the mountains. There are a few view stops so you can use them to enjoy the landscpaes and to photograph.

During the fifth century, a small groups of monks lived on Masada. This religious settlement was part of a process that was occurring all over the Judean Desert and other deserts of the region throughout the Byzantine period.

The monks dwelt in small cells contrived among the ruins of the buildings on the mountain. Some also lived in the caves scattered around the summit and cliffs of Masada, as suggested by the crosses found painted on their walls.

Founded:
- A portion of mosaic.
- Crosses painted by Byzantine monks on the plaster of the Herodian water system in the southeastern section of Masada.

After the abondonement of this settlement, probably with the Persian or Moslem conquest at the sevebth century - Masada remained abandoned and forgotten untill its rediscovery in 1838 by the American scholar Edward Robinson, who identified it from Ein-Gedi with a telescope.