MASADA - A NATURAL FORTRESS

The magnificent site of Herod the Great's luxurious palace

The fortress-palace of Masada perches like an eagle above a landscape almost lunar in its desolation. The land around it is bleached by wind and lack of rain.

Masada dominates not only the sea but also the caravan route, which in antiquity ran across a causeway from the western shore of the sea to the tongue of land which juts below Kerak - on its way to Petra in south Arabia (see map below).

The first man to fortify Masada, according to Josephus, was Jonathan, brother of Judas the Maccabee.

But it was Herod the Great who transformed Masada into an almost impregnable citadel - and a luxury showpiece as well.

For the life stories of the powerful men of the Herodian dynasty, go to 

Mad, Bad and Dangerous: the Four Herods of the Gospels