STOREROOMS AT MASADA

Aerial view showing the extensive storerooms at Masada

At certain times of the year there could be hundreds of people living on the high plateau of Masada. All of them had to be fed, housed and clothed.

This meant careful planning and a lot of hard work - for servants and slaves of course, not for Herod or his family.

Each time the court moved, it needed to take with it

• all the food and drink it needed
• medical supplies
• clothing for men, women and children of all ranks, from the king to the lowliest slave
• toiletries - Eastern rulers and their families used cosmetics lavishly, and Jewish people were noted for their attention to personal hygiene
• bedding and portable furniture
• equipment for personal retinues of bodyguards, servants, cooks, grooms, butlers, etc.

These goods required storage, and the builders of the complex at Masada had provided for it. The image above is an aerial view of the Northern Palace, showing several areas:

• the long storerooms for food and equipment
• terraced entertainment areas, bottom right of the image; these had, literally, a bird's eye view of the desert below
• reception rooms for the king and his courtiers
• domestic quarters for the royal family
• service areas, for example kitchens

The oblong rooms in the middle left of the photograph were storerooms servicing the palace and its occupants.

See the map at 'BIBLE STUDY GUIDE' to identify each of the different buildings in the photograph above.