The Early Morning

After sleeping through my alarm, I saw that I only had 20 minutes to get up, get ready and make it to the meeting point for the group tour I had signed up for through the Abraham Hostel in Jerusalem.

I can’t remember if I brushed my teeth that morning but i probably had to forego that to make it on time as I walked the half mile to where I had to be. Once there I signed in and crawled in the minibus and took my seat. It was 2:55am.

Now, I usually wake up early when I travel but this early was something else. You might wonder, why then did I do this and we’ll it’s because I was going to see Masada, a historical desert fortress nearby to the Dead Sea and Judean desert that is also high up on a hilltop. To make this hike in the summer sun would be impossible which sometimes necessitates site closures at the Israeli national park in the area.

What Is Masada?

Masada was a fortress built by King Herod the Great of Biblical fame as part of his extensive construction projects across his kingdom under Roman rule. Built between 37 and 31 BC on a mesa in the Judean desert, Masada hosted two palaces as a retreat for King Herod.

Its most story comes from the Jewish revolts against Roman occupation after the destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem. An extremist faction took refuge in the Masada fortress and fortified themselves inside. After four years of seige the Romans finally broke through with ramps and a battering ram only to discover that the 960 defenders of the castle had lit the place on fire and committed suicide leaving only 2 women and 5 children alive.

Some of this stories’ accuracy has been brought into question but the general ideas remain confirmed.

The Hike

Once we arrived at the entrance to the park, we were let in early and began the ascent. The sun began to transform the pitch black sky and the Dead Sea could be made out further in the distance with Jordanian, Palestinian and Israeli communities illuminated by city lights dotted along the bank.

The hike up was going easy enough as the views were stunning with multicolored wadis (slot canyons) and the mountains of Jordan in the backdrop. The hike goes on and on and the tour group and I were racing to get to the top of the mesa before sunrise.

Unfortunately the timelapse I was trying to set up didn’t work very well since I made it just in time so there wasn’t any real time to set up but the sunrise was insane. The sun pierced the desert fog and reflected off the Dead Sea’s placid surface all viewed from a 2,000 year old fortress. Moments like this make the early morning wake up calls worth it; travel is worth it.

Exploring the Fortress

Now, there was a lot to see in Masada but after sunrise I spent a decent chunk of my time talking to some expats and travelers that were both on the tour and visiting solo via road trip. We talked about mainly our appreciation of Israeli/Levantine cuisine and the highlights of Israel.

Once I split off, I explored some rooms with remarkable frescoes and went downhill to where there was a part of the Palace perched rather precariously on a cliff face. This was probably the best preserved part of the castle with the pillars still maintaining a coat of paint.

Next I continued on to see where the Roman siege equipment could still be seen from the first century. To see this piece of history was fascinating because it is like history just froze in time in Masada. There was an unnatural mound of dirt leading up the side of the fortress opposite from where we hiked up. This is the work of the Romans, it was the seige ramp from where they broke Masada’s defense and stumbled across the grisly scenes left by the Jewish Zealots. There were also the archaeological remains of Roman camps that have stayed undisturbed for millennia.

After visiting the Byzantine Church which was the last structure added before complete abandonment of Masada I figured it was time to start heading down back. Usually downhill hiking is easier than uphill but in this case, the desert sun has risen and with it the temperatures.

Returning to the Bus

At this time I could not imagine hiking up and it was barely 7:00 am and already incredibly dry and hot. Now I’m used to desert heat but this was beyond my expectations. The views were still great with much of the details of the scenery more apparent than on my ascent including the outline of more Roman camps

One thought that kept crossing my mind was, “Did I really climb all the way up here earlier?” since I couldn’t tell how far I went in the darkness of night.

Masada is an interesting and beautiful site that encapsulates the Jewish struggle that has been fought for over 2,000 years but if you see it the best way to visit it is for sunrise whether by tour or otherwise. I feign to even say that sunrise might be the only time to visit this fortress, at least in the summertime.