An Ancient Palatial Fortress Overlooks This Barren Desert in Israel
Set high on a cliff above a forbidding, lunar-like landscape, the ancient fortress of Masada looks as dramatic as the legend behind it.
Masada was built as a palace complex under Judean king Herod the Great, who reigned from 37 B.C. to 4 A.D. With a sophisticated water collection system that allowed it to sustain a thousand people in the isolated desert location, the complex was an engineering achievement as well as a classic example of the architecture of the early Roman Empire. But its greater significance is the symbolism it carries because of the legend associated with it.