<h1>⭐️ Masada Castle</h1>
Walking into the narrow land of Israel, the most awe-inspiring thing for the Jews is not only Jerusalem, but also this rocky castle --- Masada, which is integrated into the "soul of the Jews".
Masada is located on a rocky hilltop at the junction of the Negev Desert and the bottom of the Dead Sea, which was once a fortress fortress built by Herod the Great to prevent the nomadic attacks on the other side of the Dead Sea, a palace built by Herod the Great, and most importantly, the last position of the Jewish uprising against the Romans.
Since the loss of their homeland in the 70s AD, the Jews have been wandering all over the world, and although they have gone through countless migrations, tribulations and killings, they have been able to survive tenaciously for nearly two thousand years.
Today, leading the world's first-class innovative research and development, scientific research institutions, cultural education, military technology, and the entrepreneurial spirit of those rich countries, they have this tenacity, tenacious excellent quality and strong national spiritual pillars are from the "Masada spirit".
This profound spiritual connotation and strength, as long as you are in the ruins of Masada Castle, will always be deeply shocked and moved. For two thousand years, the "Masada Spirit" has been their eternal symbol! It is the soul of Israel!
<h1>Encounter rare deer gazelles in the desert</h1>
Masada's ancient castle is between Jerusalem and the Dead Sea, and from Jerusalem you will pass through a magnificent and desolate desert landscape, and the road is like a silver snake spreading among the sand dunes.
As you can see from this topographic map, Israel along the Mediterranean region is a narrow plain, with mountains and plateaus on the eastern border. The Dead Sea and the area south of it are collectively known as the Jordan Valley. Mount Meron on the northern Galilee Plateau is 1208 meters above sea level. To the south, the central region is the Negev Desert, which occupies more than half of Israel's territory.
What we are now crossing is the Negev Desert
Near the Dead Sea, in the Jordan Valley, plants began to appear, and large areas of date palm forests were as neat as the troops participating in the parade, which was very much in line with the strict style of the Israelis, and the size of each tree seemed to have been measured with a ruler.
Hanging heavy dates from each tree is popular in the dry Middle East. Dates can be washed and eaten directly, or used to make candy, biscuits, etc., but Chinese always have little interest in this too sweet food.
Gradually, I have seen the edge of the Dead Sea, the vegetation is getting denser, and wild animals are beginning to appear.
A rare herd of deer gazelles crossed the middle of the road, and this rare scene caused our driver to stop the car and lead us on foot with the gazelles.
Our driver is very familiar with the local situation, saying that he has not seen them for many months, and today he actually met them at noon, which is very rare, and we who love wild animals are even more excited.
Usually inhabiting semi-desert areas, the fawn gazelle lives in the Arabian and African Sahara Deserts, migrating seasonally, forming larger flocks of hundreds of animals, migrating to rainy places in search of food during the dry season and returning to the desert during the rainy season.
Poaching and habitat destruction have led to a significant reduction in their numbers and narrow herds. The fawn gazelle's vitality is tenacious, heat-resistant, and can go weeks without drinking water.
The fawn gazelle was listed as an endangered species in 2004 and has declined by 80% in a decade to become critically endangered. Listed on the IUCN's 2012 Red List of Threatened Species ver 3.1 – Critically Endangered (CR). Listed as a protected animal in the CitesI level of the Washington Convention.
Our driver said that a big reason for the deer gazelles running out of the desert area may be a shortage of food, so they risk coming to the human area to pick up dates that have fallen to the ground in the date palm forest.
Some tall ones will jump up and bite the dates close to the ground and enjoy them slowly in a standing position
A juvenile deer gazelle with a particularly good fur color makes it no wonder it is a target for poachers
For our group of long-distance visitors, they were vigilant enough
The delicate leaves are also their main food, and the deer gazelle can jump up the tree with a gentle jump
<h1>The strongest castle in the world</h1>
After watching the antelopes go away, it is not far from Masada Castle, and if it were not for the signs, anyone driving by the Dead Sea might not believe that there was once a splendid palace and an elegy of the intestines at the top of this desolate and abrupt mountain. It stands majestically in the middle of the Negev Desert in central Israel, overlooking all beings.
Masada's Herod's Palace is a representative of the lavish palace architecture of the early Roman Empire and is still well preserved; the Jews successfully resisted the longest and famous "Roman siege" with the help of Herod's Palace and surrounding fortifications;
The tragic event of all the collective suicides of Jewish refugees hiding in Herod's Palace in Masada's castle before the city was breached not only describes the history of the Jews, but also the historical portrayal of the spirit of humanity's struggle for freedom and resistance to oppression since ancient times.
Park your car and enter the scenic area, at the foot of the mountain there is a free museum, displaying various objects excavated by archaeologists, most of which are various pottery tools from the Roman period.
An audiovisual reference is then given to the history of Masada Castle, the name "Masada", which first appears in Greek manuscripts, possibly meaning "fortress" in Aramaic. According to Joseph's Jewish War, Masada was built by Herod. In 40 BC, Herod, in order to escape the Parthian king Mattathias Antigonus, fled from Jerusalem to Masada for refuge. Later, from 37 BC to 31 BC, Herod carried out large-scale construction in Masada and used it as a refuge in case of emergency.
With the knowledge reserve, we began to take the cable car to the top of the steep castle, and as the distance got closer, we got closer and closer to the magnificent but tragic history.
As the cable car ascends to the top and enters Masada Castle, the remaining ruins of Herod's hilltop palace appear in front of everyone's eyes. Although it is broken, but the magnificent scale and staggered layout, with imagination, we can still outline the luxury and solidity of the year.
Large houses, huge granaries. In the Turkish bath, there are still traces of the exquisite decoration of that year, and the traces of the fire heating are also like the traces. Two-thirds of the castles, which were submerged by yellow sand, were also excavated, with arches, watchtowers, baths, and cisterns.
The top of the hill where the castle is located is flat, about 600 meters long from north to south, about 300 meters wide from east to west, and a 1400 meters long wall was built around it. The cliffs on the east side of the summit are about 450 meters high, descending from the summit to the shores of the Dead Sea; the cliffs on the west side are about 100 meters high and vertically steep. The natural roads to Masada are extremely steep and are a key area labeled "easy to defend and difficult to attack".
There is a bronze model at the palace, which is a good restoration of the appearance of Masada Castle, which is a symbol of the ancient Jewish state of Israel and a symbol of the times. When you approach this castle, look at these ruins and think about the past, you will be impressed by the construction of this fortress.
Masada Castle is difficult to build, with three layers of defensive fortresses that conceal safety and monitor movements under the fort. It's safe to be condescending, but being besieged for food and water is the source of life.
So a huge granary was built on top of the hill to store the city's rations for three months, at that time
Food is solved, and water sources are also a big problem, especially in the arid terrain of the Negev Desert, and the water supply system project is even more arduous. In hero's time, reservoirs were built in the valley at the foot of the mountain to the west to channel flooding, and then to the 12 caves dug into the cliffs, and then to carry water to the huge storage tanks on the top of the mountain with buckets and livestock, and the Roman steam baths and baths in the castle were endlessly available for the royal family to enjoy, and the work was unimaginable.
The ruins of the Royal Palace's Roman baths offer a view of the desert and the Dead Sea from the window
The ruins of the royal palace
What really makes Masada famous is not this castle and royal palace built on the mountain, but the tragic history of the Jews written with perseverance and courage.
In 70 AD, the Romans occupied Jerusalem and massacred the Jews, and the surviving Jews took their families with them and defected to Masada.
The Masada Castle, built by Herod in those years, was impregnable, easy to defend and difficult to attack.
The treasury was full of grain; the water in the Jordan Valley was collected by the delicate channels in the castle, and the reserve was sufficient. Despite being the last isolated city, nothing could shake the brave hearts of the Jews.
The Romans besieged for three full years, and after no way out, chose the stupidest method. Next to the mountain, a huge mound of mounds of earth as high as the mountain is piled up, and a huge slope is piled under the walls of the castle.
The Romans finally woke up and cut off the water source with heavy troops, which caused the fortress that had been held for three years to be captured.
On the eve of the city's destruction, 967 men, women and children in Masada committed suicide in order to avoid becoming slaves. They elected ten warriors as executors of suicide, all clutching their wives and children, lying on the ground, voluntarily accepting a sword from their close comrades in the throat.
Leave a warrior to execute the other killers and finally commit suicide. After three years of painstaking efforts, the Romans conquered only a dead city and 960 dead bodies. Since then, the footprints of the Jews have disappeared from the land of Canaan, and they have staged their last scene with such tragedy.
Standing on the ruins of the broken wall, overlooking the junction of the Dead Sea and the mountains, the wind and clouds above your head are changing and flowing, and you feel a lot. Between the Dead Sea and the desolate desert, the weathered dynasty of a thousand years is so desolate and unforgiving.
"We die not because of a lack of food, but from beginning to end, we would rather die for freedom than for slaves!" The voice is composing a desert dead sea and a Jewish hymn. This hymn will always resound in the sky, hoping that the Dead Sea will never die, and that this land will always be peaceful.