Located in the arid Judean Desert, the fortress of Masada is a place of great symbolic importance to both Israelis and Jews world-wide. The siege of M

---

Located in the arid Judean Desert, the fortress of Masada is a place of great symbolic importance to both Israelis and Jews world-wide. The siege of Masada by Roman troops from 73 to 74 CE, at the end of the First JewishCRoman War, ended in the mass suicide nearly 1000 rebels who had retreated there. To this day, some inductees to the Israeli Defense Forces take their oath of loyalty to the Jewish state on top of Masada. Others take it at the Western Wall. At over 400m elevation, this is not the easiest of places to climb, especially during the heat of the day. Fortunately, for the 750,000 tourists who visit every year, the cable car - shown here - offers an easier alternative.

---

Size: 5184px × 3888px
Location:
Photo credit: © Jon Bower / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: ancient, arid, attraction, barren, blue, cable, car, clear, conflict, dead, desert, dry, empire, famous, fortress, gondola, hanging, herod, high, history, hot, israel, josephus, judaism, judean, martyrdom, mass, mesa, nationalism, orange, outcrop, parched, passengers, place, plateau, rebellion, religion, rock, roman, sacrifice, sea, serial, sheer, sky, steep, suicide, sunny, symbolism, tourism, tourist, tragedy, tramway, war