![\"Masada-wiki-commons\"](\"https:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Masada-wiki-commons.jpg\")
<\/a>Masada-wiki-commons<\/p><\/div>\n
meaning for Israelis of The Return and the families of Holocaust survivors as well. They swear simply as everyone stands in the open ground \u201cnever again\u201d. Herod built Masada as a place to spend time away from the cares of Jerusalem and entertain guests. It had pools, a bath house, indoor plumbing and luxurious decorations.\u00a0 It had plantings and greenery and a major cistern system for storing water and large storehouses for foodstuffs and wines of the best quality. Built on a towering precipice it has a view that no photograph or video can adequately contain or describe; it must be seen to be understood. Herod knew that he was hated beyond any other in his own kingdom and took measures so that he and his entourage could ride out any popular insurrection in comfort while his army of over 20,000 put down the peasants and restored his concept of order. Herod had a considerable force of mercenaries including Celts. The most he expected was an interruption while he held court in Jerusalem but why take chances? The complex at Masada was on several levels with Herod\u2019s quarters at the top. It was considered literally impregnable by most who knew about fortifications.<\/p>\n
The Herodium was a different matter. Here he would have himself buried. This masterpiece is built on a hill that became a mountain. At the foot are pools and gardens and at the top was a castle with a tower, palatial living quarters and a tomb fit for the king. The Herodium was a solid structure and \u201cHerodian\u201d in every way. When first excavated the goal was to find the sepulcher of the last monarch of an independent Judea. This evaded any certainty until fairly recent days when a shattered sarcophagus, shaped very much like a traditional ossuary, was found in pieces. No name was found on it but its solitary nature, the violence with which it had been deliberately vandalized and the absence of any nearby human remains or signs of respectful memory all pointed to the<\/p>\n
<\/a>Herodium<\/p><\/div>\n
much hated king. Herod\u2019s making it possible for Judea to become a Roman Province had left a searing wound in the souls of the Israelites that never healed. In 132-135 AD had their chance to show their rage.<\/p>\n
The heroic story of Masada is well known and revered. The rebels had held out while the siege ramp was constructed and inched its way toward the inevitable confrontation. Although the cisterns held water and foodstuffs were in good supply, escape was cut off by the Legions below and the 960 inside knew what awaited them and their families. Perhaps they knew that their names would be blotted out if they became fodder for the arena or sold as slaves. Perhaps as well they saw that their names would live on to the days when new Israeli warriors, men and women would assemble here and renew the pledge \u201cnever again\u201d. The move was made that ten would sever the throats of the rest and the last one would do his own. There were ten ostraca found there, silent broken pottery shards with ten names to be spoken for as long as free men and women value liberty under God. Masada is a silent place, a palace, a fortress a cemetery, and a memorial. It is place of necessity to remind us of faithfulness.<\/p>\n
The Herodium became a fortress under the last revolt under bar Kokhba. The revolt of 66-70AD was put down by the Romans as a police action. Minor revolts came up often in the Empire and a show of force usually pacified the locals. But finally the Empire had endured enough of the troublesome Jews and decided to finally put a stop to further expensive campaigns. Jerusalem was leveled and a plough driven over the remains. A new city with a new name and even the name of the province were changed. The Diaspora was complete. At some time after Herod\u2019s death and after that of any descendants the vengeful rebels of the age of Bar Kokhba 132-135 AD attacked the tomb and extracted their due. The name of the man who gave them to the Romans was purged from this place. Only in recent years has anyone even found enough pieces to make the remains into enough to be recognizable.<\/p>\n
An recent exhibition about the Herodium is available to be seen online. Reconstructions of the giant ossuary and other items are on view. The place itself is well worth a visit, the exhibit will let us into the mind of Herod for a while that is, if we dare to think of going there. Israel is a complex place and Herod was a very complex man. His shrines became fortresses for heroes who are still reverently remembered; Herod less so, much less so.<\/p>\n
<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/div><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Tom Brennan The Temple Mount in Jerusalem is a destination for all faithful travelers to Israel. A reminder of Israel\u2019s faithfulness, failures in that faithfulness that brought about ruin and a promise of return and restoration. There are two other places which bear witness to these things and they at first seem to be more \u00bb<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1504,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[193,190,625,125],"class_list":{"0":"post-1503","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-biblical-spiritual","8":"tag-archaeology","9":"tag-biblical-history","10":"tag-israeli-news","11":"tag-news-from-jerusalem","12":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1503","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1503"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1503\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1509,"href":"https:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1503\/revisions\/1509"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1504"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1503"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1503"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1503"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}