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The desert fortress where Jewish rebels withstood a Roman assault two millennia ago has been fighting a losing battle against the forces of nature.
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| By Ellis Shuman June 16, 2004 |
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The Masada desert fortress, where Jewish rebels withstood a Roman assault two millennia ago and then chose suicide over capture, has been fighting a losing battle against the forces of nature. The cabinet this week set up a team charged with preparing a plan to preserve the historical site.
The proposal to preserve Masada was presented to the cabinet on Sunday by Environmental Affairs Minister Yehudit Naot, Education Minister Limor Livnat and Industry and Trade Minister Ehud Olmert. The cabinet decision called for the establishment of a ministerial committee to oversee the Masada preservation project, a four-year rehabilitation program as well as recommending sources for funding the project. The committee will also present the cabinet with an annual update on the progress in the project.
In its decision, the cabinet stressed the historical, cultural, and educational significance, and the tourism potential of the Masada site, and stated the necessity to preserve and protect it from damage caused by nature and erosion.
In December, unusually heavy winter rains caused serious damage to Masada's limestone façade. A spokesman for the National Parks Authority said temporary repair work had shored up Masada's infrastructure. The spokesman added that permanent repairs would be carried out in the near future, at a cost of about $2.2 million.
Meanwhile, a team led by Dr. Yossi Hatzor from Ben Gurion University's department of geological and environmental sciences has been studying Masada's stability, due to the fact that it is located on the Syrian-African fault line, the Jerusalem Post reported. Surveys done by Hatzor's team led to safety precautions being taken on Masada's famous Snake Path ascent, near the mountain's new cable car system. In addition, the team has been working to strengthen Herod's northern palace.
In the year 73 CE, Roman soldiers surrounded the Masada fortress, where some 900 Jews, rebelling against Roman rule, were holed up. The massive earth ramp the Romans constructed to get a battering ram in striking distance of the walls is still clearly visible to the mountain's west. Jewish historian Flavius Josephus wrote that 10 of the surviving rebels decided on suicide rather than facing death or slavery.
Masada was declared a UNESCO heritage site in 2002, along with the port city of Acre. Last week, Tel Aviv became one of the few cities in the world to be declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.
This week, Masada was in the news as part of the struggle of Israel's municipalities to gain fiscal stability. The mayors of Arad and Dimona, and some of their employees, threatened to hole up on the top of the mountain until the government meets their financial demands.
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