The Masada Faktor by Naomi Litvin Page A

my backpack: The Byzantine Church, Columbarium Towers or dovecotes, The Northern Palace, The Large Bathhouse, and the Old Synagogue.
     
    The brochure explained that after the Romans left, The Byzantine Church had been established sometime in the fifth century CE as a home for a small group of Christian monks who lived in the ruins of Masada, which had been uninhabited for a few centuries.
     
    An earthquake which took place in the fourth century had destroyed much of King Herod’s architectural masterpiece of Masada but the church was pretty well preserved and the floor contained a hidden room either used for storage or for burial.
     
    The monks had settled here and in the caves of the Judean wild. After being forced out sometime around the seventh century during the rise of Islam, this area then remain uninhabited. There was a basement for storage and the usual partial walls. I didn’t see much else of interest so I took notes on my thoughts as to what my photos might relate to.
     
    Second on the list was the dovecote or Columbarium Towers. The top had been used as a guard lookout; the bottom used for doves as a food staple and the dung as a source of fertilizer. I had read and thoroughly enjoyed Alice Hoffman’s The Dovekeepers , and was excited to see this area. I could picture how it used to be from the novel, and what was left of the dovecotes was impressive.
     
    Behind the dovecotes were some steps that went down to an area probably used for storage. It was an ethereal feeling that nearly transported me back in time. I wondered what they stored beneath and if there was anything left under the dirt piles that I saw. Snapping some more photos and daydreaming about past civilizations was intriguing to me anyway. I was in a dream space, and was delighted that I was here.
     
    The third location, the Northern Palace was next. To think that King Herod build this bastion for his family was astonishing. It was about 100 feet tall and magnificent, even in what was left to see. Foundations of huge retaining walls had held up three rock terraces. The architecture was a combination of Hellenistic and Roman components. The Palace was built both for social activity and for Herod’s seclusion.
     
    The storerooms’ complex that were connected to the left of the Palace consisted of twenty-nine long rooms surrounded by corridors. They were intended to store food, liquids, and weapons. One of the storerooms had three pits that were discovered in the plastered floors. The Northern Palace was accessible from a flight of stairs and I could still see the original stone steps.
     
    The brochure stated that the storerooms were able to preserve their contents for a century, which was confirmed by Josephus Flavius, (Joseph ben Matityahu 37-100 CE) the Jewish historian who wrote extensively about Masada while a prisoner of Rome.
     
    But the stores laid up within would have excited more amazement... For here had been stored a mass of corn, and sufficient to last for years, abundance of wine and oil, besides every variety of pulse and piles of dates…although from the date of storage to the capture of the place by the Romans well-nigh a century had elapsed. Josephus Flavius, The Wars of the Jews, VII 296, 297
     
    I was getting tired but I trudged on to the Large Bathhouse, the fourth location, which was surrounded by columns. There was a good model in the courtyard depicting its original appearance as a Roman-style bathhouse and how it was used. There was the tepidarium for warm baths, the fridgedarium or cool pools, and the caldarium for a hot plunge bath. That had a hypocaust, a double floor which was an ancient Roman central heating system with underground furnace and tile flues to distribute the heat.
     
    I was starting to fantasize about the cool Gordon Pool in Tel Aviv because of how hot I was at this point of my trek. I had been to four out of five of the places taking many photos and my spiral notebook was a mess. I had spent a