Israel.
The Dead Sea from Masada.
The sun rises over the mountains of Jordan, reflecting off of the salty surface of the Dead Sea, the lowest point on the surface of the Earth at 395 metres below sea level.
Masada (Hebrew; "fortress") is an ancient ruin on a mountaintop in the desert near the Dead Sea about 48 km southeast of Jerusalem, the scene of the last stand made by the Jewish Zealots in their revolt against Roman rule (AD66-73). Two fortified palaces were built there in the 1st century BC by the Judean king Herod the Great. Masada is a national symbol of heroic patriotism as the last remaining rebels - about 1000 men, women, and children - withdrew to the remote mountaintop and withstood a 2-year siege by the Roman Legion. When the besiegers finally captured the fortress the remaining rebels took their own lives rather than surrendering. |
