SATURDAY VISIT: MASADA FORTRESS

On Saturday 14 December 2024, accompanied by a team from the ÉBAF, around twenty participants bravely set off on the Snake Trail to climb the 450 meters to the top of the Masada fortress.

Overlooking the Dead Sea, in the heart of the Judean desert, the citadel spontaneously evokes the revolt of the Jews against the Roman Empire in the second half of the 1st century AD.

Originally conceived as a Hasmonean garrison, it was remodelled and developed by Herod the Great into a major fortification against the threat of invasion. In the light of the work of friar Étienne NODET, o.p., a great specialist in the subject at the ÉBAF, the participants searched the stone for traces of the accounts of the great Jewish historian of the first century AD: Flavius Josephus.
To find out more, get hold of Fr. Étienne’s books from Éditions du Cerf.

As visitors wandered around the imposing walls, water cisterns and other archaeological remains, they were able to compare the legends, stories and texts with the materiality of the context.

Thanks to the explanations of friar Yunus Demirci, o.f.m. Cap, archaeology coordinator at the ÉBAF, the participants were able to understand the specific function of each wall, each tower, each structure within this defensive system. The visit was also an opportunity to discover the methods used for mapping and measuring the site, which helped to justify certain interpretations.

As well as marvelling at the grandeur of the landscape and the feats achieved by the builders, Saturday was another convivial opportunity to bring together people from all walks of life to enjoy a time of discovery of a major site in the region, accompanied by comments from scientists from the École biblique at archéologique française de Jérusalem.

Initially launched by fr. Marcel Sigrist, OP, the Saturday visits are a convivial opportunity to discover the riches of the Holy Land, accompanied by researchers from the ÉBAF.

If you would also like to take part in the Saturday visits, please register by sending an email to lesvisitesdusamedi@gmail.com.

You can find this proposal and many others on our website and on our social networks.

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