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Article: The Masada Experience & Beyond: Reconstructing the Passions of Antiquity
- Article from:
- The Washington Post
- Article date:
- February 21, 1988
- Author:
CopyrightThis material is published under license from the Washington Post. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Washington Post. (Hide copyright information)
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For the hardy, the Masada experience begins with the Act of
Creation.
The desert night is at its coldest when you arrive at the foot
of the 1,440-foot-high mesa before dawn. The long, winding Snake
Path stretches ahead in the moonlight. By the time you climb it to
the top, an hour later, the world is awash with pale light. Then it
happens. As you approach the cliff edge and look across the Dead
Sea-the lowest point on the face of the planet-the sun edges upward
from behind the Mountains of Moab in Jordan and bursts upon the world
as if for the first time.
Masada is for many visitors the ultimate archeological
experience in the Holy Land, even though its archeological remains
are far ...