Avner had begun his career in archaeology by helping with the excavations of the hilltop for at Masada, so we were in good hands with him guiding us around the scenic plateau. The fortress was built by Herod as a way to show off his command of the countryside, but is ironically most famous as the last holdout of a group of Jewish zealots who fled Jerusalem after the Roman destruction of Jerusalem in the 1st century. Here they held out until the Romans built an enormous siege ramp and breached the fortifications; they found the zealots all dead, having committed mass suicide. The Roman camps are still visible all around the surrounding landscape, but today the Israeli army has claimed the site as an inspirational setting for its academy graduations: "Masada will not fall again" is their oath.