On the morning of Day Eight, we left our hotel in the Dead Sea area and visited the ruins of Masada, a cliff top fortress built by King Herod between 37-31 BC. Although King Herod was a tyrannical ruler, he is credited for undertaking some of the most colossal construction projects in ancient Judea, including the rebuilding of the Second Temple. A paranoid sort, King Herod had a fortress (with two palaces) constructed atop an isolated cliff, a rock plateau that resembles a mesa, on the eastern edge of the Judaean Desert overlooking the Dead Sea. The sides of the cliff ranged from 400-1,300 ft tall, allowing the fortress a natural line of defense that made it seem almost impregnable to an outsider. During the First Jewish-Roman War (66-73 AD), a group of nearly one thousand Sicarii rebels (Jewish zealots who opposed Roman rule) took refuge at Masada. A Roman legion encircled the cliff and laid siege for several months. Eventually, the Romans built a ramp up to the lower cliff walls and using a battering ram were able to enter Masada. But when they did, the rebels inside had committed mass suicide rather than be captured, killed or enslaved by the Romans. Due to its seclusion on top of a cliff (in a desert landscape) the ruins of Masada lay undisturbed for almost 2,000 years. It was 'discovered' in the mid-1800s, and since the 1960s has been excavated and some sections have been restored or reconstructed using the actual remains at the site. Today, it is one of Israel's most popular tourism destinations. The original way to the top was to climb a daunting trail known as the Snake Path, which dedicated hikers can still trek today. But to avoid the nearly 1,000 foot climb, most visitors take a cable car to the fortress. After our visit to Masada we continued on to Jerusalem, where we headed over to Mt Scopus for a panoramic view of the city. We then visited the Temple Mount Sifting Project at Emek Tzurim to learn how archaeologists excavate an area, and then we 'sifted' through actual remains taken from an ancient drainage area near the Temple Mount. In the evening, after dinner, we saw the dramatic Sound and Light Show at David's Citadel within the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem.