It's been a desire of mine for decades to hike up Masada before dawn to view the sun rise over the Dead Sea. I recently had the opportunity to do just that so I booked a tour from Jerusalem and left at 3:30 AM to head into the West Bank and south to the desert. The decent into the valley of the Dead Sea is like coming off of a mountain pass. Jerusalem lies at 2600 ft while the Dead Sea sits at -1300 ft. This is a continuous descent for over an hour.
I arrived at the base of Masada just after 5am with barely enough light to see the path. The trail I take is called The Snake Path which winds it's way up the east face over 1.24 miles with an elevation gain of 1000 ft. It was already in the 80's when I started, but I took off at a good pace to ensure that I would be set at the top before the sun peaked over the Jordanian hills.
In 70AD, the Romans were fed up with the Jews and pretty much destroyed Jerusalem trying to quell an uprising. A small number of Jewish Zealots fled to Masada to escape the destruction, but the Romans pursued and set up several camps around the base in an effort to wipe them out. The natural fortifications of the isolated plateau were enough to keep the Romans out for three years. Ultimately, the Romans built a siege ramp up the western side of the mountain and breached the wall of the fortress only to find that everyone had committed suicide rather than surrender.
Once at the top I had a limited amount of time to explore the ruins before having to return to the tour group at the base. Masada is the second most visited location in Israel aside from Jerusalem so it gets very busy. I highly recommend the sunrise hike because the crowds were relatively thin. A gondola is also available, but where's the fun in that? By 10 AM it was pushing 100 degrees, so bring a lot of water with you or visit at a more temperate time of year.
Map & Stats
Trailhead: -400 ft
Summit: 600 ft
Distance from the trailhead to the summit: 1.24 mi