The site of Masada

For nearly nineteen centuries the actual site of Masada was just “one rock among others”; in fact it was first identified by two American travelers, Edward Robinson and E. Smith, in 1838. It was a frequented destination for Palestine based left-wing Zionist youth groups from the 1930’s. Masada was also readily accessible, having been bought by the Jewish National Fund in 1934. Research expeditions and archeological excavations at Masada only start later, first in 1953 and again in the early 1960’s.