On the cliff of Masada, at the edge of the Judean Mountains, rising over 400 meters above the western shore of the Dead Sea, unfolded one of the most dramatic events in the history of the people of Israel.

When all hope of halting the advance of the Roman forces was lost, Elazar Ben-Yair gathered the warriors of Masada, with their women, their elderly and their young in the square beyond the wall and addressed them, calling upon them to take their own lives…

"…and die we shall ere we serve our enemies in bondage, and free men we shall remain when we leave the land of the living, we, our wives and our children…"