The rooms of the northern palace are situated spectacularly on three terraces supported by retaining walls that spill over the northern edge of the cliff. A large, white-plastered stone wall that broadened at the base separated the northern palace from the rest of the mountain. The only access to the rooms of the northern palace was through a guardroom at the eastern end of the wall, effectively creating a fortress within a fortress. Graffiti depicting a ship and garden enclosure on the wall above a bench may have been incised into the plaster by a bored guard. The guard room opened onto the uppermost terrace of the northern palace, which contained a modest suite of bedrooms with simple black-and-white mosaics of geometric designs resembling a honeycomb pattern. A semicircular porch in front of the bedrooms provides a breathtaking view of the rugged desert landscape and the Dead Sea, including the oasis at Ein Gedi, which is visible as a dark patch in the haze at the foot of the mountains some 11 miles to the north. The area between the base of Masada and the Dead Sea shore is filled with badlands created by the erosion of soft marl (chalk) deposits.
The three terraces of the northern palace originally were connected by enclosed staircases, with steps that wound around a square stone pillar. Today, visitors to Masada climb down a modern wooden staircase that runs along the side of the mountain. The middle terrace of the northern palace was constructed of two concentric walls, the inner one partly hewn out of the bedrock of the cliff and partly built of stone, and the outer one built of stone. The walls served
10.3 Reconstruction of the northern palace. By Leen Ritmeyer ©.
To extend the terrace beyond the edge of the cliff and would have been covered by a floor. Columns along the edge of the terrace supported a roof, creating a covered patio with a spectacular panoramic view. A row of vertical niches in the back wall of the terrace (the bedrock side) might have been a library, if the small holes inside the niches held wooden shelves for scrolls.
The lowest terrace of the northern palace was used as a reception hall (triclinium). The terrace is rectangular in plan and had an outer peristyle surrounding an inner rectangle created by a low wall with columns at intervals, mirroring the outer peristyle. From the center of the inner rectangle, the desert landscape would have been visible by looking over the low wall, with the view framed by columns. Much of the original interior decoration of the reception hall is preserved, thanks to having been buried for more than 2,000 years. The columns consisted of stone drums covered with molded stucco to give the appearance of fluted marble shafts, and they were topped with stuccoed and painted Corinthian capitals. The low walls of the inner rectangle and the lower part of the cliff wall of the outer rectangle were plastered and decorated with paintings in the Second Pompeian Style. Typical of this style, the paintings depict colorful panels imitating colored stone and marble plaques. An illusion of depth was created on the cliff face by constructing engaged half-columns in the middle of each panel, which seem to cut off and block the view of the panels behind. Interestingly, Josephus' description of the northern palace inaccurately refers to monolithic stone columns and colored stone panels. We do not know whether Josephus ever visited Masada or whether he merely relied on the descriptions of others.
A small bath house was located below the east side of the lowest terrace. Although much of it has eroded and collapsed over the edge of the cliff, a stepped and plastered pool is still visible, with a poorly preserved mosaic on the floor in front of it. It was here that Yadin made a stunning discovery, which he interpreted in light of Josephus' account of the mass suicide at Masada:
When, however, we came to clear the formidable pile of debris which covered the chambers of the small bath-house, we were arrested by a find which it is difficult to consider in archaeological terms, for such an experience is not normal in archaeological excavations. Even the veterans and the more cynical among us stood frozen, gazing in awe at what had been uncovered; for as we gazed, we relived the final and most tragic moments of the drama of Masada. Upon the steps leading to the cold-water and on the ground nearby were the remains of three skeletons. One was that of a man of about twenty — perhaps one of the commanders of Masada. Next to it we found hundreds of silvered scales of armour, scores of arrows, fragments of a prayer shawl [talith], and also an ostracon (an inscribed potsherd] with Hebrew letters. Not far off, also on the steps, was the skeleton of a young woman, with her scalp preserved intact because of the extreme dryness of the atmosphere. Her dark hair, beautifully plaited, looked as if it had just been freshly coiffeured. Next to it the plaster was stained with what looked like blood. By her side were delicately fashioned lady's sandals, styled in the traditional pattern of the period. The third skeleton was that of a child. There could be no doubt that what our eyes beheld were the remains of some of the defenders of Masada. In describing the last moments, Josephus writes:
“And he who was the last of all, took a view of all the other bodies lest perchance some or other among so many that were slain, should want his assistance to be quite dispatched; and when he perceived that they were all slain, he set fire to the palace, and with the force of his hand ran his sword entirely through himself, and fell down dead near to his own relations."
Could it be that we had discovered the bones of that very fighter and of his kith? This, of course, we can never know for certain.
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