" If this interpretation is correct, then the previously unknown writings found among the Dead Sea Scrolls may not be those of the Essenes at all, but a more mainstream sampling of extra-biblical literature from the time of the Second Temple, brought to the caves for safekeeping from Jerusalem. This heated debate is an example of the very partisan passions with which Israelis follow archaeological discoveries. According to histories written at the time, the residents of Qumran cast off the trivialities of their world, pooled their capital, were forbidden to marry, and refrained from having sexual relations. Women did, however, live in Qumran, if we can judge by the skeletons found in graves near the site. Despite their pessimistic outlook, it appears that members of the cult prepared themselves for Armageddon. They anticipated being at the core of a social revolution and expected that they would be the elite of the Jewish people at the end of time. They loathed the gentiles and believed that non-Jews would meet their judgment. Massada National Park Masada (Hebrew for fortress), is situated atop an isolated rock cliff at the western end of the Judean Desert, overlooking the Dead Sea. It is a place of gaunt and majestic beauty. On the east the rock falls in a sheer drop of about 450 meters to the Dead Sea (the lowest point on earth, some 400 m. below sea level) and in the west it stands about 100 meters above the surrounding terrain. The natural approaches to the cliff top are very difficult. Sitting on an isolated cliff in the Judean Desert, Massada's steep slopes and precipices rise more than 400 meters above the Dead Sea. The combination of cliffs and escarpments in the desert area provided Massada with the perfect natural defense system. Had the attackers not blazed routes to the top, there would have been no way for them to reach the summit. Although the mountain had natural fortifications, Herod built a casemate wall around the entire summit. This was a tremendous undertaking, since the summit was 600 meters long and 300 meters across at its center. Herod's plan for the mountain was fantastically ambitious. Massada was not designed merely as a fortress, but as a royal stronghold with spacious palaces, a bathhouse with the all conveniences available at the time, and a number of smaller palaces, apparently for housing the monarch's relatives. Most amazing is the northern palace, which was a tremendous feat of design and execution. Built on the northern part of the hilltop, the palace appears to dangle over the precipice. It was constructed atop three stone slabs; because the staircase was deemed inadequate for the palace halls, enormous supporting walls were built to enlarge the staircase area. The rhomboid, flat plateau of Masada measures 600 x 300 m. The casemate wall (two parallel walls with partitions dividing the space between them into rooms), is 1400 m. long and 4 m. wide. It was built along the edge of the plateau, above the steep cliffs, and it had many towers.