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View looking southwest down on the recent (2018) excavations at Masada. The excavation area is right of center, and two large "squares" are surrounded by a metal fence.
In this area, Stiebel and Gross discovered two water cisterns from the time of Herod the Great (37–4 BC). During the Byzantine period, the 16–foot–deep southern cistern was replastered by Christian hermits (note the church to the left [south] of the excavated area). The southern cistern filled with water during a rainstorm in April 2018—the monks plaster job still held water!
In the upper left quadrant of the picture, the Byzantine Church and the Western Palace are visible.
The excavations are described in Stiebel, Guy and Boaz Gross. “Masada Shall Never Fail (to Surprise) Again.” Biblical Archaeology Review 44, no. 5 (September/October, 2018): 30–40.
