It's not often the President of the United States gets to play tourist. But in Israel this month to celebrate the state's 60th anniversary, U.S. President George W. Bush and the First Lady toured Masada, accompanied by Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Mrs Aliza Olmert.

Located adjacent to the Dead Sea, the mountain of Masada achieved immortality in the year 73. After resisting the Romans' three-year siege, 960 Jewish refugees from the Roman destruction of Jerusalem chose to take their own lives rather than become slaves. The mountaintop was excavated in 1964 with help from volunteers from six continents, and much evidence was found to confirm the details of the Masada epic as reported by the 1st-century Roman historian, Josephus Flavius.

While some visitors still climb the mountain on foot, most tourists take the high-speed cable-cars to the summit. Masada is Israel's most visited site after the Western Wall in Jerusalem.