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MASADA
Identify and describe what the archaeological and written records (so far
uncovered) tell us regarding the siege of Masada.
Masada is located at the top of an isolated rock on the edge of the Judean Desert and
the Dead Sea valley, between Sdom and Ein Gedi. The flat top of the rock has a
rhomboid shape, elongated from north to south. Its height is 440 above the Dead Sea
(50 m above sea level), and it is isolated from its surroundings by deep gorges on all
sides. The cliffs on the east edge of Masada are about 1,300 feet (400 m) high and the
cliffs on the west are about 300 feet (90 m) high. The top of the plateau is flat and
rhomboid-shaped, about 1,800 feet (550 m) by 900 feet (275 m).
Iudaea was a Roman province that extended over the region of Judea proper, later
renamed Palestine. Judaea under Roman Rule dates from 63 BCE, following the end
of the Third Mithridatic War, when Rome made Syria a province. After the defeat of
Mithridates VI of Pontus, general Pompeius Magnus (Pompey the Great) remained to
secure the area. Subsequently, during the 1st century BCE, Judea's Hasmonean
Kingdom became a client kingdom and then a province of the Roman Empire.
The main reasons of the Jewish War were the impoverishment of the Jewish
peasantry. Sixty years of Roman taxation had meant only one thing: the Jews had to
pay money, which was spent in Italy and on the border. Another reason was the
religious tension between the Jewish populace and the Roman government. However,
the Roman governors and the Temple authorities had found practical solutions to deal
with these problems. Other reasons included the involvement of governor Albinus
with criminal gangs, the removal of rights of Jews in Caesarea, the pollution of the
synagogue of Caesarea, the murder of High Priest Jonathan, the murder of High Priest
Ananias, the refusal to sacrifice to the Emperor, the Fourth Philosophy that held
divine assistance would come to a rebellion: "the infection which spread from them
among the younger sort, who became zealous for it, brought the public to
destruction", the criminal acts and abuse of authority on the part of governor Gessius
Florus, a conspiracy on the part of Florus and a certain ambiguous oracle (War 6.5.4)
The Sicarri (Jewish Rebels) are considered to an extremist splinter group to the
Jewish Zealots (insurgents) who attempted to expel the Romans and their partisans
from Judaea.
According to Josephus, a first-century Jewish Roman historian, Herod the Great
fortified Masada between 37 and 31 BCE as a refuge for himself in the event of a
revolt.
Josephus (37 – 100 AD), also known as Yosef Ben Matityahu, became known, as the
1st-century Jewish historian and apologist of priestly and royal ancestry who survived
and recorded the Destruction of Jerusalem in 70. Josephus wrote about the Jewish
War, which accounts for the Jewish revolt against Rome (66-70). The Jewish War
starts with the period of the Maccabees and concludes with accounts of the fall of
Jerusalem, the Roman victory celebrations in Rome, the mopping-up operations,
Roman military operations elsewhere in the Empire and the uprising in Cyrene. It also
provides the reader with an overview of Josephus' own part in the events since his
return to Jerusalem from a brief visit to Rome in the early 60s.
Yigael Yadin, born 20 March 1917, and died 28 June 1984, was an Israeli
archeologist, politician, and the second Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces.
Yigael Yadin, an archaeologist who uncovered the Masada area. In 1963-65 Yigael
Yadin conducted a full-scale excavation of the site, with assistance of hundreds of
volunteers from Israel and abroad. They uncovered almost all the territory, and also
restored many buildings. He also discovered two mikvaot (ritual baths), a synagogue
used by Masada's defenders and 25 skeletons of men, women, and children. Aa a
result of his discoveries, he composed a book called ‘Msada’.
Lucius Flavius Silva was a late-1st century Roman general, governor of the province
of Iudaea and consul. He brought many strategies and tactics on Masada. After failed
attempts to breach Masada's defenses using a 6 foot thick, 7 mile long siege wall
(circumvallation), Silva and his legionaries built a siege ramp against the western face
of the plateau, using thousands of tons of stones and beaten earth. The huge dirt ramp
allowed the Romans to employ a battering ram to breach Masada's walls. This tactic
was very time consuming and difficult as a result of a steep elevation towards the
western face of the plateau.
It is seen through the organization of the Roman army, the strategies and tactics
employed still enforced a victory against the Jews. There is also evidence that Silva’s
victory had resulted in approximately 960 men, women and children, committing
mass suicide before the Romans took the mountain top. Still today, the huge dirt ramp
that allowed the Romans to employ a battering ram to breach Masada's walls survives
today in Masada. In Masada, archaeologists have found several food items that were
used for survival and large openings for the passageway for water along the cliffs of
Masada.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masada#Masada_today
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucius_Flavius_Silva
http://mosaic.lk.net/g-masada.html
http://members.aol.com/FLJOSEPHUS/causesOfWar.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josephus