A Brief History of the Siege of Masada and the Historical Events Leading Up To It

Where the Story Came From:

The story of Masada was recorded by Josephus Flavius, who was the commander of the Galilee during the Great Revolt and later surrendered to the Romans at Yodfat. At the time of Masada’s conquest he was in Rome, where he devoted himself to chronicling the revolt. In spite of the debate surrounding the accuracy of his accounts, its main features seem to have been born out by excavation.

Hasmonean Period:

According to Josephus, the first fortress at Masada was built by "Jonathan the High Priest", apparently the Hasmonean king Alexander Janaeus (103-76 BCE), whose coins were discovered in excavations of the site. Some scholars tend to identify Jonathan with the brother of Judah the Macabbee, who became high priest in 152 BCE. So far no architectural remains have been discovered at Masada that can be dated with certainty to the Hasmonean period.

Herodian Period:

Herod, who ruled from 37 BCE to 4 BCE, was well aware of the strategic advantages of Masada. He therefore chose the site as a refuge against his enemies, and as a winter palace. During his reign, luxurious palaces were built here in addition to well-stocked storerooms, cisterns, and a casemate wall. After the death of Herod in 4 BCE and the annexation of Judea to the Roman Empire in 6 CE, the Romans stationed a garrison at Masada.

Great Revolt:

Josephus relates that one of the first events of the Great Revolt of the Jews against the Romans, which broke out in 66 CE, was the conquest of Masada by the Sicarii, a group that got its name from a curved dagger, the sica, which they carried. The Sicarii were headed by Menahem, son of Judah the Galilean, who was murdered in Jerusalem in 66 CE. After the murder, Eleazar Ben Yair fled from Jerusalem to Masada and became commander of the rebel community on the mountain. It was a varied group, which apparently included Essenes and Samaritans. The last of the rebels fled to Masada after the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 CE and joined those already at the fortress under the command of Eleazar Ben Yair.

The rebels, who lived in rooms in the casemate wall and in some of Herod’s palaces, constructed a synagogue and mikvehs (Jewish ritual baths). They left behind numerous material vestiges attesting to their community life.

Location of Masada:

On top of an isolated rock on border of Judean Desert & the Dead Sea Valley, Herod built a palace that would overlook the area 360 degrees around it. The only way to reach the top was via a snake path that was difficult to climb. Two palaces; one to the west and one on the northern edge of the precipice. They were built from 37 to 31 BCE. Before building the palaces, Herod created an intricate water supply system. Twelve cisterns held 40 000 cu. m of water.

Seige:

Masada was the last stronghold for Jewish rebels. In 73/74 CE, the Roman Tenth Legion Fretensis, led by Flavius Silva, laid siege to the mountain. The legion consisted of 8000 troops and auxiliary forces. The legion built eight camps around the base of Masada. The Romans also built a ramp of earth and wooden supports along a western slope and a siege wall. The large army was brought water and food from En Geid by Jewish captives.

The siege lasted several months and eventually the Romans brought a tower that held a battering ram all the way up the ramp. They began to batter the wall around the plateau. To reinforce the walls, the rebels used supports made of wood and earth on the inside of the wall. The Romans cunningly set it on fire.

The rebels began to lose hope and Eleazar Ben Yair gave two speeches to his people. He convinced all 960 of his people that they should take the lives of their families and their own lives instead of waiting for the Romans to humiliate them by enslaving them.

"Then, having chosen by lot ten of their number to dispatch the rest, they laid themselves down each beside his prostrate wife and children, and, flinging their arms around them, offered their throats in readiness for the executants of the melancholy office. These, having unswervingly slaughtered all, ordained the same rule of the lot for one another, that he on whom it fell should slay first the nine and then himself last of all, They had died in the belief that they had left not a soul of them alive to fall into Roman hands; The Romans advanced to the assault...seeing none of the enemy but on all sides an awful solitude, and flames within and silence, they were at a loss to conjecture what had happened Here encountering the mass of slain, instead of exulting as over enemies, they admired the nobility of their resolve and the contempt of death display by so many in carrying it, unwavering, into execution." - (Josephus Flavius, The Wars of the Jews, VII, 395-406)

The fall of Masada was the final act in the Roman conquest of Judea. A Roman auxiliary unit remained at the site until the beginning of the second century CE.

Research & Excavation:

After the Byzantine period Masada sank into oblivion until the nineteenth century. The first scholars to identify Masada with the plateau known in Arabic as es-Sebbeh were Smith and Robinson in 1838, and the first to climb it were Wolcott and Tipping in 1842. Warren climbed Masada in 1867, Conder described and mapped it in 1875, Sandel discovered the water system in 1905, and Schulten studied mainly the Roman siege system in 1932.

In 1963 a full-blown excavation began of Masada carried out by The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, headed by Yigael Yadi and most of the buildings were uncovered in only two years.

More of the Famous Speech:

“Since we, long ago, my generous friends, resolved never to be servants to the Romans, nor to any other than to God himself, who alone is the true and just Lord of mankind, the time is now come that obliges us to make that resolution true in practice. And let us not at this time bring a reproach upon ourselves for self-contradiction, while we formerly would not undergo slavery, though it were then without danger, but must now, together with slavery, choose such punishments also as are intolerable; I mean this, upon the supposition that the Romans once reduce us under their power while we are alive. We were the very first that revolted from them, and we are the last that fight against them; and I cannot but esteem it as a favour that God hath granted us, that it is still in our power to die bravely, and in a state of freedom, which hath not been the case of others, who were conquered unexpectedly. It is very plain that we shall be taken within a day’s time, but it is still an eligible thing to die after a glorious manner, together with our dearest friends...

Let our wives die before they are abused, and our children before they have tasted slavery; and after we have slain them, let us bestow that glorious benefit upon one another mutually and preserve ourselves in freedom as an excellent funeral monument for us. But first let us destroy our money and the fortress by fire; for I am well assured that this will be a great relief to the Romans, that they shall not be able to seize upon our bodies, and shall fail to our wealth also: and let us spare nothing but our provisions; for they will be a testimonial when we are dead that we are not subdued for want of necessaries; but that, according to our original resolution, we have preferred death before slavery.” (320-336)

Source: "Masada National Park." http://www.parks.org.il/BuildaGate5/portals/parks/imagesFILES/Advanced1118904599.pdf (accessed 01 05 2010). (The PDF has a well labled map of the area as well!)

- Kat Kovalcik