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The cliff - top fortress of Masada , place in Israel near the Dead Sea , contained a series of palace and edifice built by King Herod ( 74 B.C. – 4 B.C. ) , a rule of Judea who was under the influence of Rome .
During the first Jewish revolt against the Romans ( A.D. 66 - 73 ) , it became a situation of resort for people take flight the Roman army . It was the last rebel fastness to hold out and was taken in either A.D. 73 or 74 after the Romans penetrated its walls using an rarified siege wild leek and a force reckon to be as gamy as 9,000 soldiers .
A bird’s-eye view of Masada, in Israel near the Dead Sea.
The parentage of Masada
The origins of Masada are a matter of debate and enquiry . Flavius Josephus , a Jewish historian whose works were written in the years after the rebellion was beat , said that a fortress was first constructed and name “ Masada ” ( which descend from a Hebrew parole for “ fortress ” ) by “ Jonathan the gamey priest , ” a person whom some scholar identify as Alexander Jannaeus ( 103 - 76 BC ) , a Jewish ruler who controlled a kingdom in Israel .
Josephus also states that a few decade subsequently , around 40 B.C. , when Herod was battling a competition advert Antigonus for control condition of Judea , the Riley B King left his family at Masada , the site being apparently strong enough to stand off a extended military blockade by his contender .
A mosaic on the floor of King Herod’s palace at Masada.
Modern - twenty-four hours archaeologists , however , have had a hard time back up Josephus ’ account of Masada ’s origins . Archaeologist Hanan Eshel writes in his book " Masada : An Epic Story " ( Carta , 2009 ) that no clayware antedate the reign of Herod has been found at Masada . He does take down , however , the presence of former coin at the site . He also writes that a piece of ostraca ( pottery with piece of writing on it ) , date to the sentence of Jannaeus , was launch at nearby Wadi Murrab’at and has the line “ and I extend up from there to Masada ” written on it .
Archaeologist Ehud Netzer , in his script " The Architecture of Herod : The Great Builder " ( Mohr Siebeck , 2006 ) , tentatively dates the early edifice at Masada to around 35 B.C. and the appointment of the site ’s walls and tower to about 15 B.C. This would put most , if not all , of the construction at the site toKing Herod ’s dominion .
Herod ’s fortress
A view of the ruins at Masada, an ancient fortress in Israel near the Dead Sea.
By the prison term of Herod ’s death in 4 B.C. , the plateau had two major palace and a series of buildings surrounded by a wall , just under a mile long , hold back 27 towers . In increase , Masada had a organization of pee water tank on the northwesterly incline and an extensive series of entrepot used for holding food and arm . These anatomical structure flux together stand for that the site could hold out for a long time in the upshot of siege . It even had the ancient equivalent weight of a swimming pocket billiards .
Netzer writes that mental synthesis of the first palace build at Masada , the western palace , started around 35 B.C. and encompassed a core area roughly 90 feet ( 28 cadence ) by 80 feet ( 24 meters ) , with add-on made as time choke on . It had a courtyard about 40 fundament ( 12 time ) by 34 ft ( 10.5 beat ) in size of it . Netzer writes that the courtyard led to a reception room which in twist had entree , “ through three room access , ” to a position that some archaeologists take to be a “ can room ” about 28 human foot ( 8.7 meters ) by 20 feet ( 6 meters ) . Netzer believe that this “ throne room ” was in fact a second , walled in , receipt room , used when the weather condition was risky .
The most striking surviving decorations at the westerly palace are located in the “ mosaic way , ” its southern parcel was “ paved with a mosaic having a colorful central rug featuring a compounding of geometrical and floral designs , the most magnificent one reveal at Masada , ” Netzer writes .
But while the western palace has its knockout , it is the northern palace , build into a jagged cliff on the website ’s north cliff , that is “ thepièce de résistanceof his [ Herod ’s ] building natural process at Masada , ” Netzer spell .
Josephus , who would have seen the castle from a distance in antiquity , writes that “ the wall of this palace was very eminent and unassailable ” and the palace itself was opulently furnish . “ The piece of furniture also of the edifices , and of the cloisters , and of the baths , was of big change and very costly … ” ( Translation from " The kit and caboodle of Josephus , " translated by William Whiston , Hendrickson Publishers , 1988 . )
Netzer writes that the upper bench had a mansion and two sleeping room as well as a semi - circular balcony , while the center terrace ( make further down the drop-off ) had a circular colonnaded roof , the diam of which was about 50 feet ( 15 meters ) . This , in turn , extend to a frescoed hall about 32 feet ( 10 meters ) by 30 feet ( 9 meter ) that was supported with newspaper column .
The last stand
Masada was the scene of a last stand when a grouping of Jewish Rebel , whom Josephus refers to as the Sicarii ( modern - Clarence Shepard Day Jr. scholar run to consider them part of a grouping called the Zealots ) , took to its bulwark as a refuge . A revolt had started in Judea in A.D. 66 and reached a orgasm when the Roman United States Army destroy Jerusalem in A.D. 70 . Josephus records that there were about 960 people , led by Eleazar ben Yair , behind Masada ’s walls when the Romans go far , led by regulator Flavius Silva arrived . Eshel estimates they had about 9,000 soldiers to lay military blockade .
The Romans construct eight camps ( still seeable today ) , with siege dikes built between them to prevent multitude at Masada from escaping . They build a ramp to breach the northwesterly rampart , fire ballista to continue their advance .
The defenders used what material was available , including the roofs of Herod ’s buildings , to make a second makeshift rampart . They urgently endeavor to hold out even though they were the last freedom fighter fastness leave .
Josephus spell that when this siege draw close its conclusion , in A.D. 73 or 74 , the protector chose to take their lives rather than live under Romanic captivity . They embraced each other one last time before doing so , “ for the husbands tenderly embraced their married woman , and took their children into their sleeve , and gave the longest parting kisses to them , with tear in their eyes … ”
archaeologist can not say for trusted if most of them charge suicide but , in the sixties , when archaeologist Yigael Yadin and his team excavated Masada , they came across three bodies in a small bathroom mansion . One was of a man in his 20s launch next to the remains of armour , another of a tike and a third of a young charwoman , her haircloth braid still keep .
“ Even the vet and the more cynical among us stood frozen , gazing in awe at what had been uncovered ; for as we gazed we relive the final and most tragic minute of the drama of Masada , ” Yadin wrote in his book " Masada : Herod ’s Fortress and the Zealot ’s Last Stand " ( Weidenfeld & Nicolson , 1966 ) .
— Owen Jarus , LiveScience Contributor
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