MASADA
Israel.
A naturally fortified rock on
the W shores of the Dead Sea. According to Josephus
(
BJ 7.285), a fortress was built at Masada by “the high
priest Jonathan.” This could have been either the brother
of Judas Maccabeus, or Alexander Jannaeus, whose
Hebrew name was Jonathan. In 42 B.C., when it was
conquered by Malichus, an antagonist of Antipater,
Herod's father, Masada was still referred to as a fortress
(
BJ 1.237). In 40 B.C. Herod established his family at
Masada before leaving for Rome (
AJ 14.280-303;
BJ
1.238, 263-66). After Herod's accession to the throne,
the fortress was completely rebuilt. Josephus, who must
have seen this place in the years preceding the Roman
siege, described it in minute detail (
BJ 7.280-300). Little
is known of what happened at Masada in the years following Herod's death. At the beginning of the war of
A.D. 66, the place was occupied by a Roman garrison
(
BJ 2.408; 7.297). It was soon conquered by the Zealots,
who held it until A.D. 73, when it was conquered by the
Romans after long siege (
BJ 7.303-6). The fortress of
Masada is scarcely mentioned by other Classical writers.
The region is described by Strabo (
16.2.24), and the
fortress is mentioned by Pliny (
HN 5.15.73).
The first extensive excavations (1963-65) uncovered
scanty remains of pre-Herodian times. Some sherds of
the Chalcolithic period were found in a cave on the
slope, and a very few Iron Age sherds were found on
the mountain itself. Coins of Alexander Jannaeus were
found. The earliest building remains discovered belong
to Herod's fortress. The upper plateau of Masada has the
form of a ship (600 x 300 m). The whole perimeter of
the rock was surrounded by a casemate wall 4 m wide.
There were 110 towers, from 6 to 35 m apart. Wall and
towers were coated with white plaster. There were three
gates: one on the E, where the snake path terminated;
another on the W, not far from the W palace, and a
water gate on the NW. Herod's buildings occupy the N
half of the rock surface and the N slope, where stood
the buildings identified by the excavators as the northern
palace. It consists of three rock terraces. The lowest
terrace is situated 35 m below the top of the rock, and
was built on the brink of the abyss. By surrounding the
rugged rock with huge retaining walls a platform 17.6 m
square was formed. On this platform a rectangle (10 x
9 m) of low walls was erected. The inner side of the
outer and inner walls on the platform had attached half
columns, thus forming porticos all around. There were
small rooms attached to the terrace on the E and on
the W. On the E a miniature bath contained all the essential components; on the W a staircase tower led to
the terrace above. The spaces between the columns were
plastered and painted to resemble multicolored marble.
The middle terrace, 15 m higher, is also supported
by massive retaining walls, consisting of two parallel
circular walls, with an outer diameter of 15 m. They are
smooth on top, so as to receive a cover of wood. Both
walls probably supported columns to form a tholos. The
rock wall to the S of this construction was smoothed,
decorated with projecting pilasters, and plastered and
painted with the same patterns as on the lower terrace.
A staircase tower led from this to the highest terrace.
This terrace included a large semicircular platform on
the N, 9 m in diameter with, to the S, a dwelling of
four rooms, arranged on two sides of a court. There was
probably a portico in the court on the N. The rooms
were paved with black and white mosaics, of simple geometric patterns.
A thick, sloping wall separated the northern palace
from the rest of the buildings. Behind the wall was an
open square, to the S of which stood a public bath. The
building (11.6 x 10 m) contained the regular components
of a Roman bath, of which the largest and most elaborate
was the caldarium (6.8 x 6.5 m, with walls 2.6 m thick)
covered by a barrel vault. The hypocaust consisted of a
thick brick floor, on which stood 200 square and round
brick colonnettes. The floor above was laid with opus
sectile, and the walls were plastered and painted. To the
N of the bath building was its court (17.8 x 8.4 m), the
floor of which was paved with mosaics. The complex
measured 25 by 20 m.
To the E and S of the bath extends the large complex
of the two units of storerooms, to which Josephus made
reference (
BJ 7.295-96). The S block contains eleven
oblong halls (each 27 x 4 m), all opening on a central
corridor, which separates the two units. The second unit
consists of four storerooms (20 x 3.8 m). Fragments of
numerous storage jars were found in the rooms.
To the W of the S block of storerooms extends a
building (30 x 25 m) in plan typical of the Herodian
buildings at Masada. It has a large open court in the
center, with many rooms around it; on the S side is a
double row of rooms. Three large storerooms abut the
building on the S and W.
To the S of this building is another (37.5 x 27.5 m),
also having a large rectangular open court, around
which are apartments. Most of these consist of a small
forecourt with two small rooms at the back. Another
small building with a raised platform in front of it stood
in the center of the court. Because of its plan, the building has been identified as a barrack. To the SW extends
the large complex of the so-called western paace. The
whole complex (70 x 50 m) consists of three units: 1)
The SE block (33 x 24 m), which served as the palace
for the king himself; 2) the NE block (34 x 23 m),
which contained workshops and servants' quarters; 3)
a complex of storerooms and several additional units
(70 x 20 m).
The SE block has a central court (12 x 10.5 m), below
which is a large cistern with a capacity of 120 cu. m.
The S part of the court opens into a large hall that has
two columns between two antae on its front. At the back
of this hall stood the king's throne. On three sides of
this hall were rooms, in some of which were colored
mosaics of geometric and floral designs. The complex
included a pool cut into the rock. Another room contained a bathtub. Three staircases found in this complex
attest the presence of a second story. The NE block consisted of a central courtyard with rooms around it. The
storerooms in the third complex were similar in form
to those on the N. There were two other smaller buildings to the E of western palace.
The synagogue (15 x 12 m) was built against the
NW section of the wall and in it two phases of construction were observed. In its original Herodian phase it had
two rows of three columns each supporting the roof.
The entrance was on the E. During the period of the
Revolt a room was built into the NW corner of the building. Along the walls benches were built, thus eliminating
two of the columns. The excavators believe that this
building was originally built as a synagogue in the
Herodian period, and that it was certainly used as a
prayer house in the times of the Revolt.
Josephus described the abundant water supply at
Masada (
BJ 7.290-91). In order to contain the water of
the wadi to the N of the rock of Masada, a dam was
built across the wadi, from which an aqueduct led the
water to 12 reservoirs cut into the rock. The capacity
of these cisterns is 36,000 cu. m. From these cisterns the
water was conveyed in jars to the bath buildings and
cisterns on the rock itself.
To the period of the Revolt were attributed numerous
small finds and remains of temporary dwellings in the
casemate wall and most of the other buildings at Masada.
There were also fragments of scrolls—Biblical, apocryphal, and sectarian. Most important of these was a
long scroll of Ben-Sirah. There also were numerous
ostraca containing names or referring to tithes. The remains of the period of the Roman garrison, which was
stationed at Masada after its conquest, are quite scanty.
According to Josephus (
BJ 7.303-19), the Roman
commander, Silva, surrounded the whole mountain by a
siege wall and also built earthworks on the W, on which
he placed a high tower close to the road leading up to the
palace. The Roman siege works are in reality much more
complicated than those referred to by Josephus. There
were six camps built around Masada. Three were on the
E: the largest (175 x 135 m) and two others to guard
the E approach to the mountain. A fourth was on the
N, where a path led up to the commander's camp, which
was situated on high ground, opposite the NW part of
Masada. To the S of this camp was another, thought to
be the lodgings of the merchants, etc., who accompanied the Roman army. But it is hardly possible that outsiders should have been allowed to live within the siege
works of the army. Two more small camps were situated
on the high ground to the SW of Masada. All of the
small camps were built on the line of the wall, while the
two larger ones were outside. The wall was further
strengthened by numerous towers. The latest finds, discovered in a series of trials, were of the early 2d c., i.e.,
before the Bar Kohba Revolt, in which Masada played no
part. In the Byzantine period a small church, consisting
of an atrium and one nave, was built close to the western
palace. Other traces of habitation in this period were
found elsewhere.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
A. Schulten, “Masada die Burg des
Herodes und die römische Lager,”
ZDPV 56 (1933) 1-179; M. Avi-Yonah et al., “The Archaeological Survey
of Masada, 1955-1956,”
Israel Exploration Journal 7
(1957) 1-60; Y. Yadin,
The Excavations of Masada
1963-1964.
Preliminary Report (1965).
A. NEGEV
