View source for Masada

{{Short description|Ancient hilltop fortification in Israel}}
{{About|the Judean fortress|other uses|}}
{{Infobox ancient site
| name           = Masada
| native_name    = {{Script/Hebrew|מצדה}}
| alternate_name = 
| image          = Israel-2013-Aerial 21-Masada.jpg
| alt            = 
| caption        = An aerial view of Masada, from the north
| map_type       = Israel
| map_alt        = 
| map_size       = 150
| relief         = 
| coordinates    = {{coord|31|18|56|N|35|21|14|E|display=inline,title}}
| location       = [[Southern District (Israel)|Southern District]], [[Israel]]
| type           = Fortification
| part_of        = 
| length         = 
| width          = 
| area           = 
| height         = 
| builder        = [[Alexander Jannaeus]] (?)<br />[[Herod the Great]]
| material       = 
| built          = 1st century BC
| abandoned      = 
| epochs         = 
| cultures       = 
| dependency_of  = 
| occupants      = 
| event          = [[Siege of Masada]]
| excavations    = 1963–1965
| archaeologists = [[Yigael Yadin]]
| condition      = 
| ownership      = 
| management     = 
| public_access  = 
| notes          = 
  {{Infobox UNESCO World Heritage Site
  |child         = yes
  |ID            = 1040
  |Criteria      = Cultural: iii, iv, vi
  |Year          = 2001
  |Area          = 276 ha
  |Buffer_zone   = 28,965 ha 
  }}
|region=[[Judaean Desert]]}}

'''Masada''' ({{langx|he|מְצָדָה}} ''{{transliteration|he|məṣādā}}'', 'fortress'; {{langx|ar|جبل مسعدة}})<ref>{{Audio|He-Masada.ogg|pronunciation}}; the term simply means "fortress" in [[Modern Hebrew]]; in [[Biblical Hebrew]] {{lang|he|מְצָד}} ''{{transliteration|he|məṣād}}'' "mountain-fortress; stronghold" from a root meaning "to hunt, lie in wait for prey". [[Wilhelm Gesenius|Gesenius]], '' Hebrew-English Lexicon'' ([http://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=H4679&t=KJV H4679]).</ref> is a mountain-top fortress complex in the [[Judaean Desert]], overlooking the western shore of the [[Dead Sea]] in southeastern [[Israel]]. The fort, built in the first century BC, was constructed atop a natural plateau rising over {{convert|400|m|ft|abbr=on}} above the surrounding terrain, {{convert|20|km|mi|abbr=on}} east of modern [[Arad, Israel|Arad]].

The most significant remains at the site date to the reign of [[Herod the Great]], King of [[Herodian kingdom|Judaea]] {{circa|37–4 BC}}, who transformed Masada into a fortified desert refuge early in his rule. He enclosed the summit with a [[Casemate#Antiquity: casemate wall| casemate wall]] and towers, and constructed storerooms, an advanced water system, and bathhouses, along with two elaborate palaces: one on the western side and another built across three terraces on the northern cliff. These palaces remain among the finest examples of [[Herodian architecture]].

Masada is most renowned for its role during the [[First Jewish–Roman War]] (66–73 AD), when it became the final holdout of Jewish rebels following the [[destruction of Jerusalem]]. A group known as the [[Sicarii]], a radical faction led by Eleazar ben Ya'ir, defended the site against the [[Legio X Fretensis|Roman Tenth Legion]] under [[Lucius Flavius Silva]]. The Romans [[Siege of Masada|laid siege]] by building a [[Investment (military)|circumvallation]] wall and a massive ramp. According to [[Josephus]], when the walls were breached in 73/74 AD, the Romans found nearly 1,000 inhabitants had died by [[mass suicide]]—a claim that remains debated among historians. In modern times, the story of Masada was interpreted as a [[Masada myth|symbol of heroism]] that became influential in early Israeli national identity.

Excavations led by archaeologist [[Yigael Yadin]] in the 1960s uncovered remarkably preserved remains, including Herod's palaces, storerooms with food remnants, [[Mikveh|ritual baths]], a [[synagogue]], [[Dead Sea Scrolls |Jewish scrolls]], [[Columbarium|columbaria]], and pottery shards bearing names, one inscribed "ben Ya'ir," possibly linked to the final days of the defenders, and a small [[Timeline of the Palestine region#Byzantine period| Byzantine]] church. The surrounding Roman [[siege]] works and bases remain visible and are among the most intact examples of [[Roman military engineering]]. Today, Masada is a [[World Heritage Site|UNESCO World Heritage Site]] due to those siege works, and one of [[Tourism in Israel#Most visited sites|Israel's most popular tourist attractions]],<ref name= 2008Ynet>Most popular during 2008; {{cite news |last1=Timor |first1=Ilai |date=8 April 2009 |title=Masada tourists' favorite spot in Israel |url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3698864,00.html |access-date=2009-04-08 |newspaper=[[Ynetnews]]}}.</ref> drawing around 750,000 visitors a year.<ref>[https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/travel/.premium.MAGAZINE-nature-reserves-spot-booking-reveals-israelis-can-actually-plan-ahead-1.9126739 What Israel's nature reserves booking system reveals]</ref>

==Geography==
The cliff of Masada is, geologically speaking, a [[horst (geology)|horst]].<ref name="NatGen2">{{cite journal |title= Genomic analysis of 6,000-year-old cultivated grain illuminates the domestication history of barley: Supplementary Text and Figures |author= Martin Mascher|display-authors=etal|journal=[[Nature Genetics]] |date=18 July 2016 |volume= 48|issue= 9|pages= 1089–93|publisher= Macmillan Publishers |doi=10.1038/ng.3611 |pmid= 27428749|s2cid= 11574248|issn=1061-4036 |url= http://www.nature.com/ng/journal/vaop/ncurrent/extref/ng.3611-S1.pdf |access-date=12 August 2016}}</ref> As the plateau abruptly ends in cliffs steeply falling about {{convert|400|m|abbr=on}} to the east and about {{convert|90|m|abbr=on}} to the west, the natural approaches to the fortress are very difficult to navigate. The top of the mesa-like plateau is flat and [[rhomboid]]-shaped, about {{convert|550|m|abbr=on}} by {{convert|270|m|abbr=on}}. Herod built a {{convert|4|m|abbr=on}} high [[casemate]] wall around the plateau totaling {{convert|1300|m|abbr=on}} in length, reinforced by many towers. The fortress contained storehouses, [[barracks]], an [[Armory (military)|armory]], a palace, and a series of [[cistern]]s (capacity around {{Convert|40,000|m3|e6cuft|abbr=unit|disp=semicolon}}) that were refilled by [[rain]]water – with the runoff collected from a single day's rain allegedly able to sustain over 1,000 people for 2 to 3 years.<ref>{{Cite web |date=March 4, 2019 |title=Masada |url=https://www.history.com/topics/ancient-middle-east/masada |website=www.history.com}}</ref> Three narrow, winding paths led from below up to fortified gates.<ref>Masada desert fortress. (1991). Retrieved January 26, 2023, from https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/masada-desert-fortress</ref>

==History==
Almost all historical information about Masada comes from the first-century [[Jews in the Roman Empire|Jewish Roman]] historian [[Josephus]].<ref name=THL>{{cite book |pages=[https://archive.org/details/holylandoxfordar00murp/page/n402 378]–381 |title=The Holy Land |year=2008 |url=https://archive.org/details/holylandoxfordar00murp |url-access=limited |series=Oxford Archaeological Guides |first1=Jerome |last1=Murphy-O'Connor |first2=Barry |last2=Cunliffe |edition=5th |publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-923666-4 }}</ref> Masada is also mentioned in the [[Dead Sea Scrolls|Judean Desert Documents]].<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Eshel |first1=Hanan |author-link=Hanan Eshel |title=The Bar Kokhba Revolt  |last2=Zissu |first2=Boaz |author-link2=Boaz Zissu |publisher=Yad Izhak Ben-Zvi |year=2019 |isbn=978-965-217-429-1 |edition=1 |location=Jerusalem |publication-date=2019 |pages=154–157 |language=English}}</ref> 

===Hasmonean fortress===
Josephus writes that the site was first fortified by [[Hasmonean dynasty|Hasmonean]] ruler [[Alexander Jannaeus]] in the first century BC.<ref name=THL/> However, so far no Hasmonean-period building remains could be identified during archaeological excavations.<ref name=Negev>{{cite encyclopedia |editor-last= Negev |editor-first= Avraham |editor-link= Avraham Negev |editor-last2= Gibson |editor-first2= Shimon |editor-link2= Shimon Gibson |entry=Masada |encyclopedia=Archaeological Encyclopedia of the Holy Land |year= 2001 |location= New York and London |publisher= Continuum |pages= 320–325 |isbn=0-8264-1316-1 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=l3JtAAAAMAAJ |access-date=26 July 2021 |type=snippet view}}</ref>

Josephus further writes that Herod the Great captured it in the power struggle that followed the death of his father [[Antipater the Idumaean|Antipater]] in 43 BC.<ref name=THL/> It survived the siege of the last Hasmonean king [[Antigonus II Mattathias]], who ruled with [[Parthian Empire|Parthian]] support.<ref name=THL/>

===Herodian palace-fortress===
[[File:Termas en Masada.JPG|thumb|A ''[[caldarium]]'' (hot room) in northern [[Roman baths|Roman-style public bath]] (#35 on plan)]]
According to Josephus, between 37 and 31 BC, Herod the Great built a large fortress on the plateau as a refuge for himself in the event of a revolt and erected two palaces with an endless food supply.<ref>Cohen, Shaye. "Roman Domination: The Jewish Revolt and the Destruction of the Second Temple," in ''Ancient Israel'', ed. Hershel Shanks. (Biblical Archaeology Society, 1999), pp. 269–273.</ref>

=== First Jewish–Roman War ===
{{Main|Siege of Masada}}
In 66 CE, a group of Jewish rebels, the [[Sicarii]], overcame the Roman garrison of Masada with the aid of a [[Ruse de guerre|ruse]].<ref name=THL /> According to Josephus, the Sicarii were an extremist Jewish splinter group antagonistic to a larger grouping of Jews referred to as the [[Zealots]], who carried the main burden of the rebellion. Josephus said that the Sicarii raided nearby Jewish villages including [[Ein Gedi]], where they massacred 700 women and children.<ref name=THL /><ref>[http://www.gutenberg.org/files/2850/2850-h/2850-h.htm#link42HCH0007 ''The Wars of the Jews, or History of the Destruction of Jerusalem'', by Flavius Josephus], translated by William Whiston, Project Gutenberg, Book IV, Chapter 7, Paragraph 2.</ref><ref>[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0147%3Abook%3D4%3Awhiston+chapter%3D7%3Awhiston+section%3D2 Flavius Josephus, De bello Judaico libri vii], B. Niese, Ed. J. BJ 4.7.2</ref><ref>[https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/ancient-battle-divides-israel-as-masada-myth-unravels-1275878.html Ancient battle divides Israel as Masada 'myth' unravels; Was the siege really so heroic, asks Patrick Cockburn in Jerusalem], ''The Independent'', 30 March 1997</ref>

In 73 AD, the Roman governor of Iudaea, [[Lucius Flavius Silva]], headed the [[Roman legion]] [[Legio X Fretensis|X ''Fretensis'']] and laid siege to Masada.<ref name=THL /> Another source gives the year of the siege of Masada as 73 or 74 CE.<ref>{{cite journal |author=H. M. Cotton |year=1989 |title=The date of the fall of Masada: the evidence of the Masada papyri |journal=Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik |volume=78 |pages=157–162}}</ref> The Roman legion surrounded Masada, building a [[circumvallation]] wall and then a siege ramp against the western face of the plateau.<ref name=THL /> According to Dan Gill,<ref>Gill, Dan. [http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v364/n6438/abs/364569a0.html "A natural spur at Masada"], ''Nature'' '''364''', pp. 569–570 (12 August 1993); {{doi|10.1038/364569a0}}</ref> geological investigations in the early 1990s confirmed earlier observations that the 114&nbsp;m (375&nbsp;ft) high assault ramp consisted mostly of a natural spur of bedrock.

The ramp was complete in the spring of 73, after probably two to three months of siege, allowing the Romans to breach the wall of the fortress with a [[battering ram]] on April 16.<ref>Duncan B. Campbell, "Capturing a desert fortress: Flavius Silva and the siege of Masada", [[Ancient Warfare (magazine)|''Ancient Warfare'']] Vol. IV, no. 2 (Spring 2010), pp. 28–35. The dating is explained on pp. 29 and 32.</ref><ref>{{cite web|author=UNESCO World Heritage Centre |url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1040 |title=Masada – UNESCO World Heritage Centre |publisher=Whc.unesco.org |date=2001-12-13 |access-date=2013-07-20}}</ref> The Romans employed the X Legion and a number of auxiliary units and Jewish prisoners of war, totaling some 15,000, of whom an estimated 8,000 to 9,000 were fighting men,<ref>{{cite book|last1=Sheppard|first1=Si|title=The Jewish revolt, AD 66–73|date=2013|publisher=Osprey Publishing Ltd.|location=Oxford|isbn=978-1-78096-183-5|page=83}}</ref> in crushing Jewish resistance at Masada.

A giant [[siege tower]] with a battering ram was constructed and moved laboriously up the completed ramp. According to Josephus, when Roman troops entered the fortress, they discovered that its defenders had set all the buildings but the food storerooms ablaze and committed mass suicide or killed each other, 960 men, women, and children in total. Josephus wrote of two stirring speeches that the Sicari leader had made to convince his men to kill themselves.<ref name=THL /> Only two women and five children were found alive.<ref name=THL />

Josephus presumably based his narration upon the field commentaries of the Roman commanders that were accessible to him.<ref>{{cite EJ |last=Stiebel |first=Guy D. |title=Masada |volume=13 |pages=593–599|via=[[Gale (publisher)|Gale Virtual Reference Library]]|access-date=10 July 2013 |url=http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CCX2587513369&v=2.1&it=r&p=GVRL&sw=w}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YoXUXvBUUjgC&q=Massada+suicide |title=Masada Myth: Collective Memory and Mythmaking in Israel |last=Nachman |first=Ben-Yehuda |page=48 |isbn=978-0-299-14833-1 |date=1996 |publisher=University of Wisconsin Press}}</ref>

There are discrepancies between archaeological findings and Josephus' writings. Josephus mentions only one of the two palaces that have been excavated, refers only to one fire, though many buildings show fire damage, and claims that 960 people were killed, though the remains of at most 28 bodies have been found.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GkOIQ9JgR-cC&q=Massada+suicide&pg=PA215 |title=Making History: Josephus And Historical Method |publisher=Zuleika Rodgers |page=215 |isbn=978-90-04-15008-9 |year=2007}}</ref><ref name=Zias2000 /> Some of the other details that Josephus gives were correct – for instance, he describes the baths that were built there, the fact that the floors in some of the buildings 'were paved with stones of several colours', and that many pits were cut into the living rock to serve as cisterns. Yadin found some partially intact mosaic floors which meet that description.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://aeon.co/essays/decoding-the-ancient-tale-of-mass-suicide-in-the-judaean-desert|title=Decoding the ancient tale of mass suicide in the Judaean desert &#124; Aeon Essays}}</ref>

=== Byzantine monastery of Marda ===
Masada was last occupied during the [[Byzantine]] period, when a small church was established at the site.<ref>{{cite book |author1=Glenda W. Friend |author2=Steven Fine |name-list-style=amp |chapter= Masada |pages=428–430 |title= The Oxford Encyclopedia of Archaeology in the Near East |publisher= Oxford University Press |volume= 3 |year= 1997}}</ref> The church was part of a monastic settlement identified with the monastery of Marda known from [[Hagiography|hagiographical literature]].<ref>Yizhar Hirschfeld. ''The Monastery of Marda: Masada in the Byzantine Period'', Bulletin of the Anglo-Israel Archaeological Society; 2001/2002, Vol. 19/20, p. 119, Jan. 2001 (abstract) [https://web.archive.org/web/20160610021851/http://connection.ebscohost.com/c/articles/12856569/monastery-marda-masada-byzantine-period]</ref> This identification is generally accepted by researchers.<ref name="588Keel1982">{{cite book |title=Orte und Landschaften der Bibel: ein Handbuch und Studien-Reiseführer zum Heiligen Land |volume=2 |author1=Othmar Keel |author2=Max Küchler |author3=Christoph Uehlinger |year=1982 |location=Göttingen |publisher=Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht |page=588 |isbn=978-3-545-23042-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=j3jsKqzuP5YC&q=%22Orte+und+Landschaften+der+Bibel%22++marda&pg=PA987 |access-date=23 May 2016 }}</ref> The [[Aramaic]] [[common noun]] ''marda'', "fortress", corresponds in meaning to the Greek name of another desert monastery of the time, [[Hyrcania (fortress)#Monastery of Kastellion|Kastellion]], and is used to describe that site in the [[hagiography|''vita'' (biography)]] of [[Sabbas the Sanctified|St Sabbas]], but it is used as a proper name only for the monastery at Masada, as can be seen from the ''vita'' of [[Euthymius the Great|St Euthymius]].<ref name="588Keel1982"/>

== Archaeology ==

===Chalcolithic period===
An almost inaccessible cave, dubbed Yoram Cave, located on the sheer southern cliff face 100 m below the plateau, has been found to contain numerous plant remains, of which 6,000-year-old [[barley]] seeds were in such good state of preservation that their [[genome]] could be sequenced.<ref name="BIU">{{cite web |title=Genome of 6,000-year-old barley grains sequenced for first time |author=Spokesman BIU |work=Bar-Ilan in the Press |publisher=Bar-Ilan University |date=19 July 2016 |url=http://www1.biu.ac.il/indexE.php?id=33&pt=20&pid=117&level=2&cPath=33&type=1&news=2760 |access-date=12 August 2016}}</ref><ref name="haaretz">{{cite news |author=Ido Efrati |title=Domestication of barley began in northern Israel, 6000-year-old grains reveal |newspaper=Haaretz |date=19 July 2016 |url= https://www.haaretz.com/jewish/archaeology/1.731807 |access-date=12 August 2016 }}</ref> This is the first time that this succeeded with a Chalcolithic plant genome, which is also the oldest one sequenced so far.<ref name="BIU"/> The result helped determine that the earliest domestication of barley, dated elsewhere in the [[Fertile Crescent]] to 10,000 years ago, happened further north up the [[Jordan Rift Valley]], namely in the Upper Jordan Valley{{dubious|Term lacks clear definition in the paper abstract and BIU press releases available online for free. Probably from the sources to the Korazin block – ?|date=August 2016}} in northern Israel.<ref name= NatGen>{{cite journal |title=Genomic analysis of 6,000-year-old cultivated grain illuminates the domestication history of barley |author=Martin Mascher|display-authors=etal|journal=[[Nature Genetics]] |date=18 July 2016 |volume= 48|issue=9|pages=1089–1093|publisher=Macmillan Publishers |doi=10.1038/ng.3611 |pmid=27428749|s2cid=11574248|issn=1061-4036 |url=https://discovery.dundee.ac.uk/en/publications/15d655f0-3be9-4ed4-9338-7c34a1e08754}}</ref> 

The Yoram Cave seeds were found to be fairly different from the wild variety, proof for an already advanced process of domestication, but very similar to the types of barley still cultivated in the region—an indication for remarkable constancy.<ref name= BIU/> Considering the difficulty in reaching the cave, whose mouth opens some 4 m above the exposed access path, the researchers have speculated that it was a place of short-term refuge for Chalcolithic people fleeing an unknown catastrophe.<ref name= BIU/><ref name= ToI>{{cite news |author=Ilan Ben Zion |title=6 millennia old but 'almost fresh,' Masada seeds unravel barley's origins |newspaper=The Times of Israel |date=18 July 2016 |url= http://www.timesofisrael.com/6-millennia-old-but-almost-fresh-masada-seeds-unravel-barleys-origins/ |access-date=12 August 2016 }}</ref>

=== Identification and initial digs ===
The site of Masada was identified in 1838 by Americans Edward Robinson and Eli Smith, and in 1842, American missionary Samuel W. Wolcott and the English painter W. Tipping were the first moderns to climb it.<ref>''My Promised Land'', Ari Shavit, 2013, p. 80. {{ISBN?}}</ref> After visiting the site several times in the 1930s and 1940s, [[Shmarya Guttman]] conducted an initial probe excavation of the site in 1959.

=== Yigael Yadin expedition ===
Masada was extensively excavated between 1963 and 1965 by an expedition led by [[Archaeology of Israel|Israeli archaeologist]] and former military [[Chief of General Staff (Israel)|Chief-of-Staff]] [[Yigael Yadin]].

Due to the remoteness from human habitation and its arid environment, the site remained largely untouched by humans or nature for two millennia.

Many of the ancient buildings have been restored from their remains, as have the wall paintings of Herod's two main palaces, and the Roman-style [[Public bathing|bathhouse]]s that he built. The [[synagogue]], storehouses, and houses of the Jewish rebels have also been identified and restored.

Water cisterns two-thirds of the way up the cliff drain the nearby [[wadi]]s by an elaborate system of channels, which explains how the rebels managed to conserve enough water for such a long time.

The Roman attack ramp still stands on the western side and can be climbed on foot. The meter-high circumvallation wall that the Romans built around Masada can be seen, together with eight Roman siege camps just outside this wall. The Roman siege installations as a whole, especially the attack ramp, are the best preserved of their kind, and the reason for declaring Masada a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Due to the great interest shown by the public, Yadin published a book in 1966 for the general public, "מצדה" ("Masada").

==== Epigraphic findings ====
Inside the synagogue, an [[ostracon]] bearing the inscription ''ma'aser cohen'' ({{Script/Hebrew|מעשר כוהן}}, [[tithe]] for the priest) was found, as were fragments of two scrolls: parts of [[Deuteronomy]] and of the [[Book of Ezekiel]] including the vision of the [[Dem Bones|"dry bones"]] ({{bibleverse|Deuteronomy|33–34}} and {{bibleverse|Ezekiel|35–38}}), found hidden in pits dug under the floor of a small room built inside the synagogue. In other [[Locus (archaeology)|loci]], fragments were found of the books of [[Book of Genesis|Genesis]], [[Leviticus]], [[Psalms]], and [[Sirach]], as well as of the [[Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice]].

In the area in front of the Northern Palace, 11 small ostraca were recovered, each bearing a single name. One reads "ben Ya'ir" ({{Script/Hebrew|בןיאיר}}) and could be short for Eleazar ben Ya'ir, the commander of the fortress. The other 10 names may be those of the men chosen by lot to kill the others and then themselves, as recounted by Josephus.

====Human remains====
[[File:Dan Hadani collection (990044331600205171).jpg|alt=Funeral to the human remains unearthed at Masada, 1969|thumb|upright|Funeral to the human remains unearthed at Masada, 1969. [[Menachem Begin]] and [[Yisrael Yeshayahu]] second and third in front from right.]]
The remains of a maximum of 28 people<ref name=Zias2000/> were unearthed at Masada, possibly 29 including a [[foetus]].<ref name="Tabor">[[James D. Tabor]], [https://pages.uncc.edu/james-tabor/archaeology-and-the-dead-sea-scrolls/masada-cave-20002001  Masada: Cave 2000/2001], on the website "The Jewish Roman World of Jesus", [[University of North Carolina at Charlotte]]. Posted no earlier than October 1994, accessed February 2019.</ref> The skeletal remains of 25 individuals were found in a cave outside and below the southern wall. The remains of another two males and a female were found in the bathhouse of the Northern Palace.<ref name="ZiasGorski"/>

Of the [[Public bathing|bathhouse]] remains, the males were variously estimated to have been of an age of either 40 and 20–22, or 22 and 11–12, or based on dental remains, between 16–18 of age.  One estimate for the female's age was 17–18 years.<ref name="ZiasGorski"/><ref name=Zias2000/> The skeletal remains of the males were incomplete. Only the hair, a full head of hair with braids, but no bones of the female were found.<ref name="ZiasGorski"/> 

Forensic analysis showed the hair had been shaved from the woman's head with a sharp instrument while she was still alive, a practice prescribed for captured women in the Bible ({{bibleverse|Deuteronomy|21:10–12}}) and the 2nd-century BC [[Temple Scroll]]. The braids indicate that she was married.<ref name="ZiasGorski"/> Based on the evidence, anthropologist [[Joe Zias]] and forensic scientist Azriel Gorski believe the remains may have been Romans whom the rebels captured when they seized the garrison.<ref name="ZiasGorski">
Joseph (Joe) Zias and Azriel Gorski, [https://www.academia.edu/25836648/Capturing_a_Beautiful_Woman_at_Masada  Capturing a Beautiful Woman at Masada], [[Near Eastern Archaeology (journal)|Near Eastern Archaeology]] (NEA) (69:1), 2006, pp. 45–48.</ref><ref name="Friedman">{{cite news |last= Friedman |first= Matti |date=June 22, 2007 |title= Some Masada Remains Questioned by Study |newspaper= [[Washington Post]] |url= https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/22/AR2007062201113.html |access-date=March 22, 2010 }}</ref>

As to the sparse remains of 24 people{{dubious|Not 25? Same source is indicated!|date=February 2019}} found in the southern cave at the base of the cliff, excavator Yigael Yadin was unsure of their ethnicity. The rabbinical establishment concluded that they were remains of the Jewish defenders, and in July 1969, they were reburied as Jews in a state ceremony.<ref name=Zias2000>{{cite book |author=Joe Zias |chapter=Human Skeletal Remains from the Southern cave at Masada and the Question of Ethnicity |title=The Dead Sea scrolls fifty years after their discovery |editor=L. Schiffman, J. VanderKam and M. Emanuel |publisher=Israel Exploration Society |year=2000 |place=Jerusalem |pages=732–738}}</ref> Carbon dating of textiles found with the remains in the cave indicate they are contemporaneous with the period of the revolt, and pig bones were present, occasionally occurring for Roman burials due to pig sacrifices. This indicates that the remains may belong to non-Jewish Roman soldiers or civilians who occupied the site before or after the siege.<ref name=Zias2000/> Zias questioned whether as many as 24 individuals were present, since only 4% of that number of bones was recovered.<ref name=Zias2000/>

==== Roman-period palm seed ====
{{main|Judean date palm}}
A [[Judean date palm#Germination of 2000-year-old seeds|2,000-year-old Judean date palm seed]] discovered during archaeological excavations in the early 1960s was successfully [[germinate]]d into a [[date plant]], popularly known as "[[Methuselah]]" after the longest-living figure in the [[Hebrew Bible]]. At the time, it was the oldest known germination,<ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/2000yearold-seed-grows-into-tree-of-life-for-scientists-846247.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080614174628/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/2000yearold-seed-grows-into-tree-of-life-for-scientists-846247.html |archive-date=June 14, 2008 |title=2,000-year-old seed grows into 'tree of life' for scientists |date=June 13, 2008 |access-date=2008-06-17 |publisher=Independent News |location=London |first=Steve |last=Connor }}</ref> remaining so until a new record was set in 2012.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/21/science/new-life-from-an-arctic-flower-that-died-32000-years-ago.html | title=Dead for 32,000 Years, an Arctic Plant Is Revived | date=February 20, 2012| access-date=2012-02-20 | newspaper=New York Times | location=New York| first=Nicholas| last=Wade}}</ref> As of February 2024, it remains the oldest germination from a seed.

==== Byzantine monastery ====
The remnants of a [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine church]] dating from the fifth and sixth centuries have been excavated on the plateau.

=== Archaeology vs. Josephus ===
==== No Hasmonean buildings found ====
Yadin's team could detect no architectural remains of the Hasmonean period, the only findings firmly dated to this period being the numerous coins of [[Alexander Jannaeus]].<ref name=Negev/> Researchers have speculated that the southwestern block of the Western Palace and the auxiliary buildings east and south of it could be Hasmonean, relying on similarities to the [[Hasmonean royal winter palaces|Twin Palaces]] at [[Jericho]].<ref name=Negev/> However, their excavators could make no archaeological discovery able to support this presumption.<ref name=Negev/>

====Inaccurate description====
According to Shaye Cohen, archaeology shows that Josephus' account is "incomplete and inaccurate". Josephus writes of only one palace; archaeology reveals two. His description of the northern palace contains several inaccuracies, and he gives exaggerated figures for the height of the walls and towers. Josephus' account is contradicted by the "skeletons in the cave, and the numerous separate fires".<ref>{{cite book | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=mmj4RcszCHgC| title = The significance of Yavneh and other essays in Jewish Hellenism | author = Shaye J.D. Cohen | page=143| isbn = 978-3-16-150375-7 | year = 2010 | publisher = Mohr Siebeck }}</ref>

==== Historicity of mass suicide ====
According to [[Josephus]], the [[siege of Masada]] by [[Roman Empire|Roman]] troops from 73 to 74 [[Common Era|CE]], at the end of the [[First Jewish–Roman War]], ended in the [[mass suicide]] of the 960 [[Sicarii]] rebels who were hiding there. However, the archaeological evidence relevant to this event is ambiguous<ref name="Sloane2017">{{cite news |last1=Sloane |first1=Elizabeth |date=May 16, 2017 |title=Did the Jews Kill Themselves at Masada Rather Than Fall Into Roman Hands? |url=https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/MAGAZINE-is-the-masada-tradition-true-1.5472686 |access-date=21 March 2021 |work=[[Haaretz Newspaper]]}}</ref><ref name="Magness2020">{{cite web |last1=Magness |first1=Jodi |date=May 27, 2020 |title=The Remarkable Story of Masada: Guest Post by Jodi Magness |url=https://ehrmanblog.org/the-story-of-masada-guest-post-by-jodi-magness/ |access-date=21 March 2021 |website=The Bart Ehrman Blog |publisher=The Bart Ehrman Foundation}}</ref> and rejected entirely by some scholars.<ref name="Sloane2017"/><ref name="Rodgers2007">{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/makinghistoryjos00rodg |title=Making History: Josephus And Historical Method |date=2007 |publisher=Brill |isbn=978-90-04-15008-9 |editor=Zuleika Rodgers |page=[https://archive.org/details/makinghistoryjos00rodg/page/n411 397] |url-access=limited}}</ref> Eric Cline also believes that Josephus is retelling a similar event that happened to him during the [[Siege of Yodfat]]. There he and another soldier, the last survivors, decided to surrender rather than have one kill the other.<ref name="Cline">{{cite journal |last1=Cline |first1=Eric H |title=Decoding the ancient tale of mass suicide in the Judaean desert {{!}} Aeon Essays |journal=Aeon |date=20 Feb 2017 |url=https://aeon.co/essays/decoding-the-ancient-tale-of-mass-suicide-in-the-judaean-desert |language=en}}</ref>

=== Phases and layout ===
[[File:Masada BW A.JPG|thumb|upright|Model of the northern palace]]
An example of Herodian architecture, Masada was the first site Herod the Great fortified after he gained control of his kingdom.<ref>Roller, Duane W. The Building Program of Herod the Great/ Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1998.</ref>

==== Phase I: Western Palace etc. ====
The first of three building phases completed by Herod began in 35 BC. During the first phase the Western Palace was built, along with three smaller palaces, a storeroom, and army barracks. Three [[columbarium]] towers and a swimming pool at the south end of the site were also completed during this building phase.<ref name="Ehud">Netzer, Ehud. ''The Palaces of the Hasmoneans and Herod the Great.'' Jerusalem: Yed Ben-Zvi Press and The Israel Exploration Society, 2001.</ref>

The original center of the Western Palace was square and was accessed through an open courtyard on the northwest corner of the building. The courtyard was the central room of the Western Palace and directed visitors into a [[portico]], used as a reception area for visitors. Visitors were then led to a throne room. Off the throne room was a corridor used by the king, with a private dressing room, which also had another entrance way that connected to the courtyard through the mosaic room. The mosaic room contained steps that led to a second floor with separate bedrooms for the king and queen.<ref name="Ehud"/>

==== Phase II: Northern Palace etc. ====
The second building phase in 25 BC included an addition to the Western Palace, a large storage complex for food, and the Northern Palace. The Northern Palace is one of Herod's more lavish palace-fortresses, and was built on the hilltop on the north side of Masada and continues two levels down, over the end of the cliffs. The upper terrace of the Northern Palace included living quarters for the king and a semicircular portico to provide a view of the area. A stairway on the west side led down to the middle terrace that was a decorative circular reception hall. The lower terrace was also for receptions and banquets. It was enclosed on all four sides with porticos and included a Roman bathhouse.<ref name="Ehud"/>

==== Phase III: casemate wall etc. ====
In 15 BC, during the third and final building phase, the entire site of Masada—except for the Northern Palace—was enclosed by a [[casemate]] wall, which consisted of a double wall with a space between that was divided into rooms by perpendicular walls; these were used as living chambers for the soldiers and as extra storage space. The Western Palace was also extended for a third time to include more rooms for the servants and their duties.<ref>Yadin, Yigael. ''Masada: Herod's Fortress and the Zealots' Last Stand.'' London, 1966.</ref>

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! colspan="2"| Site Plan
|-
| [[File:Map of Masada.svg|700px]] ||width="700" style="vertical-align:top;"|
# Snake Path gate
# Rebel dwellings 
# Byzantine monastic cave 
# eastern water cistern 
# rebel dwellings 
# [[mikvah]] 
# southern gate 
# rebel dwellings 
# southern water cistern 
# southern fort 
# swimming pool 
# small palace 
# round ''[[columbarium]]'' tower 
# mosaic workshop 
# small palace
# small palace 
# stepped pool<ref name="OConnor"/><ref name="Yadin"/>
# Western Palace: service area
# Western Palace: residential area
# Western Palace: storerooms
# Western Palace: administrative area
# tanners' tower
# western Byzantine gate
# columbarium towers
# synagogue
# Byzantine church
# barracks
# Northern complex: grand residence
# Northern complex: quarry
# Northern complex: commandant's headquarters
# Northern complex: tower
# Northern complex: administration building
# Northern complex: gate
# Northern complex: storerooms
# Northern complex: bathhouse
# Northern complex: water gate
# Northern Palace: upper terrace
# Northern Palace: middle terrace
# Northern Palace: lower terrace

A.&nbsp;ostraca cache found in casemate
B.&nbsp;Herod's throne room
C.&nbsp;colorful mosaic
D.&nbsp;Roman breaching point
E.&nbsp;coin cache found
F.&nbsp;ostraca cache found
G.&nbsp;three skeletons found
|}

== Modern tourism ==
Masada was declared a [[UNESCO]] [[World Heritage Site]] in 2001.
In 2007, the Masada Museum in Memory of Yigael Yadin opened at the site, in which archeological findings are displayed in a theatrical setting. Many of the artifacts exhibited were unearthed by Yadin and his archaeological team from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem during the 1960s.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Yigael Yadin Masada Museum: Gift of the Shuki Levy Foundation|url=http://old.parks.org.il/BuildaGate5/general2/data_card.php?U=no&SiteName=parks&ItemID=546680273&ValuePage=Card12|publisher=Israel Nature and Parks Authority|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151229085425/http://old.parks.org.il/BuildaGate5/general2/data_card.php?U=no|archive-date=2015-12-29}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=The Masada Museum in Memory of Yigael Yadin, Funded by the Shuki Levy Foundation|url=http://archaeology.huji.ac.il/exhibitions/exhibit_Yadin.asp|publisher=The Hebrew University of Jerusalem|access-date=2016-02-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303130418/http://archaeology.huji.ac.il/exhibitions/exhibit_Yadin.asp|archive-date=2016-03-03}}</ref>
[[File:Masada (or Sebbeh) on the Dead Sea, Edward Lear, 1858.jpg|thumb|Masada as painted by [[Edward Lear]], 1858.]]
The archaeological site is situated in the '''Masada National Park''', and the park requires an entrance fee (even if by hiking). There are two hiking paths, both very steep:
* The Snake Trail leaves from the eastern side at the Masada Museum (access via the [[Dead Sea Highway]]) and gains around {{convert|301|m|feet|abbr=on}} in elevation.
* The Roman Ramp trail is also very steep, but has less elevation gain, and is accessed from the western side of the mountain (with access by car from the Arad road).

Hikers frequently start an hour before sunrise, when the park opens, to avoid the mid-day heat, which can exceed {{convert|43|C|F}} in the summer. In fact, the hiking paths are often closed during the day in the summer because of the heat. Visitors are encouraged to bring drinking water for the hike up, as water is available only at the top.

Alternatively, for a higher fee, visitors can take a [[aerial tramway|cable car]] (the [[Masada cableway]], opens at 8 am) to the top of the mesa.

A visitors' center and the museum are at the base of the cable car.

A light-and-sound show is presented on some summer nights on the western side of the mountain (access by car from the Arad road or by foot, down the mountain via the Roman Ramp path).<ref>{{cite web|title=Masada Sound and Light Show|url=http://old.parks.org.il/BuildaGate5/general2/data_card.php?U=no&SiteName=parks&ItemID=455458065&ValuePage=Card12|publisher=Israel Nature and Parks Authority|quote=March to October every Tuesday and Thursday at 9 P.M.|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151229085425/http://old.parks.org.il/BuildaGate5/general2/data_card.php?U=no|archive-date=2015-12-29}}</ref>

== Masada myth ==
{{main|Masada myth}}

The Masada myth is the early [[Zionist]] retelling of the Siege of Masada, a selectively constructed narrative based on [[Josephus]]'s account, with the [[Sicarii]] instead depicted as national heroes, and in which the Sicarii were described splinter group of the [[Zealots (Judea)|Zealots]].<ref name=NBY>[[Ben-Yehuda, Nachman]]. [http://www.bibleinterp.com/articles/masadamyth1.htm The Masada Myth: Scholar presents evidence that the heroes of the Jewish Great Revolt were not heroes at all] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927050109/http://www.bibleinterp.com/articles/masadamyth1.htm |date=2011-09-27 }}, ''The Bible and Interpretation''</ref>

The siege of Masada and the resulting [[Masada myth]] is often revered in modern Israel as "a symbol of Jewish heroism".<ref name="Isseroff">{{cite web | url = http://www.zionism-israel.com/dic/Massada.htm | title = Masada | first = Amy | last = Isseroff | date = 2005–2009 | work = Zionism and Israel – Encyclopedic Dictionary | publisher = Zionism & Israel Information Center | access-date = 23 May 2011
}}</ref> According to Klara Palotai, "Masada became a symbol for a heroic 'last stand' for the State of Israel and played a major role for Israel in forging national identity."<ref name="Palotai">{{cite web | url = http://artscapeweb.com/masada.html | title = Masada – the changing meaning of a historical site/archeological site in the reflection of a nation's changing history | last = Palotai | first = Klara | year = 2002 | work = Politics of the Performance Space | publisher = artsacpeweb.com | access-date = 23 May 2011 | archive-date = 22 December 2015 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151222092406/http://artscapeweb.com/masada.html | url-status = dead }}</ref> 

To Israel, it symbolized the courage of the warriors of Masada, the strength they showed when they were able to keep hold of Masada for almost three years, and their choice of death over slavery in their struggle against an aggressive empire. Masada had become "the performance space of national heritage", the site of military ceremonies.<ref name="Palotai" /> Palotai states how Masada "developed a special 'love affair' with archeology" because the site had drawn people from all around the world to help locate the remnants of the fortress and the battle that occurred there.<ref name="Palotai" />

=== World War II ===
The Masada story was the inspiration for the "Masada plan" devised by the British during the Mandate era. The plan was to man defensive positions on [[Mount Carmel, Israel|Mount Carmel]] with [[Palmach]] fighters, to stop [[Erwin Rommel]]'s expected drive through the region in 1942. The plan was abandoned following Rommel's defeat at [[Second Battle of El Alamein|El Alamein]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Ben-Yehuda |first=Nachman |title=Masada Myth: Collective Memory and Mythmaking in Israel |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YoXUXvBUUjgC&q=Masada+plan&pg=PA131|publisher=University of Wisconsin Press |year=1995 |pages=131–132 |isbn=978-0-299-14833-1}}</ref>

=== Israeli army ===
[[File:Masada Stamps.jpg|thumb|Set of three Masada commemorative stamps, issued by Israel in 1965]]
The chief of staff of the [[Israel Defense Forces]] (IDF), [[Moshe Dayan]], initiated the practice of holding the swearing-in ceremony of [[Israeli Armoured Corps]] soldiers who had completed their ''[[tironut]]'' (IDF basic training) on top of Masada. The ceremony ended with the declaration: "Masada shall not fall again." The soldiers climbed the Snake Path at night and were sworn in with torches lighting the background.<ref>Dan Bitan, [http://lib.cet.ac.il/Pages/item.asp?item=13096 Mesada the Symbol and the Legend], the Dead Sea and the Judean Desert, 1960, Yad Ben Zvi</ref> These ceremonies are now also held at various other memorable locations, including the [[Armoured Corps Memorial]] at [[Latrun]], the [[Western Wall]] and [[Ammunition Hill]] in [[Jerusalem]], [[Akko Prison]], and training bases.

===In popular culture===
* A [[Masada (miniseries)|miniseries]] about the citadel was broadcast in 1981.<ref>Lisa Maurice, "Swords, Sandals and Prayer- Shawls: Depicting Jews and Romans on the Silver Screen", in "When West Met East. The Encounter of Greece and Rome with the Jews, Egyptians, and Others. Studies Presented to Ranon Katzoff in Honor of his 75th Birthday", edited by D. M. Schaps, U. Yiftach, D. Dueck, Trieste, EUT Edizioni Università di Trieste, pp. 307–336</ref>
* Jewish American light welterweight champion boxer [[Cletus Seldin]] wears a jacket, on the back of which is written "Remember the Masada".<ref name="algemeiner.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.algemeiner.com/2012/08/03/on-the-rise-hebrew-hammer-cletus-seldin-seeks-to-join-ranks-of-historic-jewish-boxers/|title=On the Rise: 'Hebrew Hammer' Cletus Seldin Seeks to Join Ranks of Historic Jewish Boxers|work=Algemeiner.com}}</ref>
* Masada was a featured location during the ninth and tenth episodes of ''[[The Amazing Race Australia 1]]'' (2011).<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4596864,00.html|title=Chinese 'Amazing Race' calls off Israel shoot|newspaper=Ynetnews|last=Boker|first=Ran|date=27 November 2014|access-date=11 January 2020}}</ref>
* In 2017, [[Jean Michel Jarre]] performed an electronic music concert near the fortress.<ref>{{cite news|title=Jean-Michel Jarre to play anti-Donald Trump Dead Sea concert|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/apr/03/jean-michel-jarre-anti-donald-trump-dead-sea-concert|access-date=18 April 2017|work=The Guardian|date=3 April 2017}}</ref>
* Masada is the main plot location in the fourth season of ''[[Preacher (TV series)|Preacher]]''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Preacher: Season 4, Episode 1 {{!}} Rotten Tomatoes |url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/preacher/s04/e01 |access-date=2025-02-26 |website=www.rottentomatoes.com |language=en}}</ref>
* 'XK Masada' is the codename of a continuity-of-command refuge off-planet in "[[A Colder War]]".
* Masada is the main plot location for the novel ''[[The Dovekeepers (novel)|The Dovekeepers]]'' as well as the [[The Dovekeepers|two-part television drama]] of the same name.
* Masada is the title of a [[Masada (album)|song and album]] dedicated to the site by [[Côte d'Ivoire|Ivorian]] [[reggae]] singer [[Alpha Blondy]].

== Gallery ==
<gallery mode="packed" heights="150">
File:Masada pillars - cmsmith nz.jpg|The Northern Palace's lower terrace (#39 on plan)
File:Masada mikve.JPG|Stepped pool interpreted by Yadin as a Herodian swimming pool, possibly used as a public ritual immersion bath ([[mikveh]]) by the rebels (#17 on plan)<ref name="OConnor">{{cite book |title=The Holy Land: An Oxford Archaeological Guide from Earliest Times to 1700 |series=Oxford Archaeological Guides |author=Jerome Murphy-O'Connor |year=2008 |location=Oxford |publisher=Oxford University Press |page=385 |isbn=978-0-19-923666-4 |quote=... a small, deep, stepped pool with a triangular balcony. The niches for clothes led to its identification as a swimming pool. There are those who prefer to think of it as a ritual bath (mikveh); it may well have been used as such by the Zealots. |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=m3Yy9FDcT8gC&q=%22began+in+the+north+in+1537+and+continued+down+the+east+and+west+sides%22&pg=PT48 |access-date=12 August 2016 }}</ref><ref name="Yadin">{{cite book |title=Masada |author=Mikha Livne |author2=Ze'ev Meshel |year=1965 |location=Jerusalem |publisher=Direction des parcs nationaux |quote=Piscine hérodienne (Herodian swimming pool) |language=fr }}</ref>
File:Masada 051013 Chapel 01.jpg|Byzantine church (#26 on plan)
File:Flickr - Government Press Office (GPO) - Masada (1).jpg|Aerial view showing Masada and the Snake Path from the northeast
File:Masada 051013 Gate 01.jpg|Masada's western Byzantine gate (#23 on plan)
File:Masada 051013 Camp F 01.jpg|Roman siege camp F and section of the Roman circumvallation wall
File:Israel Aereal Ropeway Masada BW 1 crop.JPG|Cable car ([[Masada cableway]]) heading down from Masada
</gallery>

== See also ==
{{Portal|Israel}}
* [[Masada myth]]
* [[Archaeology of Israel]]
* [[Gamla]], an ancient site dubbed "Masada of the North"
* [[Tourism in Israel]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== Further reading ==
===History===
* {{cite journal | last1=Schwartz | first1=Barry | last2=Zerubavel | first2=Yael | last3=Barnett | first3=Bernice M. | last4=Steiner | first4=George | title=The Recovery of Masada: A Study in Collective Memory | journal=The Sociological Quarterly | publisher=Wiley | volume=27 | issue=2 | year=1986 | issn=0038-0253 | jstor=4106206 | pages=147–164 | doi=10.1111/j.1533-8525.1986.tb00254.x | url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/4106206| url-access=subscription }}
* {{cite book | last=Silberman | first= Neil Asher|authorlink= Neil Asher Silberman | title=Between Past and Present: Archaeology, Ideology, and Nationalism in the Modern Middle East | publisher=Doubleday | year=1989 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-hWQ0AEACAAJ}}
* {{cite book | last=Zerubavel | first= Yael | title=Recovered Roots: Collective Memory and the Making of Israeli National Tradition | publisher=University of Chicago Press | year=1995 | isbn=978-0-226-98157-4 | url=https://archive.org/details/recoveredrootsco0000zeru}}
* {{cite book | last=Ben-Yehuda | first=Nachman|authorlink= Nachman Ben-Yehuda | title=Masada Myth: Collective Memory and Mythmaking in Israel | publisher=University of Wisconsin Press | year=1996 | isbn=978-0-299-14833-1 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YoXUXvBUUjgC}}
* {{cite web | last=Cockburn | first=Patrick | authorlink=Patrick Cockburn|title=Ancient battle divides Israel as Masada 'myth' unravels | website=The Independent | date=1997-03-30 | url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/ancient-battle-divides-israel-as-masada-myth-unravels-1275878.html | access-date=2024-07-13}}
*{{cite journal| title = Review: History and Fable, Heroism and Fanaticism: Nachman Ben-Yehuda's "The Masada Myth"|last = Green|first = Arnold H.|author-link= Arnold H. Green|journal =[[Brigham Young University|Brigham Young University Studies]]|year =1997|volume = 36|issue = 3|pages = 403–424| issn=0007-0106 |jstor =43044142|url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/43044142}}
* Ben-Yehuda, Nachman. ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20130522235032/http://www.bibleinterp.com/articles/ben-yehuda_masada.htm Sacrificing Truth: Archaeology and the Myth of Masada]'', Humanity Books, 2002.
* {{cite book | last=Magness | first=Jodi|authorlink= Jodi Magness | title=Masada: From Jewish Revolt to Modern Myth | publisher=Princeton University Press | year=2021 | isbn=978-0-691-21677-5 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KR4OEAAAQBAJ}}
* {{cite book | last=Shavit | first=Ari|authorlink= Ari Shavit | title=My Promised Land: the triumph and tragedy of Israel | publisher=Scribe Publications Pty Limited | year=2014 | isbn=978-1-922072-51-1 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8fdvAgAAQBAJ}}

===Archeological reports===
* Avi-Yonah, Michael et al., ''Israel Exploration Journal'' 7, 1957, 1–160 (excavation report Masada)
* Yadin, Yigael. ''Israel Exploration Journal'' 15, 1965 (excavation report Masada).
* {{cite book | title = Masada; Herod's fortress and the Zealot's last stand | url = https://archive.org/details/masadaherodsfort00yadi | url-access = registration | last = Yadin | first = Yigael | author-link = Yigael Yadin | year = 1966 | publisher = Random House | location = New York |oclc = 1175632 }}
* {{cite book | title = The Zealots of Masada: Story of a Dig | url = https://archive.org/details/zealotsofmasadas00pear | url-access = registration | last = Pearlman | first = Moshe | year = 1967 | publisher = Scribner | location = New York | oclc = 2019849 }}
* Netzer, E., ''Masada; The Yigael Yadin Excavations 1963–1965.'' Vol III. IES Jerusalem, 1991.
* Roller, Duane W. ''The Building Program of Herod the Great'', Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1998.
* Netzer, Ehud. ''The Palaces of the Hasmoneans and Herod the Great.'' Jerusalem: Yed Ben-Zvi Press and The Israel Exploration Society, 2001.
* Ehud Netzer, ''The Rebels' Archives at Masada'', Israel Exploration Journal, Vol. 54, No. 2 (2004), pp.&nbsp;218–229
* Bar-Nathan, R., ''Masada; The Yigael Yadin Excavations 1963–1965'', Vol VII. IES Jerusalem, 2006.* Jacobson, David, "The Northern Palace at Masada – Herod's Ship of the Desert?" ''Palestine Exploration Quarterly'', 138,2 (2006), 99–117.

== External links ==
{{Commons}}
{{Wikivoyage}}
{{Wikisource|The War of the Jews/Book VII|The War of the Jews: Book VII, Chapters 8 and 9}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080117142713/http://www.yadinproductions.com/yadin_archeology.html Photographs & footage of the Yadin excavations]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20160602101556/http://bibleinterp.com/articles/2000/ben258001.shtml The Bible and Interpretation: The Masada Myth]
* [https://whc.unesco.org/sites/1040.htm World Heritage Sites page]
* Stiebel, Guy D. [http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CCX2587513369&v=2.1&u=new55117&it=r&p=GVRL&sw=w "Masada." Encyclopaedia Judaica.] |volume= 13. 593–599. Gale Virtual Reference Library.
* [http://www.kotipetripaavola.com/Bible_Masada.html Masada photos]
* [https://archive.today/20140616043337/http://old.parks.org.il/BuildaGate5/general2/data_card.php?Cat=~25~~736559308~Card12~&ru=&SiteName=parks&Clt=&Bur=19583 Masada page on Israeli National Park website]
*[https://hike-israel.com/hikes/hiking-masada-deadsea/masada/ All the options on how to climb Masada by foot].

{{World Heritage Sites in Israel}}
{{National parks of Israel}}
{{Towns depopulated during the First Jewish–Roman War}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Masada| ]]
[[Category:30s BC establishments]]
[[Category:Archaeological museums in Israel]]
[[Category:Archaeological sites in Israel]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures in Southern District (Israel)]]
[[Category:Cliffs of Asia]]
[[Category:Fortifications in Israel]]
[[Category:Historic sites in Israel]]
[[Category:Museums in Southern District (Israel)]]
[[Category:National parks of Israel]]
[[Category:Protected areas of Southern District (Israel)]]
[[Category:Ancient Jewish settlements of Judaea]]
[[Category:70s disestablishments in the Roman Empire]]
[[Category:1st-century battles]]
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