A new account of the famous site and story from the last stand of a group of Jewish rebels who kept out against the Roman Empire

Two thousand years ago, 967 Jewish men, women, and children-the last holdouts of the revolt against Rome following fall of Jerusalem as well as the devastation of the Second Temple-reportedly took their own lives instead of surrender to the Roman army. This dramatic event, which took place on top of Masada, a barren and windswept mountain overlooking the Dead Ocean, spawned about Masada: From Jewish Revolt to Modern Myth a robust story of Jewish level of resistance that found symbolize the embattled modern Condition of Israel. The first considerable archaeological excavations of Masada began in the 1960s, and today the site draws visitors from all over the world. And yet, because the mass suicide was recorded by only 1 ancient author-the Jewish historian Josephus-some scholars query if the function ever occurred.

Jodi Magness, an archaeologist that has excavated at Masada, explains what happened there, how we know it, and exactly how latest developments might switch understandings of the tale. Incorporating the latest findings, she integrates literary and historic sources showing what lifestyle was like for Jews under Roman rule during an era that observed the reign of Herod and Jesus’s ministry and loss of life.

Featuring numerous illustrations, that is an interesting exploration of a historical story that continues to grasp the imagination today.