The Masada Fortress

Location Description

Southwest of the Dead Sea

Project Location

31.312646647296198LOL35.35338260815479

Historical Context

During Herod’s time, this fortress was not actively guarding itself from enemies and was meant for Herod’s pleasure. 75 years after Herod’s death, however, “at the beginning of the Revolt of the Jews against the Romans in 66 CE, a group of Jewish rebels overcame the Roman garrison of Masada. “After the fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the Temple (70 CE) they were joined by zealots and their families who had fled from Jerusalem.” There, the Jews took refuge for 3 years until the Tenth Legion breached the walls of Masada... Flavius dramatically recounts the story told to him by two surviving women. ‘The defenders – almost one thousand men, women and children – led by ben-Yair, burnt down the fortress and killed each other. The Zealots cast lots to choose 10 men to kill the remainder. They then chose among themselves the one man who would kill the survivors. That last Jew then killed himself.’” (jewishvirtuallibrary). “Eventually the Romans abandoned this remote outpost and it lay desolate and uninhabited for hundreds of years. In the 5th and 6th centuries a few Byzantine Christian monks settled there. They adapted a number of caves as dwellings, and built cells in a number of places in or near the ruined buildings. They also erected a church close to the ruins of the western palace. They and their successors stayed for more than a hundred years. When they finally left, Masada became desolate once again -- and remained so for centuries” (CBN, 2014).

In 20th century Masada became a symbol of courage for the emerging modern Jewish state. It was a pilgrimage site for youth movements and Haganah members. In 1949, at the end of War of Independence, the Israel flag was hoisted on Masada's summit. The site was inspected and explored by Shemariyahu Gutman, and in 1963 full-scale excavations began under the supervision of professor Yigael Yadin, assisted by volunteers from all over the world.

Approximate Year of Completion

31 BCE

Duration of construction

37-31 BCE

Project description

“The flat plateau of Masada measures 600 x 300 meters. The casemate wall (two parallel walls with partitions dividing the space between them into rooms), is 1,400 meters long and 4 meters wide. It was built along the edge of the plateau, above the steep cliffs, and it had many towers. Three narrow, winding paths led from below to fortified gates. The water supply was guaranteed by a network of large, rock-hewn cisterns on the northwestern side of the hill. They filled during the winter with rainwater flowing in streams from the mountain." (CBN, 2014)  Fig. 1 shows cisterns on the summit which supplied the immediate needs of the residents of Masada and could be relied upon in time of siege. Fig. 2 shows the size of the plateau and the surrounding casemate walls. 

Fig. 1: Cistern in Masada

Fig. 2: Overhead view of the plateau.

Construction details/observations

Josephus Flavius reports that Herod the Great built the Fortress of Masada “furnished this fortress as a refuge for himself.” This fortress includes a casemate wall around the plateau, storehouses, large cisterns ingeniously filled with rainwater, barracks, palaces and an armoury. (jewishvirtuallibrary) Another source also supports that "the entire summit of Masada was enclosed by Herod with a casemate wall - a double wall with the inner space divided into rooms. Its circumference of 1400 m. corresponds exactly to "7 stadio" in Josephus' description. About 70 rooms, 30 towers and four gates were found in the wall." (Markus, 2002)

Other significant comments

On the east of Masada, the rock falls in a sheer drop of 450 meters to the Dead Sea (the lowest point on earth, some 400 meters below sea level) and in the west it stands about 100 meters above the surrounding terrain. The natural approaches to the cliff top are steep and jagged -- nearly impossible for an army to climb.

Sources and references

Masada desert fortress. Retrieved November 28, 2014, from http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Archaeology/Masada1.html

Masada: The dead sea stronghold. Retrieved November 28, 2014, from http://www.cbn.com/spirituallife/biblestudyandtheology/Discipleship/vonBuseck_MasadaPartOne.aspx?option=print

Masada: King herod's fortress palace, site of zealoots'last stand; scale models, reconostructions 
 . Retrieved November 28, 2014, from http://www.bible-architecture.info/Masada.htm

M. Markus. (2002). "Masada." http://mosaic.lk.net/g-masada.html#arch (February 28, 2015).

UNESCO. (2015). "Masada." http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1040/ (February 27, 2015).

Project Id

DJP-05-14