MASADA

Masada: translation

(Massada)

A natural rock fortress in theJudeanDesert on the shore of theDead Sea, located south of Ein Gedi, where a group of Jewish zealots held out against a Roman siege for seven months in 73 AD. When the Romans finally entered the fortress, they found that the defenders had committed suicide rather than be taken alive. This heroic stand led to the pledge of Israeli youngsters that "Masada shall not fall again." Excavations of the site in the 1950s led by archaeologistYigael Yadindocumented much of the historical writings of the Roman historian Josephus concerning the events at Masada.