HolyGuardianAngels
2nd June 2007, 08:47 PM
Masada is a Romanized version of the Hebrew word מצדה, (Ma or Me-tzada, ) which gets it's root from the Hebrew word for "Fortress."
This aspect of "Church" History may be too, Sorrowful for some . . .
MASADAAH
Is a term, The Hebrews know all - to - well . . .
According to the first-century Jewish Historian Flavius Josephus, Masada was place was first fortified by "Johnatan the High Priest". Historians disagree whether he was referring to Judah the Maccabee or Alexander Yannai. There is no controversy however, about the Herodian period or the period of the Jewish Revolt.
In 40 B.C.E King Herod fled from Jerusalem to Masada with his family during a brief moment of danger. Later he fortified and furnished the citadel as a refuge fearing "a peril from Jewish people" and one "more serious from Cleopatra of Egypt".
Masada remained under the control of the Roman empire from about 6 to 66 C.E. In the year 66 C.E., at the beginning of the Jewish Revolt, a group of Judaic extremist rebels known as the Sicarii took Masada from the Roman garrison that was stationed there when, at the outbreak of the Revolt, Menahem, son of Judah the Galilean, captured Masada as the head of a band of Revolutionaries.
After Menahem was murdered in Jerusalem by Jewish rivals, his nephew Eleazar ben Yair escaped to Masada where he became its "ruler" until its fall in 73 C.E. During these years Masada served as a place of refuge for all who were in danger of capture.
After the fall of Jerusalem in 70 C.E. Masada remained the only stronghold of Jewish resistance. Few surviving Jewish fighters that managed to travel across Judean mountains joined the defenders of Masada, and it became the rebels' base for raiding operations.
In 72 C.E. the Roman governor Flavius Silva resolved to suppress this outpost of resistance. He marched against Masada at the head of the Tenth Legion, its auxiliary troops, and thousands of Jewish war prisoners, total ten to fifteen thousand people. The troops settled in and prepared for a long siege. They set up eight camps at the base of the Masada rock and surrounded it with a high wall, leaving no escape for the rebels.
Then Romans started to build an assault ramp to the top; thousands of slaves, many of them Jewish, completed the ramp in nine months. After the ramp was complete, the Romans succeeded in moving the battering ram up and to direct it against the wall. They broke the stone wall, but the defenders managed to built a wall of earth and wood that was flexible and hard to break.
Eventually Romans managed to destroy it by fire, and decided to enter the fortress at daylight. At night Eleazar gathered all the defenders and persuaded them to kill themselves rather than fall into the hands of Romans. The people set fire to their personal belongings, and then ten people chosen by a lot killed everyone else and then committed suicide.
On the morning of April 15th, the Romans entered a silent fortress and found only dead bodies. Two women and five children survived the mass suicide by hiding in a cave or cistern; they came out to Romans. Josephus describes all the dramatic details of the last hours of the Masada defenders as told by these survivors.
The works of Josephus are contested, but his writings are the sole documentation of the events that took place at Masada. According to Josephus the Sicarii were an extremist splinter group that branched off from the Zealots and used murder and pillage to achieve their ends.
Definition and link to follow:
(Under Construction)
This aspect of "Church" History may be too, Sorrowful for some . . .
MASADAAH
Is a term, The Hebrews know all - to - well . . .
According to the first-century Jewish Historian Flavius Josephus, Masada was place was first fortified by "Johnatan the High Priest". Historians disagree whether he was referring to Judah the Maccabee or Alexander Yannai. There is no controversy however, about the Herodian period or the period of the Jewish Revolt.
In 40 B.C.E King Herod fled from Jerusalem to Masada with his family during a brief moment of danger. Later he fortified and furnished the citadel as a refuge fearing "a peril from Jewish people" and one "more serious from Cleopatra of Egypt".
Masada remained under the control of the Roman empire from about 6 to 66 C.E. In the year 66 C.E., at the beginning of the Jewish Revolt, a group of Judaic extremist rebels known as the Sicarii took Masada from the Roman garrison that was stationed there when, at the outbreak of the Revolt, Menahem, son of Judah the Galilean, captured Masada as the head of a band of Revolutionaries.
After Menahem was murdered in Jerusalem by Jewish rivals, his nephew Eleazar ben Yair escaped to Masada where he became its "ruler" until its fall in 73 C.E. During these years Masada served as a place of refuge for all who were in danger of capture.
After the fall of Jerusalem in 70 C.E. Masada remained the only stronghold of Jewish resistance. Few surviving Jewish fighters that managed to travel across Judean mountains joined the defenders of Masada, and it became the rebels' base for raiding operations.
In 72 C.E. the Roman governor Flavius Silva resolved to suppress this outpost of resistance. He marched against Masada at the head of the Tenth Legion, its auxiliary troops, and thousands of Jewish war prisoners, total ten to fifteen thousand people. The troops settled in and prepared for a long siege. They set up eight camps at the base of the Masada rock and surrounded it with a high wall, leaving no escape for the rebels.
Then Romans started to build an assault ramp to the top; thousands of slaves, many of them Jewish, completed the ramp in nine months. After the ramp was complete, the Romans succeeded in moving the battering ram up and to direct it against the wall. They broke the stone wall, but the defenders managed to built a wall of earth and wood that was flexible and hard to break.
Eventually Romans managed to destroy it by fire, and decided to enter the fortress at daylight. At night Eleazar gathered all the defenders and persuaded them to kill themselves rather than fall into the hands of Romans. The people set fire to their personal belongings, and then ten people chosen by a lot killed everyone else and then committed suicide.
On the morning of April 15th, the Romans entered a silent fortress and found only dead bodies. Two women and five children survived the mass suicide by hiding in a cave or cistern; they came out to Romans. Josephus describes all the dramatic details of the last hours of the Masada defenders as told by these survivors.
The works of Josephus are contested, but his writings are the sole documentation of the events that took place at Masada. According to Josephus the Sicarii were an extremist splinter group that branched off from the Zealots and used murder and pillage to achieve their ends.
Definition and link to follow:
(Under Construction)