It’s down in the history books of legends. How could the Jews hold onto the fortress of Masada for years without food and water? According to the common myth, the Romans laid siege to the Dead Sea fortress of Masada for three long years. A new survey using advanced technologies indicates that the siege was probably a much quicker affair: more like weeks.

Researchers in Archaeology at Tel Aviv University used a range of modern technologies, including drones, remote sensing, and 3D digital modeling, to generate the first objective, quantified analysis of the Roman siege system at Masada.

Findings indicate that contrary to the widespread myth, the Roman army’s siege of Masada in 73 CE lasted no more than a few weeks.

The study was conducted by Guy Stiebel, together with Hai Ashkenazi to attempt a new understanding of what really happened at Masada. The paper was published in the Journal of Roman Archaeology.

Why the siege against the Jews started?

The First Jewish Revolt against the Romans started in 66 CE after years of political instability. One of the first acts in this war was the seizure of Masada from its Roman garrison by a group of Jewish rebels. At the beginning of the rebellion, the Jewish forces managed to defeat an army led by Cestius Gallus, the governor of Syria.

Later, after suffering heavy losses in the field, and following the arrival in 67 CE of a second expedition led by Vespasian and his son Titus, the local militias usually avoided meeting the Roman forces in the field and took shelter in fortified towns and forts, most of which had been built during previous periods.

This led to a war characterized mainly by Roman siege warfare. Several years of careful Roman advance culminated in the siege of Jerusalem in 70 CE, and though the Romans faced bitter resistance from the city’s defenders, the city was conquered and destroyed within that same year.

Read related: ancient date from Masada sprouts after 2000 years

About three years later, the Romans followed the remaining rebels to their last stronghold – Masada. The amount of effort invested by the Romans in chasing these last few hundred rebels to their final refuge in the middle of the desert may seem surprising.

Some researchers argue that it was done in order to completely assert Roman rule over the country, to send a message to other potential rebels, and to “restore the impression of Roman might”; others have recently claimed that the Romans’ aim was to protect the valuable Balsam (opobalsamum) perfume production center at the nearby oasis of Ein Gedi.

The researchers used drones carrying remote sensors that provided precise, high-resolution measurements of the height, width, and length of all features of the siege system. This data was used to build an accurate 3D digital model, enabling exact calculation of the structures’ volume and how long it took to build them.

Researcher Stiebel says: “We use drones, remote sensing, and aerial photography to collect accurate high-resolution data from Masada and its environs, with special emphasis on three aspects: the water systems, the trails leading to and from the palatial fortress, and the Roman siege system.

“The collected information is used to build 3D digital models that provide us with a clear and precise image of the relevant terrains. In the current study we focused on the siege system, which, thanks to the remote location and desert climate, is the best-preserved Roman siege system in the world.”

Dr. Stiebel adds: “For many years, the prevailing theory that became a modern myth asserted that the Roman siege of Masada was a grueling three-year affair. In recent decades researchers have begun to challenge this notion, for various reasons. In this first-of-its kind study we examined the issue with modern technologies enabling precise objective measurements.”

Reliable estimates are available of the quantity of earth and stones a Roman soldier was able to move in one day, the researchers explain. Ashkenazi says: “We also know that approximately 6,000-8,000 soldiers participated in the siege of Masada. Thus, we were able to objectively calculate how long it took them to build the entire siege system – eight camps and a stone wall surrounding most of the site.

“We found that construction took merely about two weeks. Based on the ancient historical testimony it is clear that once the assault ramp was completed, the Romans launched a brutal attack, ultimately capturing the fortress within a few weeks at the most.

“This leads us to the conclusion that the entire siege of Masada lasted no more than several weeks.”

Says Stiebel: “The narrative of Masada, the Great Jewish Revolt, the siege, and the tragic end as related by Flavius Josephus, have all become part of Israeli DNA and the Zionist ethos, and are well known around the world. The duration of the siege is a major element in this narrative, suggesting that the glorious Roman army found it very difficult to take the fortress and crush its defenders.

“For many years it was assumed that the siege took three long years, but in recent decades researchers have begun to challenge this unfounded belief. In our first-of-its-kind study we used objective measurements and advanced technologies to clarify this issue with the first data-driven scientific answer.

“Based on our findings we argue that the Roman siege of Masada took a few weeks at the most. As empires throughout history have done, the Romans came, saw, and conquered, quickly and brutally quelling the uprising in this remote location.

“Our conclusion, however, detracts nothing from the importance of this historical event, and many baffling questions remain to be investigated.

“For example: Why did the Romans put so much effort into seizing this remote and seemingly unimportant fortress?  To answer this and many other intriguing questions we have initiated a vast, innovative project in and around Masada … to ultimately shed new light on the old enigma: What really happened at Masada?”

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The relations between the Herodian Kingdom and the Nabatean Kingdom were very complex and involved political, economic and marriage ties. Through the institution of marriage with local dynasties, Herodians consolidated power in the southern Levant and later became Rome’s client state.

Intermarriage between religious groups was not uncommon, people were open-minded, until they were not. Here’s a little history of the way things were in the Levant, where major world religions brewed and fed each other:

The most prominent ruler of the dynasty, Herod the Great who ruled from 74/73 BCE to 4 CE, was a controversial figure according to historical sources, and one of main villains of The New Testament.

However, despite the popular tradition his rule was characterized by colossal buildings in Judea, including a renovation of the Second Jewish Temple in Jerusalem, construction of the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron, the fortress Masada on the eastern edge of the Judean Desert, the maritime port Caesarea Maritima, and monumental palaces like Herodium, 10 miles south of Jerusalem, and Machaerus, 18 miles southeast from the mouth of the Jordan River.

Although his father Antipater I Idumaean (100 BCE to 43 BCE) was an Edomite and his mother Cypros I, a Nabataean, Herod was raised as a Jew. How about that?

An ancient matchmaker

Herod used marriage to bring together different ethnic groups within his realm and making political alliances with other rulers in the same area. In the First Century BCE many members of the Judean elites were Hellenized, which was also the case with Herodians. The process of Hellenization enabled these elites to consolidate and expand their rule in the southern Levant.

The founder of the dynasty, Antipater I already designed a marriage strategy to boost his influence in the region and took a Nabataean noblewoman Cypros I as a wife. She was related to the Nabataean King Aretas III, also known as Philhellen which means Friend of the Greeks.

Kings as babysitters

Relations between them became so cordial that Antipater I would entrust the Nabataean king to take care of his sons while he was participating in the military campaigns against Hasmonean Aristobulus II (66 BC-63 BC).

According to Flavius Josephus, a Jewish historian (37 CE to 100 CE), Antipater I used the Nabataean backing to contact Pompey and Roman generals in the east. Then Antipater I forged an alliance with Caesar, and for his ongoing support of Rome he was awarded with the prize of not having to pay taxes. 

His ascendants automatically became the Roman citizens, therefore his marriage to Cyprus I is only one aspect of a much broader policy that sees Antipater I taking advantage of multiple social, religious and ethnic identities.

However, political relations were not always idyllic: when Cesar was assassinated in Rome in 44 CE the East entered a period of chaos and the Nabataeans mistakenly sided with the Parthians. After the Romans defeated the Parthians, the Nabataean Kingdom was obliged to pay tribute to Romans.

The Roman state used Herod I to punish the Nabataeans when they failed to pay the tribute on time and in 36 BCE Herod I expanded his realm at the expense of the Nabataean Kingdom taking its northern swaths. Wadi Mujib, the biblical Arnon Stream, was a border between Nabataean and Herodian states and, according to a Greek archaeologist Konstantinos Politis, the late researcher Taysir Atiat found a Nabataean temple and a watch tower on the mouth of Wadi Mujib.

Within a Herodian Kingdom there was a port on the eastern side of the Dead Sea called Ain –ez Zara, with rooms for shops as it was part of the incense trade route. Further up an ancient road connects Ain ez-Zara with Machareus fortress, a border stronghold and a palace of King Herod the Great. It was a part of the defensive line with a small settlement under the palace, which was a place where St. John the Baptist was beheaded around 29 CE.

A breakup that leads to war

Herod Antipas (20 BCE to 39 CE) was one of sons of Herod the Great and ruled the Galilee and Perea, where in the former province established a city of Tiberius named after his patron Emperor Tiberius. Continuing practice of his predecessors, he married Phasaelis, a daughter of the Nabataean King Aretas IV. The breakup of that marriage was a pretext for the war between Aretas IV and Herod Antipas as the former invaded Perea and defeated Antipas.

According to Josephus, Jews attributed the defeat of Herod Antipas in 36 CE to the beheading of John the Baptist.

A few generations earlier, the romantic relation took place between Salome, the sister of Herod I, and the Nabataean vizier Syllaeus, who came to Jerusalem in 20 BCE to negotiate a loan of 60 talents on the behalf of the Nabataean King Obodas III.

Afraid of the pagans at Petra

Despite the objections from Herod the Great, his sister continued to date the ambitious Nabataean deputy.  Herod I had tense relations with Obodas III and paranoid, as he was, Herod I thought that Syllaeus would depose him and become the ruler of Judea. Several months later, when Syllaeus returned to Jerusalem to propose to Salome, Herod I added the condition that he had to become a Jew and undergo circumcision.

Fearing the reaction and potential stoning by his fellow pagans in Petra, Syllaeus backed off returning to the Nabataean capital empty handed, without love.

The identity of the Herodians was fluid and dynamic, transforming from one ethnicity, culture and religion to another. The choice of the spouse or partner depended on the constellation of power and relations with the Nabataean kings who were also politically submissive to the Romans.

When Jews rebelled in 70 CE, the Nabataeans joined the Roman army who crashed the uprising. However, the Nabataeans’ relative independence didn’t last for too long and Emperor Trajan annexed their kingdom in 106 CErenaming it in the province Arabia Petrea.

The post If you think the Middle East is dramatic now, 2000 years ago it was a telenovela appeared first on Green Prophet.

The event scheduled to take place overnight on Thursday September 14th will include an early morning drumming session near the Masada ruins and end with a panel moderated by environmental photographer Roie Galitz.

Rent doubled in 5 years

In June 2011, while looking for a new apartment in Tel Aviv, professional video editor and social activist Daphne Leef found that it was impossible to find accommodation that was within her means. Further research revealed that in the last five years, rents in the metropolitan area have doubled in the last five years.

In protest, the daughter of Israeli composer Inam Leef set up a tent in Habima square and started a Facebook protest page. By the end of the summer, thousands of Israelis joined Daphne’s cause and pitched tents all along Rothschild Boulevard.

Largely overshadowed by the Arab Spring protests and criticized for failing to draw significant attention to the social rights of immigrants and Palestinians, this was nonetheless one of the largest passive protests staged by Israeli citizens since the state was established in 1948.

Leef meets Tunick

Leef has now found her professional soul mate in Spencer Tunick, whose large scale photographic installations have shaken up governments all over the globe.

His naked Dead Sea photo shoot last year was hailed as an enormous success for democracy and accelerated conversations about the Dead Sea, which is threatened by industrial mineral extraction and other environmental factors, though it drew enormous scorn from politicians and religious groups.

So threatened by the event, Knesset member Nissim Zeev introduced the Spencer Tunick bill aimed at outlawing public nudity in Israel. He called Tunick’s installation an “act of prostitution in the guise of art.”

Creative social activism

The creative social activism will begin in Tel Aviv, where a chartered bus will leave for the Dead Sea at 11.30pm September 13th. From 3-5am on September 14th there will be a jam session on the beach. This will be followed by an hour-long opening ceremony, and then from 6-7am, participants will be invited to join a group float in the water.

From 7-9am, a team of photographers will compile individual and group images. And then at 11am, the Prima Oasis hotel will sponsor a salon, which will be moderated by Roie Galitz.

Tickets are NIS 80 with round-trip transportation from Tel Aviv and NIS 40 without. If you’re interested to join, please register on eventbrite.

More on Israel and Spencer Tunick:

Spencer Tunick Photos of Naked Israelis are Worth $2,000

1,000 Israelis Strip Naked to Save the Dead Sea

Naked Dead Sea Picture Released by Spencer Tunick

The post Spencer Tunick and Israel’s Tent Protest Leader Team up For Dead Sea appeared first on Green Prophet.

Israeli Opera Festival 2012 will feature five performances of the classic opera, Carmen, June 7 to 11 at Masada. According to the Israeli Opera’s Artistic Director, Michael Ajzenstadt, 50,000 people from across Israel and all over the world are coming to experience opera at the lowest point on earth, beneath the mountain of Masada and across from the Dead Sea.

Choosing the location for this momentous performance was a delicate balance between aesthetic appeal and the imperative to not effect the historic site in any way. “We wanted to perform opera in the desert, not just to have an opera performance at a desert location,” said Ajzenstadt. “There is no stage. There is sand and rock beneath the mountain. The set is an extension of the surrounding habitat. In three weeks we will deconstruct the set and leave no trace.”

The idea of performing opera outdoors or at historic sights is not new, nor unique to Israel. It goes back to the tradition of traveling performance in the Middle Ages. There have been performances at the Roman amphitheaters in Italy, at the pyramids in Egypt and the Forbidden City in Beijing, China. In Israel there have been outdoor performances opposite the walls of the Old City in Jerusalem and in the amphitheaters of Caesarea and Beit Ha’am.

But in other famous cases, the operas performed at outdoor historic sights generally were connected to the location through its plot or history. There were never any operas written about or performed at Masada. The last major artistic performance at Masada was Israel’s 40th Independence Day celebration in 1988.

Ajzenstadt said that the entire crew, including 10 international soloists, many of whom had never been to Israel before, was affected by the symbolism and significance of the location’s natural beauty. They stood in awe for almost an hour before rehearsals began.

“It proves you can have a modern cultural event without obstructing nature or the historical environment,” said Ajzenstadt. “It combines environment and history with art and opera in one of the most special places on earth.”

::Carmen 

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