Masada

Masada is the foremost archaeological site in Israel, the most spectacular and one of the most visited. No one knows the site or its wider contexts better than Jodi Magness. There are few archaeologists who could have pulled off the feat that she has accomplished in this book. It is a marvel of clarity and accessibility. Masada will be the indispensable companion to this site for the next fifty years. --Tessa Rajak, author of Josephus Internationally renowned archaeologist Jodi Magness plunges the reader directly into the story of the fall of Masada, unpacking the dramatic tale as told by Josephus. She also recounts the fascinating adventures and misadventures of the region's explorers, from the nineteenth century through the 1960s, and compellingly describes the excavations there, including her own, providing a welcome tour of the site. --Eric H. Cline, author of 1177 B.C.: The Year Civilization Collapsed In 74 CE, 967 Jews on top of the rock fortress of Masada purportedly took their own lives rather than surrender to a Roman army. Their defiant self-sacrifice became a modern, nationalist rallying cry: 'Masada shall not fall again!' But what really happened at Masada during the great Jewish revolt against Rome, and what is the historical significance of Masada's fall? Jodi Magness, who directed excavations of the Roman siege works at Masada and is one of the preeminent archaeologists of the ancient Mediterranean world, has written a superb book about Masada, describing its physical setting and development, the history of the site's excavation, the story of the Roman siege, and the creation of Masada's hotly contested modern myth. It is a triumph of scholarship and accessibility. --Guy MacLean Rogers, author of Alexander: The Ambiguity of Greatness