Bibliography
| Title: Masada. Literary Traditions, Archaeological Remains, and the Credibility of Josephus Secondary Title: Journal of Jewish Studies Volume: 33 Pages: 385-405 Type: Journal Article Year: 1982 Abstract: "Josephus Bericht des Masada-Geschehens ist ungenau bzw. von ihm weitgehend erfunden; korrekt sind aber die archäologisch-topographischen Aspekte".
"Part I of this essay is a study of several other instances of collective suicide in antiquity; part II is an analysis of the Masada narrative of Josephus and its relationship to the archaeological remains; part III is an attempt to reconstruct the history of the fall of Masada".
"(1) Ancient history provides at least sixteen examples of a besieged city or fortress whose inhabitants preferred death to surrender or capture. (2) That Josephus' account of the murder-suicide at Masada (War 7:252-406) is not an unalloyed version of the truth has been corroborated by Y. Yadin's archaeological discoveries and by analysis of the narrative. But Josephus died attempt to be reasonably accurate in matters that were verifiable by Flavius Silva and the Romans. he also refrained from inventing glorious military actions for the Sicarii. (3) Josephus' Masada story combined historical truth, a fertile imagination, a flair for drama and exaggeration, a polemic against the Sicarii, and literary borrowings from other instances of collective suicide". - D.J.H. Keywords: History of the Judean War (66-73) |