JUDAICA - Wisdom In Torah

ar kokhba
The actual siege of Bethar began apparently after the
recapture of Jerusalem. Whether Bar Kokhba’s men had intended
it from the outset to be their principal fortress or were
driven there by the force of circumstances cannot be known.
Even during the siege those in Bethar maintained contact
with camps of fighters in the Judean Desert. One of the documents
states: “Near the well of Ben Koseva, Nasi of Israel, in
the camp,” referring probably to the camp of Bethar, which is
not mentioned, however, in the Dead Sea documents. Severus’
strategy was to intensify the siege on the fortress, and a siege
wall (circumvallatio) was built for this purpose. It was attacked
by the besieged in desperate sallies, while the blockade grew
tighter. A clear reminder of the Roman armies’ presence in
Bethar itself was preserved in a Latin inscription which was
engraved on a rock near the well of Bethar and mentions detachments
of the Fifth “Macedonica” and the Eleventh “Claudia”
legions. The inscription is now illegible.
Eusebius states that Bethar was besieged in the 18th year
of Hadrian’s reign, that is, in 134 C.E., about two years after
the outbreak of the revolt, and that its fall was caused by hunger
and thirst. According to the talmudic account (TJ, Ta’an
4:8, 68d; Lam. R. 2:2, no. 4), Hadrian unsuccessfully laid siege
to Bethar for three and a half years, until a Samaritan pretended
that *Eleazar of Modi’in (ha-Moda’i) had conspired
with him to surrender the city to the Romans. Incensed at
this, Bar Kokhba killed Eleazar. “Immediately Bethar was
captured and Ben Koziva met his death.” Presumably great
importance was attached in besieged Bethar to sages such as
Eleazar of Modi’in, one of the leading rabbis of his generation,
but whether he is identical with the Eleazar whose name appears
on coins of the revolt cannot be determined. (In one of
his letters, Bar Kokhba mentions a הסימ רב הינטב ונבר, whom
he regarded as a great man.) These circumstances suggest
that eventually a dispute broke out between the sages and the
commander-in-chief and spread among the besieged. In any
event these reports, like the statement of Eusebius, indicate
that the capture of Bethar was difficult and was achieved under
unusual circumstances.
The death of Bar Kokhba is enveloped in a legendary
halo. The accounts of the massacre perpetrated in Bethar attest
to the ferocity of the struggle (Git. 56a–b; Song. R. 2:17;
cf. ARN 138, 115: “Not a soul escaped”). The sages state that on
Av 15th the burial of the slain was permitted (Ta’an. 31a). Tradition
has it that Bethar was taken on the Ninth of Av (ibid.,
29a), and Jerome (loc. cit.) also says that it occurred in August:
in hoc mense (scil. Augusto). On the basis of the latest
date – the fourth year of the liberation of Israel – mentioned
in one of the documents, Bar Kokhba’s rule lasted more than
three years. In Jewish tradition the fall of Bethar was a disaster
equal to the destruction of the First and Second Temples.
The Jewish population of Judea was largely exterminated
in the period of repression which followed the fall of Bethar.
The subjugation was associated with massacres and religious
persecution, the sale of Jews into slavery, and uprooting of the
people from the soil. The Jewish center of gravity now moved
northward, chiefly to Galilee. Thus ended the final and perhaps
greatest war of liberation of the Jews in ancient times.
The independence of Judea had come to an end.
The Judean Desert Documents
The finds, dating from the days of Bar Kokhba and brought
to light in the Judean Desert in 1952–61, contain additional
facts of great importance for an understanding of the social
and economic conditions prevailing during the Bar Kokhba
war in 132–135 C.E. The first documents were found in 1952 in
Wadi Muraba’at about 11 mi. (18 km.) southwest of *Qumran.
Among them are commercial contracts, letters of divorce, two
letters from Bar Kokhba, and one from the administrators of
the community addressed to Jeshua b. Galgolah. An archaeological
expedition undertaken in the Judean Desert south of
En-Gedi in 1960–61 uncovered, alongside material finds such
as skeletons, linen, remnants of clothes, metal and glass vessels,
and remains of food, many documents of the time of the
Bar Kokhba war, chiefly in one of the caves in Naḥal Ḥever,
now named “The Cave of the Letters.” The letters and economic
documents in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek uncovered
in the cave testify to the economic position in southern Judea
on the eve of the revolt and at the height of the war (on the
documents, their language, literary form, and historical significance
see *Dead Sea Scrolls).
The letters, written apparently in Bar Kokhba’s name
but not personally by him, deal with everyday matters. Some
of them are not entirely clear. The dates mentioned in them
range from the second to the fourth year of the liberation of
Israel (132–134 C.E.). The letters open with an almost identical
formula:
ןב עושיל ןועמשמ .ולש ךרכה ישנאל הלוגלג ןב עשיל הבסוכ ןב ןועמשמ
;םלס הלבסמלו ןתנוהיל לארשי לע יסנה הבסוכ רב ןועמש ;םולש הלוגלג
הדוהיל ןועמש ;םולש ןיעב. אלבסמל ידגניע ישנאל אבסוכ רב ןועמשמ
.(ו)ב ןת(נ)והיל(ר) היברע תירקל השנמ רב
“From Simeon ben Kosevah to Jeshua ben Galgolah and the
men of his fortress!”; “From Simeon to Jeshua ben Galgolah,
peace!”; “Simeon bar Kosevah the nasi [“prince”] of Israel to
Jonathan and Masbela, peace!”; “From Simeon bar Koseva to
the men of En-Gedi to Masbela (and) to Jonathan B(ar) Ba’ayan
peace!” “Simeon to Judah bar Manasseh to Kiryat Araviyah.”
In a letter to Jeshua b. Galgolah, one of his army commanders,
Bar Kokhba refers to the םיאללג (gllʾym), who are to be protected
and, sternly reminding his men of this, threatens them
with irons: “I call Heaven to witness against me … that I shall
put your feet in irons.” The actual occasion and the identity of
the םיאללג are not clear from the letter. In another letter to Jeshua,
Bar Kokhba orders him to offer hospitality on the Sabbath
to men who were bringing wheat to the camp and to provide
them with accommodation until “after the Sabbath.”
In other letters found in Naḥal Ḥever, the nasi writes to
Masbelah b. Simeon and Jonathan b. Bayahu, who were apparently
in command of the En-Gedi front, about the wheat supply,
the grain harvest, the confiscation of property, the supervision
of the men, and the mobilization of the men of *Tekoa
160 ENCYCLOPAEDIA JUDAICA, Second Edition, Volume 3