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when several thousand zealots stormed Masada and seized King Herod’s fortress. From there,
the movement spread, as loyalists hoped to restore the throne of the Maccabean kings, which has
been usurped a century earlier. One part of the rebel army stayed at Masada, while the other
marched on Jerusalem. The attempt to recapture the city failed, and the survivors retreated back
to Masada. Rome struck back, and four years later, with nearly a million dead, and many
enslaved, Jerusalem was firmly in their grasp, the Temple was destroyed, and the entire country
was overrun. The Roman Tenth Legion, under the command of Flavius Silva, spent three years
with a legion of 6,000 men, and 15,000 Jewish slaves, to build an assault tower in order to
destroy the last vestiges of Jewish resistance at Masada.
When the Roman soldiers breached the walls of the fortress, they found only corpses, as the
occupants preferred death to being captured and enslaved.
In 1963, Masada was excavated by the Israeli Dept. of Antiquities in a massive
archaeological operation led by Israeli scholar and soldier, Gen. Yigael Yadin. They discovered
coins, tools, weapons, catapult ammunition, wine jars, beads, rings, buckles, jewelry, cosmetics,
ovens, pots, pans, lamps, dishes, baskets, and remnants of woven fabric clothing, as well as 14
parchment scrolls containing Biblical text (Leviticus, Deuteronomy, Psalms, Ezekiel), the
apocryphal Wisdom of Ben-Sira, and Book of Jubilees, and a sectarian scroll which provided a
link between the zealots and the Essenes of Qumran, 30 miles north of Masada.
In a cave on the upper face of the southern-most cliff below the plateau, reached by
descending to it with a rope, 25 skeletons were found: 14 males, ages 22-60; a man between 70
and 80; six females between 15-22; four children from 8-12; and a fetus. It had been believed
that all of the bodies had been thrown over the side; so either the Roman centurions were
unaware of this group which were separated from the main complex, or they were allowed to
remain where they had fallen, just as the three skeletons found in Herod’s palace at the northern
end of the complex, which were believed to be that of Eleazar ben Yáir, the Jewish commander,
his wife and child, and left there as a tribute to his valor. The three were formally buried in July,
1969, at the foot of Masada in a common grave, with full military honors.
It seems likely that there was an easier access to the cave, back at that time, which had since
eroded away, the face of which was clearly visible from at least two nearby camps, so it had to
have been searched. Which means Silva may have known that this was a special group, and also
left them untouched.
If the purpose of the rebel’s presence at Masada was to restore the Hasmonean throne, then
why did the war continue another six years after the death of their leader Mennahem at the battle
in Jerusalem. The prevailing evidence suggested that there was someone at Masada more senior
than either Eleazar or Mennahem. Because of the discovery of this document, it is now believed
that the Zealots on Masada were actually a bodyguard contingent for the Hasmonean Royal
Family, headed by Jesus, their king and Messiah, who they swore to defend till the death.
Another document which was discovered, had been written on the evening of April 15, 73
AD, just after the Roman battering ram had compromised the fortress gate, and was pulled back,
to await the Roman attack which would come at first light. The document was signed by Yeshua
ben Yákob ben Gennesareth, who described himself as a “son of eighty years” (this would have
placed his birth at 7 BC) and the last heir of the Hasmonean (Maccabean) King of Israel.
Translated, the name was ‘Jesus of Gennesareth, son of Jacob.’ This document was the 15th
parchment to be discovered on Masada, and it is believed that it was smuggled out of Israel by a
rogue archaeologist, and taken to Russia. Because it can not be located, the details given about it
were only hearsay. The contents were allegedly revealed to the Vatican in February, 1967,