Abstract
The ceramic assemblage of the rebels at Masada is compared with other contemporary sites in order to determine whether it is unique or conventional. Consequently, the rebels’ material culture is examined to understand their social organization and structure, with an eye to their spatial organization, according to their food consumption and food preparation. The proportion of tableware, storage and cooking vessels, as well as the number and location of ovens and stoves in each building, attest to significant differences in how food was prepared, and the ways it was eaten: from a ceremonial feast with many participants (in the Western Palace and perhaps in Building 11) to a simple meal eaten from communal serving utensils, probably in small social units (in the Casemate Wall and Building 13), and several ways of eating and cooking between these two extremes in the other buildings. This leads to the conclusion that the rebels were divided into several communities with different practices and social structure.
Highlights
According to Flavius Josephus, Masada was captured by the Sicarii anti-Roman rebel movement in 66 CE (Jewish War 2.408, 433-434, 447; 7:275, but see the obscure reference to the identity of those who captured it first in War 2.408)
Josephus describes the Roman siege and the final days of Masada in great detail, including long citations of speeches made by Elazar son of Yair, leader of the
According to Josephus’ description, it would seem that the entire population of Masada at the time of its destruction, some 1000 people, all adhered to a homogenous, zealous ideology (Jewish War 7.389, 393, 408, 433-434)
Summary
According to Flavius Josephus, Masada was captured by the Sicarii anti-Roman rebel movement in 66 CE (Jewish War 2.408, 433-434, 447; 7:275, but see the obscure reference to the identity of those who captured it first in War 2.408). Correlating the ceramic finds with cooking and baking will enable us to demonstrate the various ways in which cooking, baking and feasting were practiced in the different buildings in Masada, attesting to the rebels’ social diversity. Every diagnostic sherd salvaged by Yadin was documented and defined, noting its specific locus and stratum of discovery.1 Bar-Nathan (2006) dated the ceramics of the rebels (“zealots”) phase based on typological (with comparisons to the finds in other site) and stratigraphic considerations, and notes that most of it was found in situ (2006: 1). Functional class ratios will be examined within the different buildings in the site, recording their residents’ attitude towards food storage, preparation and consumption, implying broader concepts of social organization and cultural behavior. Such a classification is significant inter-site, inside Masada, and intra-site, comparing the ceramic assemblage composition from Masada as a whole to other contemporary sites
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