The Masada myth is the early Zionist retelling of the Siege of Masada, and an Israeli national myth. The Masada myth is a selectively constructed narrative based on Josephus's account, with the Sicarii instead depicted as national heroes in the First Jewish–Roman War. Josephus, the only written source for the event – albeit one considered to have a pro-Roman bias – described the Sicarii using words that have been translated as "bandits", "terrorists" and "murderers", and recorded them not only fighting the Romans but also killing their fellow Jews.[
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The modern myth version first emerged and was promoted in Mandatory Palestine and later Israel. Despite the modern academic consensus, popular accounts by figures like Yigal Yadin and Moshe Pearlman have perpetuated the myth, influencing public perception.[: "On the professional level, we now know that the Masada myth is a particular selective historically invented sequence (narrative) based, par-tially, on Josephus Flavius's account, minus some very important details and supplemented by items ranging from a rather liberal interpretation of his writings to sheer fabrication. The way in which this particular sequence was socially constructed can be understood in terms of leveling, sharpening, and assimilation. The Allport and Postman model that was used in this context was very helpful in conceptualizing the process. In this book, we analyzed the way in which the Masada mythical narrative was socially constructed by Jews in British-occupied Palestine and in the State of Israel. Hence, most of the emphasis was placed on social activities in this region and on texts in the Hebrew language. However, the non-Hebrew-speaking person, in Israel and abroad, has also been exposed to much of the same myth. Two of the more popular books in English - Yadin (1966) and Pearlman (1967) - present a magnificent example of the Masada mythical narrative. The debate in the more academic journals did not reach most interested parties, and the discussion in the popular Jewish press (e.g., in the Jewish Spectator) may have only helped to confuse the issue. The Masada mythical narrative was consciously invented, fabricated, and supported by key moral entrepreneurs and organizations in the Yishuv. At the time, central Jewish leaders (see, e.g., Guttman's interview) were very reluctant to use this rather questionable tale. Much of the success in its acceptance can be attributed to these key moral entrepreneurs"][: "Most Israeli archaeologists now accept that what really happened at Masada was very different from the picture painted by Professor Yigael Yadin, the archaeologist and former chief of staff of the Israeli army, who carried out the highly publicised excavations in 1963-65."] In the myth narrative, the defenders of Masada were depicted as of heroism, freedom, and national dignity. This narrative selectively emphasized Josephus's account, highlighting the defenders' courage and resistance while omitting the details of their murderous campaign against innocent Jews, as well as certain elements of their final mass suicide.[: "The Sicari - or "knife-wielders" - adopted their name from their favorite means of political persuasion, and their reputation was anything but heroic in their own time. According to Josephus's testimony, they terrorized any Judeans who opposed the rebellion— using the tactics of assassination, arson, and theft. After killing the Roman garrison and taking control of the fortress at Masada at the outbreak of the revolt, they continued their violent ways. They did not come to the aid of their rebel colleagues in Jerusalem when the city was under siege by the Tenth Roman Legion but preferred to remain at their desert hideaway, maintaining themselves by preying on the surrounding populace. During the festival of Passover in A.D. 68, for example, they raided the nearby settlement of Ein Gedi, carrying off the inhabitants' crops and livestock. Their victims in this encounter were not the hated Romans, but - according to Josephus - more than 700 innocent Jewish men, women, and children."] The early Zionist settlers wished to reconnect with ancient Jewish history, and thus used the Masada myth narrative to establish a sense of national heroism and to promote patriotism.[: "How did the site of a reported mass suicide of a band of Jewish rebels who terrorized other Jews become a symbol of the modern State of Israel? The creation of the Masada myth—in which these Jewish terrorists are transformed into freedom fighters and the mass suicide becomes a heroic last stand-has been explored by a number of scholars. While archaeology has been used in many countries to advance political or nationalistic agendas, Masada perhaps best exemplifies this phenomenon. Although Masada's eventual fame is largely a result of Yadin's excavations, the site had become a symbol of the modern State of Israel long before the 1960s. It is the late Israeli archaeologist Shmaryahu Gutman who deserves much of the credit for the creation of the Masada myth. Beginning in the 1930s and through the next couple of decades, Gutman organized treks to Masada for youth movements and groups of guides which established the site as an emblem of Zionist aspirations. With the creation of Israel in 1948, Masada became a symbol of the new state. Gutman continued to make a case for Masada's importance through the 1950s and was involved in the first archaeological explorations of the site. It was because of Gutman's persistence that Yadin later undertook excavations at Masada. Nachman Ben-Yehuda, an Israeli sociologist, notes that the Masada myth is based on a whitewashing of Josephus's account. For example, instead of referring to sicarii, the Jews atop Masada are typically described as Zealots, as for example by Yadin, or as defenders or rebels-neutral terms that mask the group's violent activities. Their terrorism of other Jews, including the massacre of innocent villagers at Ein Gedi, is overlooked in the Masada myth. A constellation of interrelated events in the twentieth century made possible Masada's transformation into a symbol of Jewish heroism and the modern State of Israel. First, the European Jews who immigrated to Palestine in the first half of the twentieth century sought to establish a physical connection to the Zionist homeland. Treks like those organized by Gutman to Masada were intended to forge this bond…. "][: "Thus, the meaning of Masada was first and foremost shaped by the urge to forge a sense of historical continuity between the modern-day Zionist National Revival and Antiquity, when Jews lived in their own homeland, and to heighten their divergence from Exile. The Masada episode, marking the end of the Jewish revolt against the Romans, was seen as the essence of the national spirit that made the Jews stand up and fight for their freedom. In the period in which the Zionist settlers and the first generation of New Hebrews wished to define themselves as the direct descendants of the ancient Hebrews, they portrayed the Masada people as the authentic carriers of the spirit of active heroism, love of freedom, and national dignity, which, according to the Zionist collective memory, disappeared during centuries of Exile. Masada was therefore presented as a positive model of behavior and an important patriotic lesson. To fulfill this role, the Masada commemorative narrative required a highly selective representation of Josephus's historical record. By emphasizing certain aspects of his account and ignoring others, the commemorative narrative reshaped the story and transformed its meaning. The new myth narrative highlights the defenders' courage in rebelling against the Romans in the first place and in sustaining their resistance long after the rest of Judaea had been defeated. It stresses their heroic spirit, devotion, and readiness to fight until the last drop of blood but does not dwell on the specifics of the final episode of death. In so doing, the myth narrative elaborates where Josephus is silent and silences some of his more elaborate descriptions: the ancient historian does not mention a direct confrontation between the besieged Masada people and the Roman soldiers, yet he does provide a long and detailed description of the collective suicide."] In the aftermath of the Holocaust, the story's themes of resilience and isolation resonated with and circulated in Israeli public discourse, youth movements, and film media.
The widespread embrace of the Masada myth in Israel started waning in the late twentieth century. Israelis advocating for compromise in the Israeli–Palestinian peace process associated Masada's symbolism as an uncompromising last stand with right-wing nationalism, and the story became less prominent as a broad national symbol.
The Masada myth's central role in Israeli collective memory has puzzled scholars due to its structural differences from other national myths: Josephus's account was not an origin myth, did not provide formative context, and was not in nature. It has been described as "an extreme example of the construction of national memory", as it had no prior basis in Jewish collective memory.
Background and elements
The only primary source on the Siege of Masada is the Jewish-Roman historian Josephus Flavius, who, though not a witness to this event, had participated in the broader Jewish Revolt before joining the Roman side. In a 1986 article investigating the national myth by Barry Schwartz, Yael Zerubavel and Bernice M. Barnett, it was described as "one of the least significant and least successful events in ancient Jewish history". Josephus describes the defenders of Masada as Sicarii, an extreme Jewish group known for assassination. The Sicarii's activities had been suppressed by 65 C.E. The following year, under Menahem ben Judah, they seized Herod’s fortress at Masada, slaughtering its Roman garrison and then conducted a raid on Jerusalem, burning the upper city and its archives and assassinating the High Priest in Jerusalem, Eleazar ben Hanania. They then withdrew to Masada, and plundered local villages, such as Ein Gedi, where, during the observation of Passover,[: "The only literary source is Josephus Flavius, the Jewish historian who had himself taken part in the revolt before joining the Roman side. His account says that the defenders of Masada took no part in the war against Rome during the siege of Jerusalem, but instead plundered local villages including En Gedi on the Dead Sea, where "women and children, more than 700 in number, were butchered"... Professor Yadin wanted to prove that the defenders of Masada were the hard-core supporters of a national resistance movement led by the Zealots, the movement which fought in Jerusalem. He interpreted scrolls found at Masada as showing that the defenders came from different sects and groups, though the scrolls may have been looted from nearby villages. What Josephus actually said was that the defenders of Masada were Sicarii, an extreme Jewish group who specialised in assassination and had killed the High Priest in Jerusalem."] Josephus also states that the Sicarii did not participate in the war with Rome between 66 and 73 CE. In his account, the denizens of Masada were persuaded to die en masse by Eleazar ben Ya'ir. Most were purportedly killed by ten rebels, and only seven survived by hiding, two old women and five children.
By contrast, the mythical narrative depicts the Sicarii as morally upright anti-Roman freedom fighters, who only escaped to Masada after the fall of Jerusalem, and who unanimously chose death over slavery.
Evolution
In 1927, shortly after the first Hebrew translation of Josephus was published, 27-year-old Yitzhak Lamdan published a Hebrew epic poem called "A Historical Epic" about the Jewish struggle for survival in a world full of enemies. The poem described Masada as a symbol for the Land of Israel and the Zionist enterprise, and as both a refuge and a potential trap. The poem was highly influential, but the "potential trap" aspect was left out in its mainstream Zionist reception and interpretation.[: "... the manner in which secular Zionists utilized the poem, that is, as a major element for experiencing the Masada mythical narrative, deviated ― very clearly ― from Lamdan's original intent. Lamdan's ambivalence simply disappears. His genuine concern that Eretz Israel may become a trap (and not a refuge) for Jews (that is, a second Masada) was almost completely eliminated in favor of what was presented as a proud, heroic national interpretation."] According to literary scholar and cultural historian David G. Roskies, Lamdan's poem later inspired the uprising in the Warsaw Ghetto.
The transformation of Masada into a symbol of modern Israeli heroism has been attributed to Shmarya Guttman. In 1942, through organized treks and advocacy, Guttman established Masada as a Zionist emblem. The Masada myth often whitewashed Josephus's account, overlooking the Sicarii's violent actions and presenting them instead as heroic defenders. This transformation was facilitated by a constellation of events in the twentieth century, including knowledge of the Holocaust. Between February and July 1942, the Masada ethos became deeply rooted in youth movements and public discourse. The myth narrative resonated strongly, symbolizing Jewish resilience and loneliness during the Holocaust. Youth movements and Palmach squads integrated this ethos into their activities, reinforcing its significance.
Archeologist Yigal Yadin, formerly the Israeli Chief of the General Staff, sought to portray the defenders as committed supporters of a national resistance led by the Zealots.[ For example, Yadin interpreted scrolls found at Masada as evidence of diverse sectarian support. However, these scrolls might have been looted from nearby villages, and Josephus's identification of the defenders as Sicarii suggests a more complex picture.][ In 1969 the Israeli government held a state funeral for 27 skeletons found during Yadin's excavations.][: "One famous movie has been made that popularized the Masada mythical narrative to a great extent… The movie, produced by a Christian missionary, created a bit of controversy in Israel, angering Yigael Yadin so much that he considered suing its producers… based on a novel by Ernest K. Gann, were made, and shooting was under way. The book and the movie both repeat many elements of the Masada mythical narrative while clothing it in a synthetic “love story.”… The movie repeats the elements of the mythical narrative, such as the lack of mention of the Ein Gedi massacre, the escape from Jerusalem after the city was destroyed, and the lack of mention of the Sicarii (the movie portrays the defenders of Masada as Zealots); the siege is shown to have lasted for three years against ferocious resistance, complete with fierce, pitched fightings. Moreover, the movie adds some elements, too, such as the contact between Flavius Silva and Elazar Ben-Yair."]
According to historian Tessa Rajak, the Masada myth's prominence in the collective memory of Israel has surprised scholars because the original Josephus narrative it draws from structurally differs from common national myths, which usually are , provide formative context, or narrate heroics. Citing the narrative's absence from Jewish collective memory prior to its popularization in the twentieth century, historian Shlomo Sand called the Masada myth "an extreme example of the construction of national memory".
Decline
The Masada myth began to decline in the latter half of the 20th century; this has been attributed to the changing political and social dynamics within Israel. During the 1970s and 1980s, Israeli society faced complex challenges, including debates over the occupied territories and the peace process. The rigid and uncompromising stance symbolized by Masada became associated with right-wing nationalism and was increasingly viewed negatively by those advocating for peace and compromise. As a result, Masada’s significance as a national symbol waned, with fewer youth and military groups visiting the site, and official ceremonies shifting to other locations.
In parallel with these changing political dynamics, scholars and intellectuals began to critically analyze the historical sources, particularly the writings of Josephus, to reveal discrepancies and fabrications within the popular myth. Although most scholars have focused on the differences between the modern myth and Josephus's version, others have focused on the question of the accuracy of Josephus's narrative.
Notable scholars who have studied the phenomenon include Bernard Lewis (1975), Baila R. Shargel (1979),[Shargel, Baila R. 1979. “The Evolution of the Masada Myth.” Judaism 28:357-71.] Yael Zerubavel (1980),[Zerubavel, Yael. 1980. The Last Stand: On the Transformation of Symbols in Modern Israeli Culture. Ph.D. Diss. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania] Edward Bruner and Phyllis Gorfain (1984),[Bruner, Edward M., and Phyllis Gorfain. 1984. “Dialogic Narration and the Paradoxes of Masada.” In Text, Play, and Story: The Construction and Reconstruction of Self and Society, ed. Stuart Plattner and Edward M. Bruner, pp. 56-75. Washington: American Ethnological Society.] Barry Schwartz, Yael Zerubavel, and Bernice M. Barnett (1986), Robert Paine (1991, 1994),[Paine, Robert. 1991. Masada between History and Memory. Paper prepared for the “Politics of Memory” session, conference of the Canadian Historical Association, Memorial University of Newfoundland, June; Paine, Robert. 1994. “Masada: A History of a Memory.” History and Anthropology 6(4): 371-409.] Pierre Vidal-Naquet (1983, 1991),[Vidal-Naquet, Pierre. 1983. “Josephus Flavius and Masada.” Zemanim 13:67—75 (Hebrew); Vidal-Naquet, Pierre. 1991. The Murderers of Memory. Trans. Ada Paldor. Tel Aviv: Am Oved (Hebrew).] Anita Shapira (1992) and Nachman Ben-Yehuda (1996). Rhetorical usage of the myth continues in modern Israeli political discourse, particularly in discussions of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict.
See also
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Politics of archaeology in Israel and Palestine
Footnotes
Bibliography
