Biblical Passage And Forensic Analysis Suggest New Theory On Human Remains At Masada

IHT ^ | 6-22-2007 | AP

[blam]

Biblical passage and forensic analysis suggest new theory on human remains at Masada

The Associated Press
Published: June 22, 2007

MASADA, Israel: An Israeli anthropologist is using modern forensics and an obscure Biblical passage to challenge the accepted wisdom about mysterious human remains found at Masada, the desert fortress famous as the scene of a mass suicide nearly 2,000 years ago.

A new research paper published Friday takes another look at the remains of three people found in a bathhouse at the site — two male skeletons and a full head of women's hair, including two braids. They were long thought to have belonged to a family of Zealots, the fanatic Jewish rebels said to have killed themselves rather than fall into Roman slavery in the spring of 73 A.D., a story that became an important part of Israel's national mythology.

Along with other bodies found at Masada, the three were recognized as Jewish heroes by Israel's government in 1969 and given a state burial, complete with Israeli soldiers carrying flag-draped coffins.

But Israel might have mistakenly bestowed that posthumous honor on three Romans, according to a paper in the June issue of the journal Near Eastern Archaeology by anthropologist Joe Zias and forensics expert Azriel Gorski.

The remains of the three became a key part of the site's story when Masada was excavated in the 1960s. Yigael Yadin, the renowned Israeli archeologist in charge of the dig, thought they illustrated the historical account of Zealot men killing their wives and children and then themselves before the Roman legionnaires breached Masada's defenses.

Upon finding the remains, the crew "relived the final and most tragic moments of the drama at Masada," Yadin wrote in his book documenting the dig, mentioning that the woman's "dark hair, beautifully plaited, looked as if

[blam]

GGG Ping.

[Sleeping Freeper]

I’ve learned that with these types of things.... what happened 2000 years ago will never be verified 100%....it’s all speculation based on the best tools and information available at the time of study. We often don’t know what really happened 100 years ago... or yesterday for that matter.

[Cicero]

Interesting article. Impossible to be sure, one way or another, about these particular remains.

Even if this new theory accounts for the woman’s hair, however, that does not make the story of Masada as told in Josephus untrue, as the latter part of the article seems to suggest.

[blam]

I believe Josephus told a true story.

[saganite]

Seems to me genetic material would still be the best way to verify or debunk the story.

[Does so]

Some modern DNA samples can yield which part of the world the person came from. I wonder if it can be done with a hair sample.

[Cicero]

I don’t think it would be definitive, because the Romans came from a wide variety of races by that time, and the woman could have been a slave or a mistress rather than a wife. But depending on what they found it could certainly add more information.

But in order to do that they would have to open the graves of people who were given a heroic burial, and take samples, which would be pretty sure to be controversial.

[saganite]

Good point.

[wildbill]

If the story told by Josephus wasn’t true, then it should have been.

Frankly, its hard to see what a captive of the Romans would have gained by putting forth a spurious tale that could do nothing but inspire more rebellion.

[WorkingClassFilth]

You got that right.

America can’t even remember what happened between 1992 and 2000. Not to mention what happened on September 11, 2001.

[blam]

"Some modern DNA samples can yield which part of the world the person came from. I wonder if it can be done with a hair sample."

Absolutely, yes!

I just had my DNA traced back 60,000 years.

[BlackVeil]

Even if this new theory accounts for the woman’s hair, however, that does not make the story of Masada as told in Josephus untrue ...

That is correct, although one would wonder how the Masada rebels captured a coiffured Roman woman - they were under assault by troops. But maybe she was a commander's wife.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks Blam.

To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list. Thanks.

Please FREEPMAIL me if you want on or off the
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[GladesGuru]

“We often don’t know what really happened 100 years ago... or yesterday for that matter.”

Very good point.

Hmmmn - do you know what your CongressCritters did last week?

[ApplegateRanch]

Hmmmn - do you know what your CongressCritters did last week?

Yes; they all GGG'd!

Grifted, Grafted, & Glad-handed

[Peanut Gallery]

Interesting. Josephus description is less than honorable. Was En Gedi a Roman village at that time perchance? Could the captives (and the woman’s hair) have been from the En Gedi raid?

[Dustbunny]

I believe Josephus told a true story.

Ditto to that!!!

[Fred Nerks]

The new paper is only the latest in a string of attacks on the original Masada dig, which some scholars now think was colored less by scientific rigor than by a desire to enshrine the desert fortress as a national myth of heroism and sacrifice.

secular jews attacking their own history and culture? That should make the arabs happy.

[Paisan]

and many scholars now believe that it was either greatly exaggerated or never happened at all.

This is akin to the liberal interview technique: “Some would say...”
None of the dissenting scholars are named.
My understanding is that very few, if ANY, skeletal remains were found at Masada. Roman custom was more towards cremation - all the dead would have been burned by the Roman victors - Jewish as well as Roman. This would suggest that the theory regarding captive Romans would have some weight IMO. DNA is a good start...