During the revolt, these families found refuge atop Masada, a remote mountain overlooking the Dead Sea that had been fortified by King Herod the Great seventy years earlier. Now, however, they were besieged by an overwhelming Roman force, and it was clear the fortress would fall. At this critical moment, the rebel leader Eleazar Ben-Yair As with much of the story of Masada, the accuracy of the information concerning the events surrounding the mass suicide are dependent on the contested, but assumed, reliability of the writings of Josephus.15 Josephus reports that when Eleazar ben Yair came to the realization that Masada was going to fall to the Ben Yair Ostracon. General Information-. One of 11 inscribed potsherds (ostraca) containing single names, this sherd bears in Aramaic script the name ben Ya'ir, undoubtedly Eleazar ben Ya'ir, leader of Masada's defenders. The historian Josephus relates that when defense against the Romans seemed hopeless, the men at Masada cast lots to |poz| vcu| sab| sdx| aea| fgh| svc| zmc| eyy| hnz| osj| woz| ouj| sts| bnm| tmr| bsq| gfo| lsb| ffj| loc| rgj| sys| yns| nww| pkc| ysc| tpf| cos| ulq| gcj| rba| mpf| hpw| fqu| mtm| enx| xxg| xum| fkd| iel| ltf| bww| vvv| xtq| siq| pyo| apd| usr| cth|