MASADA. — Fortress on a rocky hill in the Judaean desert, west of the Dead Sea. The original construction, according to Flavius Josephus (Bell. Iud., VIII, 3), dates back to Ionathan (161–143), but David had probably already sought refuge in this place (I Sam. 24, 1). The fort served as a refuge for Herod the Great, with 800 people besides the women, in 42 B.C., when he was fighting against the Parthians (Fl. Josephus, Antiq. Iud., XIX, 14, 6). A few years later Herod transformed the fortress into a fortified royal residence, making it more secure by means of a difficult approach guarded by a tower.
In A.D. 66, M. was occupied by the Sicarii, or uncompromising partisans against the Romans, who spread terror in the nearby localities: Engaddi, Hebron, Thecua, and Herodium. After a memorable siege, meticulously prepared, Flavius Silva occupied the fortress, but found there the 190 besieged, who had killed one another at the instigation of Eleazar, with the exception of two women and their children (Fl. Josephus, Bell. Iud., VII, 8, 2). Probably from that time M. was dismantled. Christianity reached it, and there is still a single-nave church with a narthex, situated in the middle of the enclosure. It may have been built by St. Euthymius (v.): Cyril of Scythopolis, speaking of the Saint’s retreat, calls it Marda, which some consider a Syriac word for M.; but others identify the Euthymian site with Hirbet el-Merd, also called Castellino, where St. Sabas later built a monastery. In our own day M. bears the name of Sebbeh, and the remains of the great fortress can be clearly seen, with two palaces, several houses, many cisterns, columbaria, and remains of the fortifications of 66: a circumvallation wall,
8 camps, of which 2 are principal and 4 secondary, very well preserved, and the agger or embankment for the assault.