Editing Masada (section)

=== Archaeology vs. Josephus ===
==== No Hasmonean buildings found ====
Yadin's team could detect no architectural remains of the Hasmonean period, the only findings firmly dated to this period being the numerous coins of [[Alexander Jannaeus]].<ref name=Negev/> Researchers have speculated that the southwestern block of the Western Palace and the auxiliary buildings east and south of it could be Hasmonean, relying on similarities to the [[Hasmonean royal winter palaces|Twin Palaces]] at [[Jericho]].<ref name=Negev/> However, their excavators could make no archaeological discovery able to support this presumption.<ref name=Negev/>

====Inaccurate description====
According to Shaye Cohen, archaeology shows that Josephus' account is "incomplete and inaccurate". Josephus writes of only one palace; archaeology reveals two. His description of the northern palace contains several inaccuracies, and he gives exaggerated figures for the height of the walls and towers. Josephus' account is contradicted by the "skeletons in the cave, and the numerous separate fires".<ref>{{cite book | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=mmj4RcszCHgC| title = The significance of Yavneh and other essays in Jewish Hellenism | author = Shaye J.D. Cohen | page=143| isbn = 978-3-16-150375-7 | year = 2010 | publisher = Mohr Siebeck }}</ref>

==== Historicity of mass suicide ====
According to [[Josephus]], the [[siege of Masada]] by [[Roman Empire|Roman]] troops from 73 to 74 [[Common Era|CE]], at the end of the [[First Jewish–Roman War]], ended in the [[mass suicide]] of the 960 [[Sicarii]] rebels who were hiding there. However, the archaeological evidence relevant to this event is ambiguous<ref name="Sloane2017">{{cite news |last1=Sloane |first1=Elizabeth |date=May 16, 2017 |title=Did the Jews Kill Themselves at Masada Rather Than Fall Into Roman Hands? |url=https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/MAGAZINE-is-the-masada-tradition-true-1.5472686 |access-date=21 March 2021 |work=[[Haaretz Newspaper]]}}</ref><ref name="Magness2020">{{cite web |last1=Magness |first1=Jodi |date=May 27, 2020 |title=The Remarkable Story of Masada: Guest Post by Jodi Magness |url=https://ehrmanblog.org/the-story-of-masada-guest-post-by-jodi-magness/ |access-date=21 March 2021 |website=The Bart Ehrman Blog |publisher=The Bart Ehrman Foundation}}</ref> and rejected entirely by some scholars.<ref name="Sloane2017"/><ref name="Rodgers2007">{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/makinghistoryjos00rodg |title=Making History: Josephus And Historical Method |date=2007 |publisher=Brill |isbn=978-90-04-15008-9 |editor=Zuleika Rodgers |page=[https://archive.org/details/makinghistoryjos00rodg/page/n411 397] |url-access=limited}}</ref> Eric Cline also believes that Josephus is retelling a similar event that happened to him during the [[Siege of Yodfat]]. There he and another soldier, the last survivors, decided to surrender rather than have one kill the other.<ref name="Cline">{{cite journal |last1=Cline |first1=Eric H |title=Decoding the ancient tale of mass suicide in the Judaean desert {{!}} Aeon Essays |journal=Aeon |date=20 Feb 2017 |url=https://aeon.co/essays/decoding-the-ancient-tale-of-mass-suicide-in-the-judaean-desert |language=en}}</ref>