Customer Reviews

Sacrificing Truth: Archaeology and the Myth of Masada

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While this book is a bit of a rehash of his earlier work of a similar name, it does contain new research to bolster his position. Keep in mind that the author has acknowledged that David Rappaport's work has influenced in from the traditional view to a more exacting view of what had taken place. Several key points that he brings up are well worth keeping in mind with the myth/legend that has become greater than it's birth. For example the sole source of any reference is the writings of Josephus, whose tainted history brings much to question, espcially when modern digs contradict stories that were written for his Roman patroni, who permitted the assasin to live to be their chronicler of Jewish history. So if what he wrote cannot be validated, and there is no evidence to support this, it becomes an interesting detective story to discover what might actually have happened.

While the author does focus more on the political and personal agendas behind the elevation of this small blurb by one questionable source than I would have liked, the emphasis of this does drive home a strong point for those with an partially-open mind willing to put aside the stories that were told to them as children to create a desired feeling of patriotic fervor, and consider that, while this is not a bad thing, being unable to distinguish between the actuality and the legend is not desirable by any means.

Kol h'Kvod to the author for being willing to put aside his initial predjudices that the legend was fully true, and then acknowledging that the work of another had merit. I recommend that others do the same when reading his work.

Ben-Yehuda builds a weak case of Neo-revisionism. Rather than investigate the true archaeological record, the author relies on the skewed and biased reporting of liberal reporters...especially those of Ha'Aretz. If you want to really learn more, read the work of Prof. Amnon Ben-Tor, "Back To Masada." Here, Ben-Tor masterfully undermines the argument that Masada is only a myth.

It is immediately obvious that the author is guilty of the very same desire to prove a pre-conceived notion, that he accuses Yigal Yadin of. Except that his "refutations" are weak, contrived, and based on things that include, the precise wording or emphasis used by newspaper reporters in reporting on the excavations. The author repeatedly points to differences in the initial description of certain archaeological finds, and later descriptions of those same relics. Yadin's descriptions are less certain earlier and more certain after further digging and research. Is this not what you would expect from a careful researcher?
You'll learn nothing about the archaeology of Masada from this book.