Yodefat
Ancient Yodefat is located
in central Galilee, on a hill rising to 419 m. above sea level. Deep
valleys surround the hill on all sides except the north, where a low
saddle separates it from the rest of the mountain range. In rabbinic
sources, Yodefat is described as a fortress dating from the time of
Joshua; it was among the towns captured by Tiglath Pileser III in 732
BCE. In the Second Temple period Yodefat was an important Jewish town, mentioned in the Mishna
and the Talmud (Jewish Oral Law). Its geographical position is
precisely as described by the 1st century historian Josephus
Flavius. (Wars III, 7,7)
Between 1992 and 1998, seven
excavation seasons were conducted in the remains of Yodefat.
Fortifications and buildings of the Hellenistic and Roman
periods and clear evidence of the town's destruction during the
Jewish revolt against Rome were uncovered.
The Fortifications
A small village was built on
the top of the hill of Yodefat during the Hellenistic
period (3rd-2nd centuries BCE). In the 1st century BCE, under Hasmonean
rule, the crest of the hill was surrounded by a wall, whilst the
northern side, devoid of natural defenses, was fortified by a 5.5 m.
thick double wall, strengthened with massive towers. During the Early
Roman period (end of the 1st century BCE - beginning of the 1st
century CE), a new town wall was constructed on the southern part of
the hill, expanding the town's area to some 13 acres.
The Residential Quarters
Densely built-up residential
areas, some with narrow lanes along the town's wall, were constructed
in the early Roman Period. The
houses were built on terraces, their backs cut into the rock of the
hillside; where this was steep, the rooms were built as
"steps", each up to half a meter higher than the previous
room. The dwellers of these quarters had to rely on rock-cut cisterns
for their water supply since there is no nearby spring, yet in some
of the houses, mikva'ot (Jewish ritual baths) were found. In
the southern part of the town a number of pottery kilns were
uncovered, and dozens of clay loom weights were found in the ruins of
one of the houses, indicating that weaving took place there. The
remains of a large mansion near the top of the town, some of its
rooms decorated with frescos painted in geometric patterns and as
imitation marble, are evidence of some wealth.
The Destruction of
Yodefat
Yosef ben Matityahu (the
contemporary historian who called himself Josephus
Flavius) was born of a priestly family; he was appointed
commander of the Galilee at the outbreak of the Jewish revolt against
the Romans in 66 CE and undertook the fortification of several towns,
the key fortress being Yodefat.
In 67 CE, the Roman army
under Vespasian (who was soon to become Emperor of Rome) besieged the
city, which held out for 47 days. Josephus himself describes the
siege, the suicide pact of the last defenders and his own surrender
to the Romans. (Wars III, 7)
Remains of the Roman siege
ramp were found in the northern part of the town. Evidence of the
battle that took place here includes dozens of iron arrowheads,
ballista stones and heavy rolling stones. The skeletons of some 30
men, women and children in a water cistern, are silent, but vivid
testimony to the fate of Yodefat's inhabitants.
A personal memento, created
by one of Yodefat's residents, is a flat stone (10 x 9 cm.) with
incised drawings: on its face is a structure with a stepped podium
and gabled roof (a mausoleum of the type decorating ossuaries used
for burial in Jerusalem at the time); on the reverse, a crab is
depicted. These motifs have been interpreted as representing death
(the mausoleum), and the time of the defeat - the Hebrew month of
Tamuz, whose sign is the crab.
Sources: Israel
Antiquities Authority |