Tuesday, July 20, 2021

On the siege of Yodfat

THE GREAT REVOLT: Yodfat: The Masada You Don’t Know About. In the autumn of 66 CE, Jews came together in the ancient city of Jerusalem and rebelled against the mighty Roman Empire. Little did they know that they had initiated a chain of events… (Joshua Beylinson, HonestReporting). Also relevant for Tisha B'Av, which was observed over the weekend.

The siege of Masada is well known, but other important sieges during the Great Revolt, including those of Gamla and Yodfat (Jotapata) much less so.

Naturally, PaleoJudaica readers are better informed. I have posted on the siege of Jotapata/Yodfat with reference to the Josephus Problem, the little algorithm tha Josephus claimed he used to escape having to commit suicide as the Romans approached.

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