Fragments of 15 Hebrew documents from this final period at Masada were uncovered
during the excavations led by Y. Yadin between 1963 and 1965. These were found
around the site, the majority being unearthed in or close to the building known as the
‘synagogue’, loci 1042-1043.^754 The documents, 14 parchment and one papyrus, repre-
sent those used by the rebels occupying the fortress during the First Jewish Revolt against
Rome.^755 Most scrolls are severely damaged by the effects of prolonged exposure to the
desert environment, but several also show signs of tearing suggesting deliberate destruc-
tion. In locus 1039, a room close to the synagogue in the north-western casemate, three
biblical and four extra-biblical texts were recovered by archaeologists.^756 In the syna-
754
Fragments were found in the western, eastern and northern sections of the site. Loci 1039, 1042, 1043
and 1045 form part of the western casemate, in and around the ‘synagogue’. These rooms contained 10 of
the 15 Hebrew scrolls discovered at Masada. In particular locus 1039 possibly served as a central place in
which someone, perhaps the Roman besiegers or the Zealots themselves, collected and destroyed property.
On this see Y. Yadin, The Excavation of Masada 1963/64: Preliminary Report (Jerusalem: Israel Explora-
tion Society, 1965) 83. Elsewhere, in an open area approaching the Northern Palace, fragments of a Leviti-
cus scroll (MasLevb) were discovered amidst a large amount of debris, apparently discarded there by those
who defaced it – see Y. Yadin, Masada: Herod's Fortress and the Zealots' Last Stand (New York: Random
House, 1972) 179. A Ben Sirah scroll and one of the Psalms scrolls (MasPsb) were found in rooms to the
north and south of the Snake Path Gate, on the eastern side of the site. These scrolls were also deliberately
defaced – see S. Talmon, Masada VI. Yigael Yadin Excavations 1963-1965. Final Reports (Jerusalem: Is-
rael Exploration Society, 1999) 155. Locus 1276, which contained the fragment of Jubilees (MasJub) is
located in the south western section of the casemate wall. Netzer believed that this locus served the same
purpose for the Roman looters as locus 1039 – see E. Netzer, 755 Masada III, 445.
This much is beyond doubt concerning the scrolls found in locus 1039, which were uncovered along
side coins from the First Revolt (Y. Yadin, Herod's Fortress, 168-71). The scrolls in locus 1043 were bur-
ied beneath the floor made by the rebels, confirming that these belong to the same period. Although the
palaeography of the square script Hebrew parchments was, with the exception of the Ben Sirah scroll, de-
scribed as Herodian according to S. Talmon, Masada VI passim, the circumstances of their deposit indicate
that they were in circulation right up to the end of the Second Temple period. 756
Locus 1042 forms the main hall, while locus 1043 is a small room located in the north-western corner of
locus 1042. These rooms were first identified as a synagogue or ecclesiasteria by Yadin, who initially
posed the idea as conjecture (see Y. Yadin, Preliminary Report, 78-79), before stating the case more defini-