THIS MONTH'S COVER 



2 May, 73 A.D. 



The Tenth Legion, Flavius Silva commanding, 



advances on Masada, in the last engagement of 



the Jewish War. Josephus, a Jewish commander 



who earlier in the war went over to Rome, 



wrote the history of the desperate rebellion of 



the Jews against Imperial Rome. 



In the last book of his History, he describes the 



morning of 2 May 



The Romans, still expecting opposition, were in 



arms at daybreak. Having planked bridges 



from the mounds to the fortress, they advanced 



to the assault. When they saw no enemy 



but only fearful solitude on every side, flames 



within, and silence, they were at a loss 



to conjecture what had happened. ... In an 



attempt to quench the flames, they 



quickly opened a passage through them and 



reached the palace. Here they encountered the 



mounds of the slain. Instead of rejoicing 



at the death of their foes, they admired 



the courage of their resolve and the intrepid 



contempt of death so many had shown by such 



a deed as this. 



The diorama on the cover, which in its entirety 

 shows over five thousand military miniatures 

 of Roman legionaries, is part of a major 

 Special Exhibit, opening at Field Museum on 

 5 May. 



Masada, King Herod's Fortress, shown with great 

 acclaim in London and New York, will be at 

 Field Museum through 15 August. The exhibit 

 was organized by the Jewish Theological 

 Seminary of America and the Israel 

 Exploration Society. 



In connection with the exhibit. Field Museum 

 is sponsoring a lecture series on the significance 

 of Masada. Four evening lectures will be 

 held on consecutive Tuesdays in May and 

 June. Details on the series and the 

 distinguished speakers are on page 7. 

 The Exhibit tells the story not only of the heroic 

 struggle and brave end of the zealot 

 stronghold, but also the arduous and pains- 

 taking work of Archaeologist Yigael Yadin 

 and more than 5000 volunteers from 

 28 countries who dug the site in 1963-65. 

 Mr. Yadin tells the story in the following 

 pages. 



Page 2 MAT 



by 



YIGAEL YADIN 



Professor of Archaeology, 

 Hebrew University of Jerusalem 



