"(Asphalt Lake). King Herod the Great built or rebuilt several fortresses and palaces on the western bank of the Dead Sea. The most famous was Masada, where in 70 CE a small group of Jewish zealots fled after the fall of the destruction of the Second Temple. The zealots survived until 73 CE, when a siege by the X Legion ended in the deaths by suicide of its 960 inhabitants. Another historically important fortress was Machaerus (מכוור), on the eastern bank, where, according to Josephus, John the Baptist was imprisoned by Herod Antipas and died. Also in Roman times, some"
"According to the controversial research by Professor Israel Knohl of the Hebrew University, in his book ""Hashem"", Mount Hermon is actually the Mount Sinai mentioned in the bible, with the biblical story reminiscent of an ancient battle of the northern tribes with the Egyptians somewhere in the Jordan valley or Golan heights. During the Six-Day War in June 1967, a part of Mount Hermon in Syria was captured by Israel. It was regained by Syria on October 6, 1973, the first day of the Yom Kippur War, following the First Battle of Mount Hermon. Israel recaptured both the formerly Israeli-occupied"
"in the autumn of 72. He used Legio X, auxiliary troops, and thousands of Jewish prisoners, for a total of 10,000 soldiers. After his orders for surrender were rejected, Silva established several base camps and circumvallated the fortress. According to Josephus, when the Romans finally broke through the walls of this citadel in 73, they discovered that 960 of the 967 defenders had committed suicide. Despite the massive upheaval brought by the revolt, the Jewish people remained impressively resilient. The demolishing of the Temple, Jerusalem, and the farming lifestyle of the economy and land of Israel did not stop the"
"south of ""Limes Arabicus"", to defend an area that would become Palaestina Tertia. The legion is not present in the Notitia Dignitatum and was likely disbanded before 395. The name 'Lajjun', associated with the location of the legionary camp, derived from 'Legion'. In Ottoman times a Khan erected in that location was known as ""Khan al-Lajun"", and a Palestinian village of that name existed there until the Arab-Israeli war of 1947-49, when it was depopulated. A popular Russian song called ""Eagle of the 6th Legion"" is dedicated to the 6th Legion. Until the 20th century, the exact location of the"
"Battle of Ammunition Hill Ammunition Hill (, ""Giv'at HaTahmoshet"") was a fortified Jordanian military post in the northern part of Jordanian-ruled East Jerusalem and the western slope of Mount Scopus. It was the site of one of the fiercest battles of the Six-Day War. Ammunition Hill is now a national memorial site. Ammunition Hill was located west of a police academy, with a fortified trench connecting them. The site was built by the British during their Mandatory Palestine in the 1930s, and was used to store the police academy's ammunition. The Jordanian Arab Legion seized control of the hill during"
"of both the first and second temples is still mourned annually as the Jewish fast Tisha B'Av. The Arch of Titus, celebrating the Roman sack of Jerusalem and the Temple, still stands in Rome. The conquest of the city was complete on 8 September 70 CE. Despite early successes in repelling the Roman sieges, the Zealots fought amongst themselves, and they lacked proper leadership, resulting in poor discipline, training, and preparation for the battles that were to follow. At one point they destroyed the food stocks in the city, a drastic measure thought to have been undertaken perhaps in order"
"dating to the second and third years of the Jewish War, indicate that the site was still in use in 68 CE and only destroyed after 70 CE, perhaps as late as 73 CE. The coins from Qumran of this period end with a peculiar series of bronze coins minted in 72/73 CE at Ascalon, which sent auxiliary troops to assist the Roman army in the First Jewish–Roman War (66–73 CE). In 73 CE the Romans stormed the mountain fortress of Masada, which also was located on the western bank of the Dead Sea. It is more than likely that"
"the Temple Mount. The shrine has stood on the mount since 691 CE; the al-Aqsa Mosque, from roughly the same period, also stands in the Temple courtyard. The Temple Mount, along with the entire Old City of Jerusalem, was captured from Jordan by Israel in 1967 during the Six-Day War, allowing Jews once again to visit the holy site. Jordan had occupied East Jerusalem and the Temple Mount immediately following Israel's declaration of independence on May 14, 1948. Israel officially unified East Jerusalem, including the Temple Mount, with the rest of Jerusalem in 1980 under the Jerusalem Law, though United"
"consequently no Jews could visit the tomb. In the 1960s, Jordan renovated the area surrounding the mosque, destroying several historical buildings in the process. Among them, the ruins of the nearby crusader fortress built in 1168. Following the Israeli occupation of the West Bank in the Six-Day War, Hebron came under Jewish control for the first time in 2,000 years and the 700-year-long restriction limiting Jews to the seventh step outside was lifted. According to the Chief Rabbi of the Israel Defense Forces, Major general Rabbi Shlomo Goren's autobiography on 8 June 1967, during the Six-day war, he made his"
"Romans taken hostage by the Jewish Zealots. If this is true, ""Israel might have mistakenly bestowed the honour [of recognition as Jewish heroes and a state burial] on three Romans"". There is also some discussion of Masada's defenders, and whether they were ""the heroic hard core of the great Jewish revolt against Rome, or a gang of killers who became victims of a last Roman mopping-up operation"". Siege of Masada The siege of Masada was one of the final events in the First Jewish–Roman War, occurring from 73 to 74 CE on and around a large hilltop in current-day Israel."
"rainwater reservoir, Birket Israel, in the northeast. As a result of the First Jewish–Roman War, the fortress was destroyed in 70 CE by Titus, the army commander and son of Roman emperor Vespasian. The city of Aelia Capitolina was built in 130 CE by the Roman emperor Hadrian, and occupied by a Roman colony on the site of Jerusalem, which was still in ruins from the First Jewish Revolt in 70 CE. ""Aelia"" came from Hadrian's ""nomen gentile"", ""Aelius"", while ""Capitolina"" meant that the new city was dedicated to Jupiter Capitolinus, to whom a temple was built on the site"
"city. Jerusalem remained in the hands of the Zealots until the Siege of Jerusalem (70 AD) by Roman legions under Titus resulted in the sack of the city and the capture and imprisonment of Zealot leaders. Zealot Temple Siege The Zealot Temple Siege (68 AD) was a short siege of the Temple in Jerusalem fought between Jewish factions during the Great Jewish Revolt against the Roman Empire (66–70 AD). According to the historian Josephus, Ananus incited the people to rise up against the Zealots who were in control of the Temple. The forces of Ananus ben Ananus, one of the"
"The area is under Israeli occupation and administration since 1967 together with the adjacent Golan Heights. The international community sees the area as Syrian territory. The fortress was built around 1229 by Al-Aziz Uthman, the younger son of Saladin, to preempt an attack on Damascus by the armies of the Sixth Crusade. It was named ""Qal'at al-Subeiba"", ""Castle of the Large Cliff"" in Arabic. The fortress was further expanded to contain the whole ridge by 1230. In 1260 the Mongols captured the castle, dismantled some of its defenses and left their ally, the son of Al-Aziz 'Uthman, in charge of"
"this strategic pass. It was in the ravines near Bethoron that the 12th Roman Legion under Cestius Gallus was destroyed in 66 CE at the start of the Great Jewish Revolt. After the subjugation of the Jewish Revolt in 70 CE, the Romans built a fortress in the town to guard the road to Jerusalem. During the later Roman period and under the Byzantines, Beit Ur al-Fauqa lost its importance, becoming a small village by the 5th century CE. The village has been identified with the ""Bethoron Superior"" or ""Vetus Betor"" in the Crusader era. Melisende, Queen of Jerusalem gave"
"Gamla Gamla (, The Camel) was an ancient Jewish city on the Golan Heights. It is believed to have been founded as a Seleucid fort during the Syrian Wars which was turned into a city under Hasmonean rule in 81 BCE. During the Great Revolt, it became an important stronghold for rebels and because of this Gamla is a symbol of heroism for the modern state of Israel and an important historical and archaeological site. It lies within the current Gamla nature reserve and is a prominent tourist attraction. Archaeological excavations have shown that in the place of Gamla there"
"1948 Arab-Israeli war, Mar Elias was the base of the Arab Legion. From the hill east of the monastery, in 1956 one or rather several Jordanian soldiers opened fire on a group of Israeli archaeologists visiting the excavation sites across the valley at Ramat Rachel, killing four and injuring 16. After 1967 the height, known as Elijah Hill, was renamed in Hebrew as Givat ha'Arba'a, Hill of the Four, in honour of the four victims. During the 1967 Six-Day War, the Israel Defense Forces quickly overran Jordanian defences around the monastery on the way to Bethlehem and Hebron. Facing the"
"Aqaba Fortress Aqaba Castle, Mamluk Castle or Aqaba Fort (قلعة العقبة): Located in Aqaba, Jordan. The fortress was originally built by Crusaders in the 12th century, and named ""Helim"". Ayla (Aqaba) was recaptured by Salah Al-Din in 1187 and the fortress was destroyed. It was rebuilt in the early 16th century under Mamluk Sultan Al-Ashraf Qansuh Al-Ghawri In July 1916, Aqaba Fortress was the scene of a great victory of the Arab Revolt, when this heavily defended Turkish stronghold fell to a daring Arab camel charge. Lawrence of Arabia rode triumphantly from here to Cairo to report the good news"
"and his followers returned to Masada and continued their rebellion against the Romans until 73 AD. The Romans eventually took the fortress and, according to Josephus, found that most of its defenders had committed suicide rather than surrender. In Josephus' ""The Jewish War"" (vii), after the fall of the Temple in 70 AD, the ""sicarii"" became the dominant revolutionary Hebrew faction, scattered abroad. Josephus particularly associates them with the mass suicide at Masada in 73 AD and to the subsequent refusal ""to submit to the taxation census when Cyrenius was sent to Judea to make one"" (Josephus) as part of"
"Siege of Jerusalem (63 BC) The Siege of Jerusalem (63 BC) occurred during Pompey the Great's campaigns in the east, shortly after his successful conclusion of the Third Mithridatic War. Pompey had been asked to intervene in a dispute over inheritance to the throne which turned into a war between Hyrcanus II and Aristobulus II for the throne of the Hasmonean Kingdom. His conquest of Jerusalem, however, spelled the end of Jewish independence and the incorporation of Judea as a client kingdom of the Roman Republic. The death of Hasmonean queen Alexandra Salome plunged Judea into a civil war between"
"to the Mishnah, the town of Yodfat was encompassed by a wall before the Israelite conquest of Canaan under Joshua. By the first century CE Yodfat had expanded to encompass an area of 50 dunams (13 acres). Its siege and subsequent destruction in 67 CE are described in Josephus Flavius' The Wars of the Jews, his chronicle of the Great Jewish Revolt against the Romans. Led by future emperor Vespasian, three Roman legions — Legio V ""Macedonica"", X ""Fretensis"", and XV ""Apollinaris"" — besieged Yodfat, meeting strong Jewish resistance. After 47 days the city fell by treachery, and Josephus describes"
"The Roman legions quickly crushed the remaining Jewish resistance. Some of the remaining Jews escaped through hidden underground tunnels and sewers, while others made a final stand in the Upper City. This defense halted the Roman advance as they had to construct siege towers to assail the remaining Jews. Herod's Palace fell on 7 September, and the city was completely under Roman control by 8 September. The Romans continued to pursue those who had fled the city. The account of Josephus described Titus as moderate in his approach and, after conferring with others, ordering that the 500-year-old Temple be spared."
"Siege of Aleppo (637) The Siege of Aleppo, the Byzantine stronghold and one of few remaining Byzantine castles in the northern Levant after the decisive Battle of Yarmouk, was laid between August and October 637. After the decisive Battle of Yarmouk, the Muslims marched northward deeper into Syria. After taking many small and large cities, both Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah and Khalid ibn al-Walid met at Qinnasarin, and they marched to Aleppo, where a strong garrison under a Roman general named Joachim held the fort. Aleppo consisted of a large walled city and a smaller but virtually impregnable fort outside"
"legions with auxiliaries, they defended the border with Parthia. Following the partition of the Herodian Kingdom into tetrarchies in 6 AD, it was gradually absorbed into Roman provinces, with Roman Syria initially annexing Iturea and Trachonitis around 34 AD. Syrian province forces were directly engaged in the Great Jewish Revolt of 66–70 AD. In 66 AD, Cestius Gallus, the legate of Syria, brought the Syrian army, based on XII Fulminata, reinforced by auxiliary troops, to restore order in Judaea and quell the revolt. The legion, however, was ambushed and destroyed by Jewish rebels at the Battle of Beth Horon, a"
"the former Jewish temple, the Temple Mount, but which had before Herod been reconsecrated to Zeus under Antiochus IV Epiphanes and caused the Maccabean Revolt—which resulted in the Jewish-Roman alliance. The Latin name ""Aelia"" is the source of the much later Arabic term Iliyā' (إلياء), a 7th-century Islamic name for Jerusalem. Jerusalem, once heavily rebuilt by Herod, was still in ruins following the decisive siege of the city, as part of the First Jewish–Roman War in 70 AD. Josephus – a contemporary historian and proponent of the Judean cause who was born in Jerusalem and fought the Romans in that"
"Antonia Fortress The Antonia Fortress (Aramaic:קצטרא דאנטוניה) was a military barracks built over the Hasmonean Baris by Herod the Great. Named for his patron Mark Antony, a pre 31 BC date is certain for the Fort as Mark Anthony was defeated by Octavius (later Augustus Caesar) at the sea battle of Actium in 31 BC. Built in Jerusalem on the site of earlier Ptolemaic and Hasmonean strongholds, the fortress was built at the eastern end of the great wall of the city (the second wall), on the northeastern side of the city, near the Temple Mount and the Pool of"
"Siege of Jerusalem (70 CE) The Siege of Jerusalem in the year 70 CE was the decisive event of the First Jewish–Roman War. The Roman army, led by the future Emperor Titus, with Tiberius Julius Alexander as his second-in-command, besieged and conquered the city of Jerusalem, which had been controlled by Judean rebel factions since 66 CE, following the Jerusalem riots of 66, when the Judean Free Government was formed in Jerusalem. The siege ended on 30 August 70 CE with the burning and destruction of its Second Temple, and the Romans entered and sacked the Lower City. The destruction"
"used not only as hideouts for the rebels but also for storage and refuge for their families. Hideout systems were employed in the Judean hills, the Judean desert, northern Negev, and to some degree also in Galilee, Samaria and Jordan Valley. As of July 2015 some 350 hideout systems have been mapped within the ruins of 140 Jewish villages. Following a series of setbacks, Hadrian called his general Sextus Julius Severus from Britain, and troops were brought from as far as the Danube. In 133/4, Severus landed in Judea with a massive army, bringing 3 Legions from Europe (including Legio"
"Zealot Temple Siege The Zealot Temple Siege (68 AD) was a short siege of the Temple in Jerusalem fought between Jewish factions during the Great Jewish Revolt against the Roman Empire (66–70 AD). According to the historian Josephus, Ananus incited the people to rise up against the Zealots who were in control of the Temple. The forces of Ananus ben Ananus, one of the heads of the Judean Free Government, a Jewish priest and former High Priest of Israel, besieged the Zealots who held the Temple. When John of Giscala led the Zealots to believe that Ananus had contacted the"
"of the Roman legions passed to his son Titus, who now managed the siege of Jerusalem. In the spring of 70 CE, Roman forces breached the ""third wall"", then the ""second wall"" and by summer had taken control of the Antonia. The Zealots still maintained control of the temple compound and the upper city, but on Tisha B'Av (August 10) 70 CE, Roman forces overwhelmed the defenders and set fire to the temple. Jewish resistance continued but a month later the upper city was taken as well and the entire city burnt to the ground, save for the three towers"
"Belvoir Fortress Belvoir Fortress (, Kochav HaYarden ""Star of the Jordan""; , Kawkab al-Hawa ""Star of the Wind"") is a Crusader fortress in northern Israel, on a hill south of the Sea of Galilee. Gilbert of Assailly, Grand Master of the Knights Hospitaller, began construction of the castle in 1168. The restored fortress is located in Belvoir National Park. It is the best-preserved Crusader fortress in Israel. The Hebrew name, Kochav Hayarden, meaning ""Star of the Jordan"", preserves the name of Kochava – a Jewish village which existed nearby during the Roman and Byzantine periods. The Knights Hospitaller purchased the"
"wounded. The Israelis moved on to the mountainous Golan Heights, then under Syrian control. After mountain fighting with Syrian troops, the Israelis occupied the Golan Heights. Jordanian campaign (1967) The Jordanian campaign of 1967 was part of the broader Six-Day War, in which Israel inflicted a devastating defeat on Egypt, Syria, Jordan, and Iraq. For Israel, it was the most significant part of the war, as it resulted in the capture of many Jewish monuments by the Israelis. On 5 June 1967, Israel launched Operation Focus, in which the Israeli Air Force almost annihilated the air force of Egypt. After"
"site by confirming the religious status quo regarding sovereignty reigning from Ottoman times. At the conclusion of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, the Haram al-Sharif/Temple Mount lay behind the lines held by the Jordanian Legion. From that date until Israel captured the site in 1967 during the Six-Day War, Israeli Muslims were unable to enter East Jerusalem and access the Haram al-Sharif. This restriction was sometimes imposed by the Israeli government. With the Israeli capture of the Old City in 1967, a wave of passionate feelings, expressing long repressed frustrations over both the humiliating conditions imposed on prior worship at the"
"war in Judaea, particularly the siege and destruction of Jerusalem, have inspired writers and artists through the centuries. The bas-relief in the Arch of Titus has been influential in establishing the Menorah as the most dramatic symbol of the looting of the Second Temple. Siege of Jerusalem (70 CE) The Siege of Jerusalem in the year 70 CE was the decisive event of the First Jewish–Roman War. The Roman army, led by the future Emperor Titus, with Tiberius Julius Alexander as his second-in-command, besieged and conquered the city of Jerusalem, which had been controlled by Judean rebel factions since 66"