Zionism and Israel - Encyclopedic Dictionary
Metzada (Massada, Masada) Definition

Masada  (Metzada, Masadah, Massada) - Massada (Hebrew, from the word Metzuda for fortress) -  a mountain fortress overlooking the shores of the Dead Sea where Jewish zealot insurgents held out for three years against the Romans after the fall of Jerusalem in 70C.E. and then committed mass suicide to avoid capture. Metzada has remained a symbol of Jewish heroism.

The Judean king Herod the Great built Masada as a virtually impenetrable fort protected on all sides by geography. In the year 66 Metzada was captured by the Zealots as part of the Jewish revolt against Roman rule. The zealot garrison was augmented by zealots fleeing Jerusalem after its fall in 70. About a thousand zealots withstood a siege by the Roman tenth legion for three years. During this time, the Romans built a huge ramp from the west approach that allowed them to reach up to Masada and break in.  According to the Jewish historian, Josephus, Eleazar Ben Yair, leader of the zealots, supposedly gave this speech:

"My loyal followers, long ago we resolved to serve neither the Romans nor anyone else but only God, who alone is the true and righteous Lord of men: now the time has come that forces  us to prove our determination by our deeds. At a time like this, we must not disgrace ourselves: hitherto we have never submitted to slavery, even when it brought no danger with it: we must not choose slavery now, and with it penalties that will mean the end of everything if we fall alive into the hands of the Romans. For we were the first of all to revolt, and shall be the last to break off the struggle. And I think it is God who has given us this privilege, that we can die nobly and as free men, unlike others who were unexpectedly defeated. In our case it is evident that day-break will end our resistance, but we are free to choose an honorable death with our loved ones. This our enemies cannot prevent, however earnestly they may pray to take us alive; nor can we defeat them in battle."

"Let our wives die unabused, our children without knowledge of slavery: after that, let us do each other an ungrudging kindness, preserving our freedom as a glorious winding-sheet. But first let our possessions and the whole fortress go up in flames: it will be a bitter blow to the Romans, that I know, to find our persons beyond their reach and nothing left for them to loot. One thing only let us spare—our store of food: it will bear witness when we are dead to the fact that we perished, not through want but because, as we resolved at the beginning, we chose death rather than slavery." (Josephus Flavius, Jewish War).”

Eleazar ordered that all Zealots were to be killed. Supposedly, 10 men  killed the others, then 1 of the remaining 10 killed the rest, and then he committed suicide. According to a different tradition, there were 7 survivors.

Beginning in 1963 Masada was excavated by a team under Yigael Yadin. The excavations provided a wealth of information about Jewish customs of the period, and the history and beliefs of the Zealots.

Anti-Zionists and critics of Israel have insisted that Israelis have developed a "Masada complex" - that is, a feeling of being walled up inside a fortress with imminent doom approaching and no way out. The taunt is meant as a claim that Israeli security fears are not realistic. Given the fact that several Palestinian organizations, as well as the government of Iran, are publicly committed to the destruction of Israel, and take steps to implement it, there appear to be good grounds for Israeli security fears. 

Masada: Overview	Mosaic floor in a ritual bath (Mikva) in Masada