LEG X F evidence?

[MARCvSVIBIvSMAvRINvS]

Hiya all,

I was wondering if apart from the "milestone" with the LXF inscription which was apparently found on the top of mount olive next to Jerusalem, any other tangible evidence has been found, whether in or around the city, of the military occupation/sacking of Jerusalem in 70 AD.

I mean specific military finds.

I know that any archaeological dig on the mount itself, let alone inside Jerusalem is very difficult.

Also, i am looking for any new info on the finds of Roman military items which are Masada related, but since i cannot access Jstor i dont have the possibility to read excavation reports.

M.VIB.M.

[M. Demetrius]

I don't know about the Mount of Olives, but there are many evidences of Leg XF in the siege walls and forts around Masada, and other places in Jerusalem.

Might find some info here:
http://www.legionten.org/

[PhilusEstilius]

In the link to the website of the Tenth Fret' put up by David there is mention of this Legion having it's name stamped on coins which I have seen pictures of, but then I wonder if this has anything to do with the advent of Vespasian or indeed was it done by it's Commander Silver in order to hold this Legion together for such a hard long siege at Masada for indeed soldiers are no more than payed Mercenaries.

[D B Campbell]

... any other tangible evidence has been found, whether in or around the city, of the military occupation/sacking of Jerusalem in 70 AD.

Evidence of the siege? Nothing, as far as I know. Of course, the subsequent occupation by X Fretensis is well attested from inscriptions and tile stamps.

[MARCvSVIBIvSMAvRINvS]

Yes i mean specifically the sacking and other military finds.

M.VIB.M.

[D B Campbell]

Yes i mean specifically the sacking and other military finds.

I believe rescue excavations within the city precincts regularly turn up evidence of destruction at roughly the right time for the siege. (See, e.g., Giv'ati Parking Lot excavations, 2007.) But no ruined siege embankments or pila-riddled skeletons!

[Narukami]

Marcvs,

You might try Neil Faulkner's book Apocalypse - The Great Jewish Revolt Against Rome AD 66-73

He has done quite a bit of "digging" in the general area and several of the assertions in this book are based upon the archaeology. I do not remember any specific mention of artifacts but I may have missed that. Perhaps he has written other more specific papers on that topic.

Of course you are correct, JSTOR probably has what you are looking for:

Excavations at Ramat Rahel
Yohanan Aharoni
The Biblical Archaeologist, Vol. 24, No. 4 (Dec., 1961), pp. 98-118
(article consists of 22 pages)
Published by: The American Schools of Oriental Research
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3209196


http://www.jstor.org/pss/3209407

The North Wall outside Jerusalem
Ilene Beatty McNulty
The Biblical Archaeologist, Vol. 42, No. 3 (Summer, 1979), pp. 141-144
(article consists of 4 pages)
Published by: The American Schools of Oriental Research
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3209383


Also Google Scholar has some citations that might be of interest...

BOOK] The complete guide to the Temple Mount excavations
E Mazar - 2002 - Shoham Academic Research and Publication
Cited by 2 - Related articles - Web Search - Library Search

THE BYZANTINE QUARTER SOUTH OF THE TEMPLE MOUNT ENCLOSURE
B Gordon - The Temple Mount Excavations in Jerusalem 1968-1978 Directed …, 2007 - Institute of Archaeology, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Related articles - Web Search

The Roman Siege of Masada
C Hawkes - Antiquity, 1929 - antiquity.ac.uk
... just behind the investing wall encamped the legion, which was ... were part of the regular
equipment of Roman troops, who ... of 12-20 feet, usually some 10 feet wider ...


If you read French (I do not, I barely read English)

http://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN&cpsidt=2462746

Also a thesis (perhaps available directly from the school?)

Abramovich, Aharon
Camp of the Tenth Legion (Legio X Fretensis) in Jerusalem and the workshop (Fabrica) of the legion in the compound of the Convention Center (Binyanei Ha'ooma) in Jerusalem
Thesis (M.A.) -- University of Haifa, 2006.
2006.

http://www.griffith.ox.ac.uk/gri/6ne0608.html

Good Luck!

:wink:

Narukami

[MARCvSVIBIvSMAvRINvS]

Domo arigato gozaimasu Narukami kun!!

Well luckily from september ill be studying at Leiden Univ again so probably will have access to the Jstor Database!

Thank you for all your links!!

M.VIB.M.

[Matthew Amt]

Doesn't Connolly show a gladius (in its scabbard) that was found in a burned house in Jerusalem? (In "Living in the Time of Jesus of Nazareth", aka "The Holy Land", aka whatever title it has *this* month...) There must be other artifacts as well. A bunch of large toppled pillars were unearthed at the south end of the Temple, as if they'd been shoved off the end of the platform. Other sites such as Gamala and of course Masada certainly show clear evidence of the Revolt.

I have *heard* that the tendency among Israeli archeologists is to be more excited about remains from their Jewish ancestors, with much less regard for Roman stuff, but I don't know if that is true. Obviously there are exceptions such as Guy Stiebel! Don't know if he's worked in Jerusalem itself or not, though.

Valete,

Matthew

[D B Campbell]

Other sites such as Gamala and of course Masada certainly show clear evidence of the Revolt.

Jotapata, too. But remember that these sites were abandoned and never built over. They are essentially unspoiled from an archaeological perspective. Not so, Jerusalem.