TITLE:
Feasting before the War: Social Structure and Organization of Masada’s Rebels
AUTHORS:
Tehillah Lieberman, Eyal Regev
KEYWORDS:
Masada, Sicarii, First Revolt against Rome, Pottery, Social Archaeology, Josephus, Meals, Household Archaeology
JOURNAL NAME:
Advances in Anthropology,
Vol.11 No.4,
November
30,
2021
ABSTRACT: The ceramic assemblage of the rebels at Masada is
compared with other contemporary sites in order to determine whether it is
unique or conventional. Consequently, the rebels’ material culture is examined to understand their
social organization and structure, with an eye to their spatial organization,
according to their food consumption and food preparation. The proportion of
tableware, storage and cooking vessels, as well as the number and location of
ovens and stoves in each building, attest to significant differences in how
food was prepared, and the ways it was eaten: from a ceremonial feast with many
participants (in the Western Palace and perhaps in Building 11) to a simple
meal eaten from communal serving utensils, probably in small social units (in
the Casemate Wall and Building 13), and several ways of eating and cooking
between these two extremes in the other buildings. This leads to the conclusion
that the rebels were divided into several communities with different practices
and social structure.