Rescinded Earthquake Open site page in a new tab Open text page in a new tab

Although Karcz, Kafri, and Meshel (1977), citing Avi-Yonah’s Encyclopedia in Hebrew, listed "tilted walls, aligned fallen masonry, cracks, and collapse" at Masada and attributed these features to shocks in the 1st century BC and later, the 1st-century BCE attribution was subsequently rescinded in Karcz (2004), which stated that the archaeological evidence for the 31 BCE Josephus Quake "is tenuous at best" and noted that "Netzer (1991, 1997), in his detailed analysis of the architectural complexes of Masada, states that the signs of possible seismic damage there are much later than 31 B.C.". Netzer (1991) himself mentioned only one earthquake affecting Masada between the 2nd and 4th centuries CE.

By Jefferson Williams