Gaby Mazor

A unique find at Masada. This bronze trilobate arrowhead, which has a socket for the insertion of the arrow shaft, is a type used over several centuries. Such arrowheads from other sites in Israel have been dated to the sixth to first centuries B.C.E., but the one found at Masada came from a Zealot context. This indicates that it was used in the late first century C.E., at the time of the First Jewish Revolt against Rome, although undoubtedly manufactured long before. The first-century Jewish historian Josephus mentions that the Zealots, when they took over Masada, found a store of arms that had been stockpiled by King Herod. This arrowhead may have come from that stock or from the earlier Hasmonean occupation of the site.