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Laying Masada’s bones to rest—but not the mystery. Despite a 1969 state burial ceremony of bones believed to belong to Jewish rebels who committed suicide rather than surrender to the Romans, controversy lingers over the true identity of those interred. Author Joseph Zias believes that the ceremony conferred the military honors of the modern state of Israel upon the remains of Roman soldiers and civilians—the enemies of Masada’s ancient defenders. What is worse, Yigael Yadin, Masada’s excavator and Israel’s most illustrious archaeologist, might have known it all along, Zias suggests.