Archaeologists have found proof of a battle documented by the ancient historian Josephus that pitted 60,000 Roman legionnaires against Jewish insurgents almost 2,000 years ago, officials said Wednesday.
"These finds are of great significance," said Mordechai Aviam, director of the Israel Antiquities Authority. "We have beautiful and interesting remains."Archaeologists digging in the Galilee region uncovered impressive artifacts from the battle, which took place in the year 67 A.D. at Yodefat, then the strongest Jewish fortress in the Galilee.
Three legions under the Roman general Vespasian fought the Jewish forces of Yossef Ben-Matityahu for 47 violent days before the Romans emerged victorious.
Forty thousand defenders died during the prolonged battle.
The loss was a major blow to the Jews who were rebelling against the Roman occupation of ancient Israel.
Ben-Matityahu turned on his countrymen and eventually served as an aide to a Roman general. Under his adopted Roman name, Flavius Josephus, he wrote many volumes on the history of the Jews, including the history of his own battle.
The discoveries match almost exactly the descriptions of Josephus in his book "The Wars of the Jews." Archaeologists have found the remains of the Roman siege battery together with catapult rocks and the remains of the god of iron.
Within the city, the archaeologists discovered a residential structure, a ritual bath, water wells, Hebrew inscriptions and rarely found carbonized fruit.
Also uncovered was a Roman siege ramp built of stone and cement, one of only a few from that period discovered in the world.