Jerusalem, A.D. 70 | History Today

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S.G.F. Brandon marked the nineteenth centenary of the fall of the Holy City.

S.G.F. Brandon | Published in History Today Volume 20 Issue 11 November 1970

For nineteen centuries the Jewish people, scattered throughout the world, have kept the fast of Tisha B’Av, mourning the destruction of the Temple of Yahweh, their God, by the Romans in A.D. 70. The actual day of the burning of that famous shrine was August 10th of the year 70; but the Jews have traditionally reckoned the 9th of their month Av (August 9th) as the fateful day.

The destruction of the Temple marked the virtual end of the Jewish revolt against Rome, which had started in A.D. 66; it was destined also to signify the end of the Jewish national state until its restoration more than eighteen centuries later in 1948. Fighting did, in fact, continue for a few weeks longer in other parts of Jerusalem before the final collapse of organized resistance; and the Zealot garrison of Masada, the great fortress by the Dead Sea, held out until A.D. 73, when they chose mass-suicide rather than surrender to heathen Rome.

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