January 24, 2003

Another Look at Israeli Archaeology

To the Editor:

I sympathize with a number of Nachman Ben-Yehuda's observations and views, and I too have criticisms of the archaeological work conducted by Yigael Yadin's expedition in the 1960s ("Israeli Icon Under Fire," December 6). Nonetheless, the fact that Ben-Yehuda accepts Josephus Flavius's story of Masada on the one hand, and questions Yadin's professional conduct on the other, clearly reveals his unbalanced approach and amateur use of historical and archaeological