Believed to have been founded as a Seleucid fort during the Syrian Wars, it transitioned into a predominantly Jewish settlement that came under Hasmonean rule in 81 BCE.

In the summer of 67 CE, after an extended siege and battle, Roman forces under Vespasian ultimately captured the town and massacred its inhabitants.

[7] Archaeological excavations, starting in 1970 and continuing periodically, have unearthed city walls enclosing an area of about 180 dunams, a water conduit system, ritual baths, Herodian lamps, stone vessels, and thousands of Hasmonean coins.

[8][9] One of the earliest synagogues in the Land of Israel, believed to date back to the late 1st century BCE, was discovered near the town wall in 1976.

[8] It is located within the Gamla Nature Reserve and is home to various wildlife, including rock hyraxes, wild boars, and numerous species of raptors.

[5] Situated at the southern part of the Golan, overlooking the Sea of Galilee, Gamla was built on a steep hill shaped like a camel's hump, from which it derives its name.

[citation needed] The hill of Gamla remained largely uninhabited from the end of the Early Bronze Age II until the Hellenistic period.

In 81 BCE, it became a part of the Hasmonean state,[14] according to Josephus, in The Jewish War after Alexander Jannaeus captured it from the Seleucid ruler Demetrius Eucaerus.

The town's name, "Gamla" (Hebrew: גמלא), with a final alef, may suggest Aramaic-speaking Jewish inhabitants, possibly post-exilic returnees from Babylonian captivity.

This Jewish-majority civilian population likely emerged during the last quarter of the second century BCE, under John Hyrcanus, gradually settling at Gamla alongside a possibly remaining garrison.

Initially loyal to the Romans, Gamla turned rebellious under the influence of refugees from other locations,[8] after Philip, son of Yakim, one of Agrippa II's generals, left the town.

[18][19] Josephus gives a very detailed topographical description of the city, which he also referred to as Gamala,[20] and the steep ravines which precluded the need to build a wall around it.

[25] Although Josephus, who led the consolidation of the defense of Gamla, describes it as a fortress, archaeological findings show that in fact the walls were constructed in fragments, filling in the gaps between buildings to create a continuous line of fortifications.

Josephus also provides a detailed description of the Roman siege and conquest of Gamla in 67 CE by components of legions X Fretensis, XV Apollinaris and V Macedonica.

However, Dani Zion emphasizes that Masada was a fortress, originally built as a fortification facility, where several hundred families of rebels were hiding and where there was no battle as such.

The excavations have uncovered 7.5 dunnams, about 5% of the site, revealing a typical Jewish city featuring ritual baths, Herodian lamps, limestone cups and thousands of Hasmonean coins.

[8] Most were collected along and in close proximity to the wall, placing the heavy fighting in the vicinity and the Roman siegecraft to the north east of the town.

In addition to coins, a large number of weapons were found in Gamla, a synagogue of the Second Temple period, various ritual objects, many different household items and jewelry.

A tentative answer is discussed by archaeologist Danny Syon, who suggests that the dead would have been buried at nearby mass graves that are yet to be found.

[8] Artifacts from Gamla are on the display at the Golan Archaeological Museum, including arrowheads, ballista stones, clay oil lamps and coins minted in the town during the siege.

Historians, in particular Dani Zion, Ya'akov Meshorer and David Eidlin, actively discussed the minting of insurgent coins outside of Jerusalem.

"[33] Shmaryahu Guttman wrote: I did not understand what moved the defenders of the fortress, until we found a coin minted in the besieged city, on which it was written: "Deliverance to Holy Jerusalem."

[28] On the eve of Gamla's destruction, the synagogue appears to have been converted to a dwelling for refugees, as testified by a number of meager fireplaces and large quantities of cookpots and storage jars found along its northern wall.