Ten Martyrs

Part of a series on the
Bar Kokhba revolt
Participants Jews of Judaea Simon bar Kokhba Yeshua ben Galgula Rabbi Akiva Eleazar of Modi'im Ten Martyrs Roman Empire Hadrian Quintus Tineius Rufus Sextus Julius Severus Gaius Quinctius Certus Poblicius Marcellus
Events Aelia Capitolina Siege of Betar
Sites Bar Kokhba hiding complexes Bar Kokhba refuge caves Cave of Horror Cave of Letters Wadi Murabba'at El-Jai cave Te'omim Cave Destroyed sites Horvat 'Ethri Horvat Bad Issa Herodium Betar
Findings Bar Kokhba revolt coinage Bar Kokhba weights Archive of Babatha
Literary sources Cassius Dio Rabbinic literature Babylonian Talmud Jerusalem Talmud Rabbinic stance on Bar Kokhba revolt
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The Ten Martyrs (Hebrew: עֲשֶׂרֶת הָרוּגֵי מַלְכוּת ʿAsereṯ hāRūgēy Malḵūṯ, "The Ten Royal Martyrs") were ten rabbis living during the era of the Mishnah who were martyred by the Roman Empire in the period after the destruction of the Second Temple. Their story is detailed in Midrash Eleh Ezkerah.

Although not killed at the same time (since two of the rabbis listed lived well before the other eight), a dramatic poem (known as Eleh Ezkera) tells their story as if they were killed together. This poem is recited in the Eastern Ashkenazic rite in Musaf on Yom Kippur (and at other times in the various Western Ashkenazic rite). A different poem about the Ten Martyrs is recited on Tisha B'Av.