In 40 BCE, Herod had to flee for his life from
Jerusalem and the hands of
Hasmonean ruler Mattathias Antigonus.
After Antigonus made a treaty with the Parthians
(the eastern empire that was fighting the Romans at that time),
he pursued Herod and his people.
Herod barely survived the battle and he later chose to
build his tomb on the site.
After the battle Herod went to Rome
and the Senate crowned him King of Judea.
It took him 3 years to be in control
and become the sole ruler of the land,
but under Roman domination.
In the third decade BCE, Herod began to build the Herodium.
It served as the government and administrative center of Judea.
This left Jerusalem as mainly the religious center.
Though on the edge of the edge of the desert,
it had abundant water brought from afar
with gardens and bathhouses.
Today it lies on the outskirts of modern day Bethlehem.
Model of the buildings.
Herod planned the the gigantic site as a complex of palaces
(the largest in the Roman world at the time).
It had a palace fortress, an entertainment area, administrative center and Herod's funeral complex- with tomb and a royal theater.
In order that he would never be forgotten,
he built an artificial mountain that covered 62 acres.
The palace was divided with a number of wings
with a courtyard, bathhouses,
dwellings and a grand reception hall.
All of the palace walls were decorated
with frescoes and stucco, with carved columns.
Internet photo
It is quite the walk up to the top of the Herodian.
This is the rendering of the bathhouse.This is the ceiling as it stands today. And the entrance to the bathhouse. This is the largest and most central of the cisterns dug into the slope of the early days of Herodium.
It appears the way it did during the Bar Kokhba Revolt.
The large stones at the end come from Herod's tomb.
Herod's small but splendid royal theater is the oldest ever found in the country.
Built into the hillside,
it was adjacent to the mountain palace fortress.
When Herod decided to transform the entire mountain into his mausoleum, he had the royal chambers
and theater buried under tons of earth and stone.
The excavated theater today.
Stucco in the theater's royal chamber.
Windows on a sacred landscape. The style depicts a very unusual style for Judea
and probably points to an artist from Alexandria.
This site also has extensive underground tunnels
that were built during the Jewish revolts.
During the Byzantine period a small chapel
was built in one of the wings to the cross-shaped courtyard.
Monastic cells were also discovered in the ruined palace.
Research info:
Pilgrims began to visit here as early
as the 15th century.
Edward Robinson identified the site in 1838.
Father Corbo began excavation in 1962.
Ehud Netzer began excavations in 1972.
In 2007, Netzer discovered the remains of a large tomb
and opulent coffins.
The shattered pieces of this sarcophagus were found
and identified as Herod's and reside in the Israel Museum.
He led the plans for a national park on this site.
Prof. Netzer died in 2010 following a fall
during work on the theater, not far from Herod's tomb.
Pilate's ring--In 1968–1969,
a copper alloy ring was found and overlooked until 2018.
The letters on it spell out Pilates
and it certainly could have belonged to Pontius Pilate.
John and his sister, Lois, at the Herodium.
Though this site is not connected to Jesus,
it is an amazing site.
It is located in the West Bank
about 7.5 miles south of Jerusalem
and 3 miles southeast of Bethelehem.
There are amazing buildings of Herod's design and
this is the only one named after him.
