Herodium is described in great
detail by the 1st century Jewish historian Josephus
Flavius:
This fortress, which is
some sixty stadia distant from Jerusalem, is naturally strong and
very suitable for such a structure, for reasonably nearby is a hill,
raised to a (greater) height by the hand of man and rounded off in
the shape of a breast. At intervals it has round towers, and it has a
steep ascent formed of two hundred steps of hewn stone. Within it are
costly royal apartments made for security and for ornament at the
same time. At the base of the hill there are pleasure grounds built
in such a way as to be worth seeing, among other things because of
the way in which water, which is lacking in that place, is brought in
from a distance and at great expense. The surrounding plain was built
up as a city second to none, with the hill serving as an acropolis
for the other dwellings.
(War I, 31, 10; Antiquities XIV, 323-325)
According to Josephus,
Herodium was built on the spot where Herod won a victory over his Hasmonean and Parthian enemies in 40 BCE. (Antiquities XIV, 352-360) To
commemorate the event, the king built a fortress and a palace there,
which he named after himself. He also built, in the plain below the
hill, an administrative center for the region, which had not been
previously settled. Here, at Herodium, he also had a royal tomb built
for himself; Josephus
describes (War I, 33, 8; Antiquities XVII, 196-199) the king's funeral
procession and burial at Herodium.
Herodium, together with
Machaerus (in today's Hashemite Kingdom
of Jordan) and Masada near
the Dead Sea,
were the last three fortresses held by Jewish fighters after the
destruction of Jerusalem in 70 CE. Herodium was conquered and destroyed
by the Romans in 71 CE. (War VII,
6, 1)
The site was identified in the
19th century; its name in Arabic, Jabal Fureidis, is probably a
corruption of the ancient name, Herodis (mentioned in the Bar Kochba
letters). Remains of the palace-fortress on the hilltop have been
excavated by several expeditions since the early 1960s. Excavation of
the buildings at the foot of the hill has been conducted intermittently
since 1972 to the present time.
Herodium was built in two
separate areas, each with a distinct function: a circular fortress,
including an elaborate palace, surrounded by a wall with towers on top
of the hill; and Lower Herodium, in the plain to the north, with a
group of royal buildings around a large pool.
The Palace-Fortress
The combination of fortress
and palace is a uniquely Herodian innovation, which he repeated on
several other sites, including Masada.
At Herodium, a circular palace-fortress was constructed on top of a
hill, which rises 60 m. above its surroundings. The fortifications
consist of two concentric walls with a 2.5 m. space between them. the
outer walls measure 62 m. in diameter. The fortification was originally
about 30 m. high, with seven stories. Two of these stories were
underground foundations, strengthened with barrel-vaulted ceilings, and
the superstructure of five stories was considerably higher than the
palace courtyard. Wooden ceilings separated the stories, which were
used for storage and as quarters for soldiers and servants. Huge towers
projected from the walls on all four sides. The eastern tower - the
largest - was a massive, round tower on a solid stone base and measured
18 m. in diameter. It had several upper stories with elaborate rooms,
probably for the use of the royal entourage. This eastern tower rose
above the entire fortress, its roof commanding a panoramic view; it
also served as a hiding place in times of danger.
The other three towers were
semi-circular, 16 m. in diameter, and their upper stories served as
storage spaces and living areas. After construction of the
fortification around the hill, an earth rampart of considerable height
was laid against the outer foundations of the fortification,
artificially raising the hill and giving it a conical shape. The
entry-gate to the fortress, in the northeast, was reached via a
straight, steep staircase within a corridor built into the earthen
rampart.
Cisterns beneath the fortress,
filled with rainwater which was channeled from above, assured its water
supply. In addition, three very large cisterns were cut into the slope
outside the fortress (near the entrance to the staircase) and rainwater
was channeled into them from the hillside. Water was drawn from these
cisterns by servants, who carried it to the cistern on the top of the
hill, which was probably always kept full.
Herod's private palace, of
modest dimensions, stood within the fortification. It was splendidly
appointed, with floors of colored tiles, mosaics and wall paintings and
included every imaginable feature for comfort. The eastern part of the
palace was a garden, in a 41 x 18 m. atrium surrounded on three sides
by porticos, its columns adorned with Corinthian capitals. The western
portion of the palace had two stories. Its ground floor included:
-
a hall (triclinium),
with a roof supported by four columns (stone benches were added on
three of its sides by Jewish fighters during the Jewish Revolt
against Rome [66-70 CE], who converted it into a synagogue);
-
a cruciform courtyard with
rooms at its corners;
-
a small bathhouse (the
preserved domed roof in one of its rooms is the earliest example of
a dome found to date in Israel).
Lower Herodium
On the plain below the fortress to the north, Lower
Herodium covered an area of some 38 acres. It was well planned, the
buildings and gardens placed on a north-south axis. The buildings were
constructed around a large pool (70 x 46 m., and 3 m. deep), which was
filled by water from the aqueduct especially built to carry water from
the springs at Artas near Solomon's pools to the west. The pool was
plastered to prevent seepage and used as the main reservoir of Herodium,
as well as for swimming. The foundations of a round building (15 m. in
diameter) were found in the center of the pool. It once had a roof
supported by a row of columns and was probably a pavilion for
relaxation and entertaining. The pool was surrounded by extensive,
well-tended gardens. Six metre-wide porticos, consisting of columns
adorned with Ionic capitals surrounded the gardens on three sides, to a
length of about 250 m. Halls, each measuring 110 x 10 m., were built
along the eastern and the western sides of the pool. The eastern hall
was built on a 13 m.-wide and extremely high terrace wall. The
octagonal room at the center of the western hall had walls decorated
with pilasters and frescos. It is assumed that this room served as a
reception hall, or perhaps even as the king's throne room when he
resided at Herodium.
The pool complex was
surrounded by buildings of various functions. In the north was a large
structure that included storage areas and servants quarters. In the
northwest a warehouse was uncovered and fragments of dozens of ceramic
storage jars were found among the debris. In the southwest a large
bathhouse was excavated, which probably served the royal entourage and
the king's guests. It comprised a number of rooms and pools, a caldarium (hot room) heated by the hypocaust system (the floor was raised on
supports, allowing hot air to circulate below the floor, thus heating
the room). The bathhouse walls were decorated in painted square
patterns and in imitation marble. The floors were paved with colored
mosaics in geometric and floral patterns, as well as with pomegranates,
grapevines and grape clusters.
The Monumental Building
The building dubbed "the
monumental building" by the excavators, stood south of the pool,
at the western edge of a level, man-made area measuring 350 x 30 m. In
this building there is an elaborate square hall, open on the side
facing the level area; it measures 12 x 9 m. and is preserved to a
height of 7 m. The particularly thick walls of the hall are built of
well-cut ashlars, with niches between pilasters. Architectural
elements, with decorations characteristic of elaborate burial monuments
in Jerusalem, and the ritual bath found here, have prompted the
suggestion that the building was part of King
Herod's mausoleum. The room described could have served as a triclinium for ceremonies in memory of the king. The man-made level area in front
of the building perhaps served as as a plaza for the royal funeral
procession described by Josephus.
(War I, 33, 9) To the disappointment of the excavators the tomb itself
has not yet been found. It may well be hidden nearby, deep in the
slopes of the fortress of Herodium.
As the excavation progressed,
extensive restoration was carried out on the structures of Herodium. It
is possible today to walk on a comfortable path to the top of the
fortress, to climb its walls and to enjoy, as in the past, the view of
the surrounding region. One may also descend to the 300 m.-long
tunnels, cisterns and rock-cut spaces under the hill. These underground
passages were cut as hiding places by Jewish fighters of the Bar
Kokhba Rebellion (132-135) when Herodium was once more besieged by
the Roman army. And the large pool at Lower Herodium is, as in times of
old, once more surrounded by (restored) porticos.