HEROD'S PORT & PALACE

IsraelNovember 2008

Herod the Great (73-4 BCE) was the king who ordered the killing of all the children in & around Bethlehem who were two years old or under (Matt 2:16-18) His paranoid nature caused him to kill even his own family membersWhen Herod’s eldest son Antipater was charged with the intended murder of his father, Augustus Caesar had to sign the death warrantAt that time, Augustus Caesar commented that it was better to be Herod’s swine than his sonIt was for this Augustus Caesar that Herod built Caesarea Maritima (“Caesarea by the sea”)

Herod built this man-made harbour (ca 22-9 BCE) with 2 breakwaters by dropping large concrete blocks 45 m into the sea bed

Caesarea was the official residence of Roman governors, such as Pontius PilateThis inscription reads, “Pontius Pilate, Prefect of Judea”It is the only written evidence of Pilate outside the gospels

The semi-circular Roman theatre faces the Mediterranean Sea & can seat 3,500-4,000 people; it is still used today as a concert venue

The entrances to the theatre are known as vomitoria (“vaulted passageway”)

The hippodrome for chariot horses & races; Herod held games in Caesarea in honour of Augustus Caesar

Caesarea—vast & massive

Caesarea was an important city in Christian history

It was in Caesarea that Peter baptized Cornelius (Acts 10:1 ff)Paul was imprisoned at Caesarea for two years before being taken to Rome (Acts 23:23 ff)

The inscription of the Roman sarcophagus (left) reads, “The coffin of Prokopius the Deacon”

With no natural water sources, water was piped into the city through an aqueduct from a spring near Mt Carmel, about 13 km away

Built by Herod, the 6.5 km aqueduct was supported by arches & was maintained by Roman legions

Caesarea basking in the setting sun

Another massive building project of Herod—the Herodion, Herod’s palace & fortress &, most probably, burial place (Ant 17.8.3)It is so camouflaged that you would think it is a volcano

The Herodion is a double-walled cylindrical palace-fortress (seven stories high with an outer diameter of 60 m) that had a massive fill of earth & gravel piled against the cylinder to make it look like a hillIt rises about 758 m above sea level

An artist’s reconstruction of the HerodionSource: http://www.abu.nb.ca/courses/NTIntro/images/Herodifortress.htm

The Herodion was built on the spot where Herod fought his Hasmonean & Parthian enemies in 40 BCE & won; it overlooks the Judean desert & Dead Sea (across which is Jordan)

At the base of the cone-shaped hill, Herod also built a palace, gardens, & even a swimming pool (the square block with a rock-island in the middle)

Walking up to the Herodion, one can see stone balls lying on the ground; they were probably used to throw at enemies trying to climb up the hill

The two concentric walls has a 2.5 m space between them

At the top (the roof & upper stories are gone), one can see the courtyard, a synagogue used by the Zealots, a Roman bath house, & a Byzantine chapel; Herod hosted Agrippa here in 15 BCE

A ritual bath from the time of the First Jewish Revolt (66-73 CE); the Zealots used Herodion as their base, but eventually surrendered without bloodshed; Herodion was destroyed by the Romans in 71 CE

Jewish guerrilla fighters dug a complex network of tunnels into the mountain to hide out thereThe tunnels lead to this underground cisternThis was probably the work of the Jewish fighters to ensure they could get to their water supply without being seen by outsidersDuring Herod’s time, the cistern could only be reached from the outside

Some parts of the tunnels were dug during the Bar Kokhba Revolt (132-135 CE) when Herodion was again used as a hideout by the Jewish guerillas

The concealed exit at the end of the tunnelsOur conclusion: Herod was indeed a Master Builder!