Herodium
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Herodium or Herodion (Hebrew: הרודיון, Arabic: هيروديون) is a hill shaped like a truncated cone (758 m / 2,487 ft above sea level), 12 kilometers (7 mi) south of Bethlehem, within a the Bethlehem Governorate, built as a fortress palace by King Herod the Great. It was known by the Crusaders as the "Mountain of Franks", but local Arab inhabitants call it Jabal al-Fourdis or "Mountain of Paradise".[1]
This is the quote of the Roman historian Josephus with respect to the fortress:
| “ | This fortress, which is some sixty stadia[2] 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. | „ |
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—War I, 21, 10; Antiquities XIV, chapter 13.9 |
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Herodium was conquered and destroyed by the Romans in A.D. 71, when Lucilius Bassus and his X Fretensis were on their way to Masada.
At the beginning of the Bar Kokhba revolt, Simon bar Kokhba declared Herodium as his secondary headquarters. Archeological evidences for the revolt were dispersed all over the site, from the outside buildings to the water system under the mountain. Inside the water system, supporting walls (which were built by the rebels) were discovered, and another system of caves was found. Inside one of those caves, the Field School of Kfar Etzion members discovered a burned wood which, afterwards, they dated to Bar Kokhba revolt time. The burned wood is still, after more than 1800 years inside the cave, waiting for the visitors.
Following the writings of Josephus, Hebrew University Professor Ehud Netzer reported on May 8, 2007, that he discovered Herod's gravesite atop of tunnels and water pools, at a flattened desert site, halfway up the hill to Herodium, 12 kilometers (7 mi) south of Jerusalem - the precise location given by Josephus. [3]
The base of the tomb has now been uncovered and is visible to visitors to the site.
[edit] Notes
- ^ Herodium Bethlehem.ps
- ^ 60 stadia is about 11.1 km (7 mi). The actual distance is slightly more - 12.5 km (8 mi)
- ^ [New York Times Archaeologist Says Remnants of King Herod’s Tomb Are Found May 9, 2007, http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/09/world/middleeast/09herod.html]
[edit] External links
- Google Maps satellite view
- Herodion by Jacqueline Schaalje (April 2006 edition of the Jewish Magazine)
- Geophysical Exploration in Israel: The 1983 Field Season, by Lambert Dolphin)
- Photos from Herodion by David Rabkin
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