 Overhead
view of the Herodium, a palace-fortress built by Herod the Great. The arrow points to the
synagogue built by Jewish rebels during the Jewish War of 66-73 CE.
Overview
Herodium (or Herodion) lies about 7.5 miles
south of Jerusalem. Built c. 24 BCE by Herod the Great to commemorate an earlier victory
over his Hasmonean and Parthian enemies, the fortress rests on top of a hill rising some
400 feet above the surrounding terrain. The Jewish historian Josephus describes it in the
following terms:
This fortress, which is some sixty stades distant from Jerusalem, is
naturally strong and very suitable for such a structure, for reasonably near by 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 (Ant. 15.324).
While Herod himself was
said to have been buried there, neither his body nor his tomb has ever been found. During
the Jewish War the fortress came under control of the Sicarii (Jewish revolutionaries).
Unlike the protracted siege of Masada, however, Herodium was apparently taken with little
difficulty following the fall of Jerusalem. From references in the Bar Kokhba letters
found at Murabba’at, we know that Herodium also served as one of Bar Kokhba’s
command centers during the revolt of 132–135 CE.
The first excavations of Herodium were
conducted between 1962 and 1967 by a team under the direction of Virgilio Corbo. These
revealed an occupational history lasting from the fortress’s construction by Herod to
its habitation by Christian monks during the Byzantine period. Corbo also uncovered
evidence attesting to the presence of Jewish rebels during both the First Jewish
War and the Bar Kokhba Revolt.
The room Corbo identified as a synagogue is rectangular in shape
(15.15 x 10.6 m) and adjoins a large peristyle court inside the central area of the
fortress. The remains of this room suggest two phases. During the first phase, the
room served as Herod’s grand triclinium or dining room. During the revolt of 66-73
CE, however, Jewish rebels transformed the room, adding rows of benches on the inside and
a mikveh (ritual bath) near the entryway.
Like the pre-70 synagogues at Gamla, Masada and Capernaum, the Herodium
synagogue is an example of the so-called Galilean-type synagogue, which features rows of
benches along the walls and columns interventing between the congregation and the center
of the hall.
View of the Herodium synagogue, looking towards the west.
General view of the Herodium synagogue, looking west.
View of the north side of the synagogue with its three rows of benches.
View of the Herodium synagogue, looking east.
View of the north benches of the synagogue during excavations.
View of the mikveh or ritual bath, which is located just outside the entrance of the
synagogue.
Another view of the mikveh, looking north.
Plan of the Herodium synagogue. (Click image for more detail.) |
Herodium
