Transliterated Name | Language | Name |
---|---|---|
Herodium | Latin | |
Herodeion | Greek | Ἡρώδειον |
Herodium | Hebrew | הרודיון |
Har Hordus | Hebrew | |
Herodis | Hebrew | הרודיון |
Herodium | Name in documents from the time of Bar-Kokhba | |
Jabal al-Fureidis | Arabic | جبل فريديس |
Herodion | alternate spelling | |
Frank Mountain | ||
Mountain of Little Paradise | ||
Bethulia |
Herodium is located about 5 km. SE of Bethlehem and was described in detail by
Josephus. The fortress on the site was constructed by
King Herod - likely between 24 and 15 BCE
(Gideon Foerster in Stern et al, 1993).
Herodium lies about 12 km (7.5 mi.) south of Jerusalem as the crow flies (map reference 1731.1192). The fortress of Herodium is situated on a hill 758 m above sea level. Its position and appearance accord with the evidence provided by Josephus, who locates the fortress 60 stadia from Jerusalem and describes the hill, which is in the form of a truncated cone, as being shaped like a woman's breast (Antiq. XV, 324). The Arabic name of the hill, Jebel Fureidis, evidently preserves the name Herodis, as it was called in documents from the time of Bar-Kokhba. Excavations at the site have confirmed the identification of Jebel Fureidis with Herodium.
The main literary source for the history of Herodium are the writings of Josephus. The fortress is also mentioned by Pliny (NHV, 70) and in several documents from the time of the Bar-Kokhba Revolt. Herodium was built on the spot where Herod, when retreating from Jerusalem to Masada in flight from Matathias Antigonus and the Parthians in 40 BCE, achieved one of his most important victories over the Hasmoneans and their supporters (Antiq. XIV, 359-360; War I, 265).
In the fifteenth century, the Italian traveler F. Fabri gave the name Mountain of the Franks to Herodium, the place where, he assumed, the Crusaders made a stand after the Arab conquest of Jerusalem (P PTS X, 403). It retained this name until the nineteenth century. The first sketch of Herodium's plan was made by E. Pococke during a visit in 1743. E. Robinson, in 1838, gave a detailed description of its buildings, dating them to the Roman period and noting their resemblance to Josephus' description. In 1863, the French explorer and traveler F. de Saulcy recorded important site details and drew sketches and plans of the buildings at the foot of the hill, especially of the pool. In his opinion, the round structure in the pool was Herod's burial place. Several years later, V. Guerin accurately described the outer wall with its three semicircular towers and eastern round tower. Until the modern excavations, the fullest account of the remains was made in 1879 by C. Schick, with plans and cross sections. He noted that the lower part of Herodium was a natural hill and the upper part was artificial. Schick traced the staircase leading to the structure on the summit of the hill; his assumption that the steps led to the courtyard of the building through a tunnel-like passage dug in the artificial fill was later confirmed. His further assumption that cisterns had been dug in the lower part of the hill was also later verified. In addition, Schick was correct in his belief that the upper structure had been designed as a grandiose mausoleum and not merely a stronghold. In 1881, C. R. Conder and H. H. Kitchener prepared the first accurate plan of the site with the two circular walls, three semicircular towers, and a round eastern tower.
Three more excavation seasons were conducted at Lower Herodium between 1997 and 2000, by an expedition of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem under the direction of E. Netzer, with the assistance of Y. Kalman and R. Laureys-Chachy. The work concentrated in two areas: southwest of the pool complex; and in the vicinity of the monumental building at the western end of the “artificial course,” an elongated man-made platform north of the remains of the large palace.
Ahipaz et al (2017:126) interpreted numismatic evidence at Herodium to infer abandonment of the site in the 40's or 50's CE which they speculated might have been due to an earthquake.
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