Herodium

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Herodium

"Herodion" redirects here. For the saint traditionally numbered among the Seventy Disciples, see Herodion of Patras
Herodion of Patras

Herodion of Patras was numbered among the Seventy Disciples. He was a relative of Saint Paul and bishop of Neoparthia , where he suffered greatly at the hands of the Jews....

Herodium or Herodion ( Jabal al-Fraidees) is a hill shaped like a truncated cone (758 m / 2,487 ft above sea level

Sea level

Mean sea level is the average height of the sea, with reference to a suitable reference surface. Defining the reference level , however, involves complex measurement, and accurately determining MSL can prove difficult....
), located in the West Bank

West Bank

The West Bank is the eastern Part of the Palestinian territories on the west bank of the River Jordan in the Middle East. To the west, north, and south the West Bank shares borders with the state of Israel....
, southeast of Bethlehem

Bethlehem

Bethlehem is a Palestine city in the central West Bank, approximately south of Jerusalem, with a population of about 30,000 people. It is the capital of the Bethlehem Governorate of the Palestinian National Authority and a hub of Palestinian culture and tourism....
and under control of Israel

Israel

Israel officially the State of Israel , is a country in the Middle East located on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. It borders Lebanon in the north, Syria in the northeast, Jordan in the east, and Egypt on the southwest, and contains geographically diverse features within its relatively small area....
, built as a fortress palace by King Herod the Great

Herod the Great

Herod , also known as Herod I or Herod the Great , was a Roman Empire client state of Israel. Herod is known for his colossal building projects in Jerusalem and other parts of the ancient world, including the rebuilding of the Second Temple in Jerusalem, sometimes referred to as Herod's Temple....
.

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Herodium or Herodion ( Jabal al-Fraidees) is a hill shaped like a truncated cone (758 m / 2,487 ft above sea level

Sea level

West Bank

Bethlehem

Israel

Herod the Great

Crusader

Crusader may refer to :* a newspaper in New Orleans that opposed segregation in the 1790s* a participant to the Crusade_,* Crusader tank, a British cruiser tank of World War II...
s as the "Mountain of Franks", but local Arab

Arab

An Arab is a person who Identity as such on linguistic or cultural grounds. The plural form, Arabs , refers to the Ethnocultural group at large....
inhabitants call it Jabal al-Fourdis or "Mountain of Paradise".

This is the quote of the Roman-era Jewish historian Josephus

Josephus

Josephus , also known as Yosef Ben Matityahu and, after he became a Roman citizenship, as Titus Flavius Josephus, was a first-century Jewish historian and apologist of priestly and royal ancestry who survived and recorded the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70....
with respect to the fortress:

Herodium was conquered and destroyed by the Romans

Ancient Rome

Ancient Rome was a civilization that grew out of a small agricultural community founded on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 10th century BC....
in A.D. 71, when Lucilius Bassus

Lucilius Bassus

Lucilius Bassus was a Roman Empire legatus appointed by Emperor Vespasian to the Iudaea Province in 71 AD. Assigned to finish off the last remnants of the Great Jewish Revolt in the province, he led the legion Legio X Fretensis, destroying the Jewish strongholds Herodium and Machaerus on their march to the siege of Masada....
and his X Fretensis

Legio X Fretensis

Legio decima Fretensis of the sea strait") was a Roman legion levied by Augustus in 41/40 BC to fight during the period of Roman Civil War that started the dissolution of the Roman Republic....
were on their way to Masada

Masada

Masada is the name for a site of ancient palaces and fortifications in the South District of Israel on top of an isolated rock plateau, or large mesa, on the eastern edge of the Judean Desert overlooking the Dead Sea....
.

At the beginning of the Bar Kokhba revolt, Simon bar Kokhba

Simon bar Kokhba

Simon bar Kokhba was the Jewish leader who led what is known as Bar Kokhba's revolt against the Roman Empire in 132 Common Era, establishing an independent Jewish state of Israel which he ruled for three years as Nasi ....
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

Kfar Etzion

Kfar Etzion is a religious Israeli settlement and kibbutz located in the Judean Hills between Jerusalem and Hebron in the southern West Bank. It falls under the jurisdiction of Gush Etzion Regional Council....
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.

Tomb of Herod

Hebrew University Professor Ehud Netzer

Ehud Netzer

Ehud Netzer is an Israeli archaeology and Professor emeritus at the Institute of Archaeology at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. The subjects he teaches combine architecture and archaeology....
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 south of Jerusalem, the precise location given by Josephus

Josephus

Josephus , also known as Yosef Ben Matityahu and, after he became a Roman citizenship, as Titus Flavius Josephus, was a first-century Jewish historian and apologist of priestly and royal ancestry who survived and recorded the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70....
in his writings. Later excavations strengthened the idea that this site is Herod's mausoleum. The base of the tomb has now been uncovered and is visible to visitors to the site.

External links

by Jacqueline Schaalje (April 2006 edition of the Jewish Magazine)
, by Lambert Dolphin)
by David Rabkin
, Website / photos / visit and tour information