This is a south-north aerial view of the ancient port-city Caesarea Maritima, one of King Herod’s most extravagant building projects (22-10 BCE). It was built in honor of Caesar Augustus, and became the capital of Roman Judaea around 6 CE. The eastern Mediterranean lacks a natural harbor, so Herod imported massive stones and built a wave breaker (part of which can be seen protruding from the beach in the upper third of the picture) which supported an artificial enclosed port. This port dramatically increased the revenue flowing into Herod’s kingdom and rivaled the famous ports of Alexandria and Athens. Herod also made Caesarea the epicenter of Greco-Roman culture in Israel. At the bottom of the image, one can see the remains of the ancient theater (circular structure). Just to the left, jutting out into the ocean, was Herod’s palace. A race track follows the coast north, and leads up to the location where a temple to Augustus once stood. This overlooked the main harbor. At the top of the image, one can see the end of the aqueduct that brought fresh water from a spring near the base of Mount Carmel, which was 7 miles away, a remarkable feat of engineering.
This aerial close-up of the northern outcropping of the mountaintop fortress of Masada shows the three-tiered Northern Palace that was built by Herod the Great, as well as storehouses and a bath house (at the top of the photograph). The Jewish historian Josephus wrote that when the rebels who fled from Jerusalem arrived at Masada, they found still-edible wheat in the storerooms
This map shows both the size of Herod's kingdom at the beginning of his reign (the purple areas that include Judaea, Perea, and Galilee) and the regions that were given to him later by his Roman benefactors, mainly the emperor Augustus (the lighter pink areas). Herod ruled as a vassal king of the Romans from 37-4 BCE.
This bronze coin, which was minted in Rome in 71 CE after the Romans captured Jerusalem, features the profile of the Emperor Vespasian on the recto (left), and, on the verso (right), a Roman soldier standing over a mourning woman who symbolizes the defeated Judaea. Between them is a palm tree. The inscription around these two figures reads IUDEA CAPTA, Latin for 'captured Judaea.'
This map shows the gradual expansion of the Roman Empire around the Mediterranean between the years 100 BCE and 150 CE. Red areas indicate Roman control in 100 BCE; yellow areas indicate the extent of the empire at the time of Julius Caesar's death in 44 BCE; green areas indicate areas annexed by Augustus; and blue areas indicate regions annexed between the death of Augustus (14 CE) and 150 CE.
This map shows the areas of Israel/Palestine that revolted against Rome in 66 CE (also known as 'the Great Revolt'), as well as the paths of attacks and counter-attacks that occurred during the four years of fighting. Pink areas (Galilee, Perea, and Judaea) indicate regions in which there was much support for the revolt; pink striped areas indicate regions with partial support. Red lines indicate the path of the 12th Legion; green lines indicate Vespasian's various expeditions against different parts of the country (note that he never assaults Jerusalem); blue lines indicate Titus' final move against Jerusalem, with three legions (5th, 10th, and 15th) who joined the 12th legion and numerous other auxiliary forces.
This photograph shows the synagogue within the fortress of Masada, which is located in the Judaean Desert (note the Dead Sea in the top right of the picture). At the end of the Jewish revolt against Rome in 70 CE, some of the rebels who were part of a group called the Zealots, fled Jerusalem to the mountaintop fortress of Masada. They either refurbished a previously-existing synagogue or turned a room into a synagogue, building benches along the walls and installing a small inner room to serve as a genizah (storage room for used or damaged scrolls). Two pits dug into the floor of the small room yielded two scrolls, one of Deuteronomy and one of Ezekiel. Fragments of other scrolls were found nearby. Some of the fragments appear to have been written in the same scribal tradition as texts found in the Qumran caves.
This aerial close-up of the northern outcropping of the mountaintop fortress of Masada shows the three-tiered Northern Palace that was built by King Herod the Great (37-4 BCE), as well as storehouses and a bath house (at the top of the photograph). The Jewish historian Josephus wrote that when the rebels who fled from Jerusalem arrived at Masada, they found still-edible wheat in the storerooms.
Jerusalem: Eastern Terra Sigillata Juglet
This jug, which was found in the Jewish Quarter excavations in Jerusalem, is made of a type of pottery called Eastern Terra Sigillata 'A', or ESA. Its red, lustrous slip is one of the hallmarks of this kind of pottery and is partially the result of the amount of oxygen in the kiln when the jug was fired. ESA was first produced around 140 BCE in the eastern Mediterranean, probably on the island of Crete and/or along the coast of the northern Levant, but it became very popular and by the 1st century CE was exported all over the Mediterranean. It is one of the types of pottery that can be closely dated and helps archaeologists to better date the soil in which it is found.
This aerial photograph, looking straight down on King Herod's (37-4 BCE) palace at Herodium, clearly shows its double circular defense wall and four towers. Three of the semi-circular towers were defensive, while the completely round tower probably served for both defense and as the coolest, breeziest place in the hot summer months. Directly in front of the round tower is a large rectangular garden courtyard surrounded by a colonnade and flanked at both north and south ends by niches whose benches would have provided places to sit. A bathhouse was found at the lower left quadrant of the enclosure and a dining area was found in the lower right. During Herod's lifetime the walls would have stuck up above the ground; at some point after Herod died the mound was covered with stones to give it the appearance that it has today: that of nothing more than a hill, with the palace sunk into it.
These vessels are typical of those created in the Roman period. Glass bead jewelry is known to have been made as early as 3,000-2,000 BCE, core-formed glass vessels were made beginning around 1,500 BCE, and molded glass vessels are known from the Hellenistic period. The earliest known blown glass dates to the Early Roman period, and seems to have been first discovered in Israel/Palestine.
The large stones visible in the foreground of this picture are catapult stones that were used in the Roman siege of the Judaean desert fortress of Masada (in 73 CE). They are obviously very large and very heavy, and were made by the Roman soldiers when they arrived at Masada and began the siege that marked the end of the Great Revolt.
This aerial photograph of the southern portion of the city of Caesarea Maritima shows the huge theater that looks out toward the ocean and the setting sun. The land that juts out into the ocean at the lower left corner of the photo is the so-called 'Promontory Palace,' also built by King Herod the Great. The area of green to the left of the palace, between the modern road and the ocean, has been excavated since this photograph was taken, revealing a long colonnaded street and a hippodrome for chariot races.
This theater is an example of both a new custom and a new architectural form brought eastward by the conquests of Alexander the Great and the Romans. Theater was a Greek invention, but many (if not most) of the Hellenistic 'influences' came to Israel/Palestine as a result of the Romans. This one was built by King Herod the Great (37-4 BCE) soon after the city was given to him by Caesar Augustus in 27 BCE. The city of Sebaste continued to be inhabited through the 6th century CE.
This building is a mausoleum, i.e. a monumental burial structure, from the 2nd-3rd century CE. Bodies were placed inside the building in sarcophagi (lidded coffins carved out of limestone). Mausolea are extremely rare in Roman Palestine. The two columns at the entrance are carved in Corinthian Style with capitals that look like acanthus leaves. This testifies to the Roman taste of the wealthy family (whose identity is unknown) that built this structure.
The Romans are well known for having built stone-paved roads in order to speed communication and enable the army to move more efficiently. They built an extensive road network that connected the main cities of all of their provinces. This one led from the port of Joppa through the town of Emmaus, a colony for veteran soldiers built by the Emperor Vespasian in 70 CE, to Jerusalem.
This aerial photograph shows one of the great engineering feats of antiquity: the enclosed harbor at Caesarea Maritima. The coast of Israel/Palestine has few good natural harbors, so King Herod built one using the state-of-the-art technology of cement that would cure underwater to build one of the two or three largest harbors in the Mediterranean. (The harbor itself included the dark spots visible under the water that extend out of the photo to the left.) Behind and on both sides of the harbor Herod built a massive city that included a temple to Caesar Augustus on the high spot overlooking the harbor.
This photograph shows the remains of a Tobiad palace at Araq el-Amir in modern Jordan (east of the Jordan River). The Tobiads were a Jewish ruling family in the late 3rd and early 2nd centuries BCE who, according to the books of 2 Maccabees and Josephus, were philhellenes (that is, they embraced Hellenism. Philhellene comes from the words philos [love of] and Hellene [Greece]). The book of 1 Maccabees tells us that there were Jews in this period who so embraced Hellenism that they built a gymnasium in Jerusalem (where young men would exercise in the nude) and transformed Jerusalem into a Greek polis called Antioch In Jerusalem. The Tobiad palatial residence at Araq el-Amir seems to support these accounts, as it is a Jewish residence yet is clearly Hellenistic in style. In addition, carved representations of animals, which are believed by many scholars to have been prohibited by Jewish law in this period, were found here. You can see the carved animals at the front of the picture, on the top surviving panel, to the left and right of the entrance (marked by the two stand-alone columns).
This monumental stairway is all that still exists of the monumental temple that King Herod the Great (37-4 BCE) erected and dedicated to the Roman Emperor Caesar Augustus. The temple's foundations were laid directly over the top of the palaces of the Israelite kings Omri and Ahab. The temple was damaged when the city was destroyed in the Jewish revolt against Rome (66-70 CE) but it was repaired and enlarged by the Emperor Septimius Severus in 200 CE when he rebuilt the city and granted it colonial status. In the background are the hills of the Central Hill.
This photograph shows the aqueduct that fed the city of Caesarea Maritima, a port city (notice the waves of the Mediterranean on the left) that King Herod the Great built nearly from scratch between 25-13 BCE. The monumental aqueduct stretches north along the coast for 6.5 miles to a spring in the Mount Carmel range, which is barely visible in the haze at the top right of the photo. Beyond that point a tunnel was cut through the mountain for another 6 miles to tap additional fresh water supplies for Caesarea's large population.
This photograph shows one of the city streets in Caesarea, which was built by King Herod as a port city on the Mediterranean cost. Two seated statues can be seen facing each other across the street. When Herod's son Archaeleus was deposed in 6 CE, the Roman procurator assigned to govern the area made his residence here, and Judaea was administered from this lavish seaside city.
This aerial photograph shows the archaeological remains of Herod's palace at Jericho, which is located in the Judaean Desert, on the bank of Wadi Qelt, near the northern tip of the dead Sea. He likely chose it because it is in the Judaean Desert, so is warm in the winter time, and because the Hasmonaean kings had already built palaces and an infrastructure of water channels for bath houses and spas. Herod constructed a royal villa complete with royal gardens and an Olympic-sized swimming pool. This photograph shows only the main building of the palace complex. On the left is a reception hall that was paved with marble and colored stone (a recent discovery in this period). Next to it is an open courtyard with columns on 3 sides and an apse at the back. Along the back of the building on the right side are five rooms that belonged to an elaborate bath that had been constructed in the best Roman style.
Rome: Arch of Titus - detail of the interior
This photograph shows in the inside relief of the Arch of Titus, located near the eastern entrance to the Forum in Rome. The arch was erected by emperor Domitian, Titus' brother, to honor and commemorate the defeat of the Jews and the capture and destruction of Jerusalem in 70 CE. Depicted on the relief is the triumphal procession after Titus' return to Rome, which included the golden menorah and other implements that were taken from the Temple.
This aerial photograph shows the Roman-style forum and adjoining basilica at Sebaste, which is located in the central part of the Central Hill. Herod built this town around 30 BCE in honor of Caesar Augustus (Sebastos is Greek for the Latin word Augustus). Even though the region's inhabitants included a large number of Samaritans, Herod built a gigantic temple to Augustus on the highest point in the area.
This photograph shows the Arch of Titus, erected near the eastern entrance to the Forum of the city of Rome to honor Titus's defeat of the Jews and the taking of Jerusalem in 70 CE. The inscription at the top reads 'The Roman Senate and People (dedicate this) to the divine Titus Vespasianus Augustus, son of the divine Vespasian.'
This aerial photograph, looking southeast, shows the mountaintop fortress of Masada, located in the Judaean Desert, which rises 400 feet above the Dead Sea. King Herod (37-4 BCE) built two palaces on top, and the Northern Palace is visible here. Note the series of three rooms that descend from the top of the mountain and are built as if hanging on the cliffs. Masada was abandoned after his death, but rebels who escaped the Roman Army's attack on Jerusalem in 70 CE fled here and were later besieged. On the lower right side of the photo there is what looks like a sandy slope leading almost to the top of the mountain. This is the siege ramp that the Roman Army built over the course of two years (71-73 CE), with which they were finally able to take the fortress.
This aerial photograph, looking east, shows what Herodion now looks like after stones were piled up next to the walls and the towers were knocked down. According to the Jewish historian Josephus, King Herod (37-4 BCE) built this palace on the site where he won a battle in 40 BCE (Ant. 14.360; War 1.265) and recent excavations have found what is most likely his burial place, just as Josephus said (Ant. 17.199; War 1.419, 673): a mausoleum with an ornate coffin on the northern slope of the mound. In the background, the hills of the Judaean Desert descend east toward the Dead Sea, which is visible at the top right.