Herodium: aerial view

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.