Samaria-Sebaste: the Roman Temple

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.