Cite this garden Vörös, G. (2021). "Machaerus Southern Courtyard." Gardens of the Roman Empire, accessed June 18, 2026. https://roman-gardens.github.io/id/3362b96966/

Machaerus Southern Courtyard

Published: 2021-04-21
Last modified: 2026-06-13

Excavation Dates

2010

Garden Description

During the architectural survey in 2010, the team excavated a 4 x 2m trench to the west of the storerooms and east of the bath quarter. Working to a depth of 2m, the archaeologists encountered one meter of homogenous soil over the artificial stone terrace. The only artifact found was a Herodian lamp. The soil was sealed off from the terrace by a layer of hydraulic mortar. After thorough examination of the stratigraphic section we were able to establish that the southern courtyard of the Herodian places was filled with soil, creating a place for a royal garden. It is the only possible location for a garden within the walls of the citadel, and thus corresponds with description by Josephus. "Now within this place [inside Machaerus] there grew a sort of rue [Ruta] that deserves our wonder on account of its largeness, for it was no way inferior to any fig tree whatsoever, either in height or in thickness; and the report is, that it had lasted ever since the times of Herod, and would probably have lasted much longer, had it not been cut down by those Jews who took possession of the place afterward." (Josephus, War VII 6, 3) Water was supplied to the garden from cisterns built in the Herodian and Hasmonean times (Vörös 2012, 534-535). Like other gardens of Herod, it lay near a bath complex and may have used the water draining from the bath.

Plans

Figure 1: Plan of the Herodian places at Macchaerus, the excavated garden is marked with a green rectangle
Credit: (Vörös, 2013).

Images

Figure 2:Section drawing of the research trench in the Southern Courtyard
Credit: (Vörös, 2013).
Figure 3:Cutaway bird's eye view of the Herodian fortified royal palace from the south. This theoretical reconstruction is superimposed on an aerial photograph by David Kennedy.

Bibliography

  • Vörös, G, "Machaerus: Excavations and Surveys (2009-2013)" SHAJ XII, 529-542. http://publication.doa.gov.jo/uploads/publications/15/SHAJ%20XII-529-542.pdf (see model on p. 539 fig. 11); Vörös, Gy. 2013. MACHAERUS I: History, Archaeology and Architecture of the Fortified Herodian Royal Palace and City Overlooking the Dead Sea in Transjordan. Final Report of the Excavations and Surveys: 1807-2012. Milano: Edizioni Terra Santa, SBF Collectio Maior 53.
  • Vörös, G, 2013: MACHAERUS I: History, Archaeology and Architecture of the Fortified Herodian Royal Palace and City Overlooking the Dead Sea in Transjordan. Final Report of the Excavations and Surveys 1807-2012 (SBF Collectio Maior 53), Milan. Worldcat
  • Vörös, G, 2015: MACHAERUS II: The Hungarian Archaeological Mission in the Light of the American-Baptist and Italian-Franciscan Excavations and Surveys. Final Report 1968-2015 (SBF Collectio Maior 55), Milan.Worldcat
  • Vörös, G, 2019: MACHAERUS III: The Golden Jubilee of the Archaeological Excavations. Final Report on the Herodian Citadel 1968-2018 (SBF Collectio Maior 56), Jerusalem–Milano–Mount Nebo.Worldcat
  • Vörös, G, 2020: "The Bema in the Lithostrotos-Gabbatha on the Golgotha of Saint John the Baptist: The Apsidal Judgement-Seat Throne-Niche of Tetrarch Antipas in the Stone-Paved Herodian Royal Peristyle Courtyard of the Fortified Machaerus Mountaintop-Palace Overlooking the Dead Sea in Transjordan," Holy Land Archaeology on Either Side: Archaeological Essays in Honour of Eugenio Alliata, ofm. (SBF Collectio Maior 57), Milano, pp. 99-120.

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