Byzantine Law Court and Roof Garden
Architectural analysis and epigraphic finds excavated by Josef Patrich and the Combined Caesarea Excavations suggest that the buildings in the area immediately south of the harbor (Area CC) formed a governmental c...
Promontory Palace of Herod the Great
A seaside palace west of the theater at Caesarea Maritima has been identified by E. Netzer as the maritime palace Herod the Great built to supervise construction of the great harbor, and, later, to provide recept...
Herod’s Tomb Garden
In 2005, Netzer’s team found the long-sought tomb of Herod, positioned on a terrace constructed into the slope of the artificial hill. This terrace was constructed of chipped stone and construction debris, largely the light limes...
Lower Herodium
Lower Herodium (Fig. 1C) comprises several units. Here the central focus is the large pool, the water of which was supplied by a 6 km long aqueduct built by Herod from the spring at the modern village of Artas. The pool is set into a ...
Palace Fortress
The Palace Fortress is a cylindrical structure originally seven stories high (two vaulted corridors in the substructure and five stories of corridors each having its floors supported on wooden beams). In the open interior of the cyli...
Herodian First Palace
Herod may have been a regular guest at the Hasmonean palace during his boyhood. Even after he effected his rule in 37 B.C., the Hasmoneans retained possession of their winter palace for a few years, according to Josephus. Artis...
Herodian Second Palace
The earthquake of 31 B.C. destroyed the Hasmonean palace complex, and the political changes that took place after Actium enabled Herod to gain full possession of the winter palaces. On top of the ruined palaces, he built a new...
Corinthian Peristyle
With porticoes on three sides and measuring 23 x 14.5m, this courtyard, known as area B55, is decorated with columns in the Corinthian order. (Fig. 3) The lower portions of these smooth stucco shafts alternate between red and bl...
Ionic Peristyle
This peristyle courtyard (19.1 x 18.7) lies adjacent to the banquet hall and near Roman baths constructed in opus reticulatum. It is referred to in excavation reports as area B64. The central garden is surrounded on three sides by a ...
Sunken Garden
The monumental ‘sunken garden’ (B6), which measures 37.27 x 113.67m, lies largely unexcavated on the south side of Wadi Qelt, in alignment with the buildings and gardens described above (Fig 4). First explored in 1950 by Kelso and Bara...
Palace of John Hyrcanus I
Erected on the southern margin of the royal estate around 120 B.C., north of Wadi Qelt, the palace has not yet been studied in its entirety, since at a later stage most of it was buried (Fig 2 area AA). At its center lay a ...
Pool Complex of Alexander Janneaus
The ascent to the throne of Alexander Jannaeus in 103 B.C. triggered a significant development in the above palace. He constructed another conduit from the “Auja and Na’aran” springs to the north of the palace site...
Twin Palaces of Alexandra Salome and Late Hasmonean Gardens
The trend toward formal gardens and swimming pools at the palace complex gained new expression during the reign of Janneaus’ widow, 76 to 32 B.C.E. Two identical structures built at this ti...
The earliest phases of Herodian building are seen in the Western Palace area. These buildings are architecturally similar to the Hasmonean palaces at Jericho and include the garden features of the southern area of the mountain top: water channels, c...