The Palaces of the Hasmoneans and Herod the Great: Reprinted and Expanded Edition
 
In this volume, the reader is presented for the first time with a wide-ranging picture of the palaces erected by the Hasmoneans, followed by those of the greatest builder of ancient Palestine — King Herod the Great (37–4 B.C.E.). We have only scant historical evidence of the Hasmonean palaces. The extensive excavations carried out by Professor Ehud Netzer in Jericho uncovered a winter palace (previously unknown) equipped with many swimming pools, bathing installations, ritual baths, and ornamental gardens. The palace was built next to a large royal estate where dates and persimmon — from which perfume was extracted — were grown. Additional remains from the Hasmonean period (second–first centuries B.C.E.), including the desert fortresses and an anchorage for boats on the Dead Sea, are also described in detail. Many of Herod’s palaces have been minutely described by Josephus Flavius: Masada, Herodium, and the central palace in Jerusalem. No remains of the last-mentioned palace have survived, but the picture that emerges from the other two is most enlightening. To these the author adds detailed accounts of two Herodian palaces not described by Josephus — the winter palace at Jericho, and the promontory palace at Caesarea. The volume also presents to the reader the remains of those of Herod’s palaces which were incorporated in well-known, contemporaneous desert fortresses: Cypros, Alexandrium, and Machaerus. Also described is the hippodrome in Jericho — an exceptional structure that is indicative of the life of luxury led by members of the royal house and the aristocracy towards the end of the Second Temple period. Ehud Netzer was born in Jerusalem. He began his academic studies in architecture at the Technion in Haifa, later moving to the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where he graduated with a Ph.D. in archaeology. He is today a professor of archaeology at that university. As an architect, he engaged in the restoration of the Jewish Quarter in the Old City of Jerusalem, and participated in excavations conducted by Yigael Yadin at Hazor and Masada. He initiated and directed extensive excavations at Lower Herodium, the winter palaces in Jericho, the promontory palace at Caesarea, and elsewhere. He also played an active role in directing the digs at Sepphoris. Netzer’s impressive contribution to the study of the architecture of the Hasmonean dynasty and of King Herod is vividly demonstrated in this volume.
 
YAD BEN-ZVI PRESS
ISRAEL EXPLORATION SOCIETY
JERUSALEM