Herod's Lost Tomb
King Herod 'had taste for theatre'
HEROD the Great, the Roman-era Jewish king infamous for the biblical massacre of the innocents, had a taste for theatre, new excavations of his vast palace complex south of Jerusalem have found.
Archaeologists have uncovered a small amphitheatre with an attached VIP room lavishly decorated with well-preserved wall paintings of a design previously only seen in Italy itself at sites in Rome and Pompeii.
The excavation team led by Professor Ehud Netzer of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, believe that Herod probably brought in Italian craftsmen to produce the exquisite landscape scenes at the Herodium palace complex to which he gave his name and which was the largest in the Roman world at the time.
"The room was obviously a loggia of sorts to be used by the king and his friends during shows," said Prof Netzer, who has been working at the site for three decades.
"It seems reasonable to assume that the construction of the theatre might be linked to the visit of (leading Roman politician and general) Marcus Agrippa in 15BC," he said in announcing the new finds.
So far, only one complete painting has been uncovered. The others will remain protected by a mound of rubble until the archaeologists have put in place the measures required to preserve them after their excavation.
The painting shows a hillside scene with a deer, a barking dog and a demi-god by an altar, and is of a sort known as window paintings because they are supposed to give the illusion of a real landscape outside.
Dig surveyor Rachel Chachy-Laureys, who has been working with Prof Netzer for 13 years, said the style of the painting gave a very precise date of between 15 and 10 BC for the 750-seat theatre complex.
She said it was the only known example in the Holy Land of figurative art from the period.
"This is the first find of its kind. We have wall paintings from the Hasmonaean period (which preceded the Herodian) but not with figures," she said as she showed journalists around the site, 15km south of Jerusalem.
Ms Chachy-Laureys said the excavation team was hopeful that more paintings might be unearthed in the theatre's orchestra.
"We are keeping our fingers crossed that it may perhaps be painted. All this area still needs to be excavated," she said.
In May 2007 the same team announced the discovery of what they are now sure is the tomb of Herod half way up the huge mound south-east of Bethlehem over which the Herodium site sprawls.
They have since excavated the mausoleum that contained Herod's tomb and have unearthed inside the remains of not just one but three sarcophagi.
The dig revealed that the mausoleum was an elaborate two-storey structure in Hellenistic style with a conical roof, a friezed ceiling and colonnaded sides.
The sarcophagi had been shattered and were painstakingly reassembled from fragments found across the site.
"There is no doubt that the mausoleum was deliberately destroyed during the first Jewish uprising in 68 CE (AD)," said Prof Netzer.
He said the team were fairly sure that they had identified which of the three sarcophagi was Herod's own.
It was the most elaborate of the three, hewn out of red limestone with rosette decorations around its side. It was also the most heavily destroyed, and Herod's grave is thought to have been a particular target for the rebels because he was remembered as a Roman stooge.
"It is quite sure that the others were members of Herod's family," Prof Netzer said, adding that they must certainly have been buried in the two years after Herod's death in 4 BC when his son ruled as king, and were probably two of his many wives.
Most historians doubt the historical veracity of the story in the Gospel of Matthew of Herod ordering the murder of all boys in the Bethlehem area under the age of two in a bid to prevent the infant Jesus usurping his position as King of the Jews.
But it is thought from other historical accounts that Herod was responsible for other acts of brutality including the killing of at least one of his 10 wives and two of his children.
