A03_P15

Radiocarbon dating of Herodium, the Mountain palace-fortress, and the monumental burial complex of Herod the Great

Regev L¹, Porat R², Botosh A², Leibner U², Regev J¹, Mintz E¹, Boaretto E¹

¹Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel, ²The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel

The site, situated between Jerusalem and the Judean Desert, comprises several palaces and complexes built mostly by Herod the Great, who ruled over the region during the first century BC under Roman rule. The main palace was built as a round fortress, five stories high (ca. 25 meters), with a tower reaching the estimated height of up to 40 meters. The fortress was later covered by earth, creating a volcano-like shape. The site was excavated for over 50 years, mainly under the late archaeologist prof. Ehud Netzer from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.

Five main construction phases were identified at the fortress: (a) its construction; (b) modifications at the east wing of the complex; (c) its covering by earth, forming the artificial mount; (d) the Great Revolt (70 AD); and (e) a later phase of tunnel diggings during the Bar-Kokhba revolt (2nd century AD).

Due to the region's dry climate, abundant wooden remains were found at the site. From which, in-situ construction beams from all construction phases were sampled and dated by cellulose extraction and radiocarbon dating. The results confirm that the first three phases are contemporaneous to Herod’s reign, while the source of the beams used by the rebels during the Bar-Kokhba revolt is somewhat surprising.