Herodium (Herodion)
What Was Found
A palace-fortress built by Herod the Great between 23 and 15 BCE, located approximately 12 kilometers southeast of Jerusalem in the Judean Desert. The site has a distinctive truncated cone shape — Herod had an artificial mountain built by filling the space between the fortress walls and an adjacent hill, creating a unique volcanic-looking profile visible for miles. Virgilio Corbo excavated the upper fortress from 1962 to 1967, revealing a palatial complex with a garden, Roman bathhouse, and dining hall. Ehud Netzer of Hebrew University conducted excavations from 1972 to 2010, culminating in the 2007 discovery of fragments of an ornate stone sarcophagus on the hillside, which he identified as Herod's tomb — resolving a centuries-long archaeological mystery and confirming the detailed account by the historian Josephus. The sarcophagus had been deliberately smashed, possibly by Jewish rebels during the Great Revolt (66-73 CE). The site also revealed a previously unknown private theater and tunnels dug by Bar Kokhba rebels during the second Jewish revolt (132-135 CE). A bronze ring bearing the inscription "Pilatus" was found during earlier excavations in the area.
Why This Matters
Confirms Josephus's detailed descriptions of Herod's palace-fortress and burial place. The discovery of Herod's tomb in 2007 resolved a centuries-long archaeological mystery.
Acceptance Assessment
Widely Accepted
The identification of the site as Herodium is universally accepted. The tomb identification as Herod's is widely accepted but debated by some scholars.
What Scholars Debate
The main debate is whether the smashed sarcophagus fragments found by Netzer in 2007 are definitively Herod's. Most scholars accept the identification based on the sarcophagus's quality and location matching Josephus's description.