The Slanting Perimeter Wall

With the establishment of Herodium, the upper part of the hill was enclosed by a 6 m. high perimeter wall of large finished stones, slanted 30 degrees back from the vertical; this wall seems to have served to delineate the perimeter of the hill-top structure, and separated it from most of the buildings erected on the slope. The assumption is that it was built for a number of complementary purposes: administrative, security and architectonic appearance.
Remains of the “Slanting Wall” have been uncovered for a length of around 100 meters on the northern and eastern slopes of the hill; it appears to have been built all the way around the crown of the hill, parallel to the Palace-Fortress’ outer perimeter wall at a distance of about 50 meters. In topographic terms, it stood at the top of the hill’s slope, apparently at a point where the slope became less steep.
Herod’s mausoleum and the royal theater were built at the foot of the wall on the northern slope, while the stairway climbed over it to the hill’s peak.