The Theater’s Royal Guest Chambers

Above the theater’s cavea and close to the entrances to the water-cisterns, a row of chambers was uncovered, of which the central one was a royal reception room for entertaining important guests; the rooms adjacent to it were clearly service rooms. It stood opposite the theater’s center and was decorated all over with spectacular wall-paintings and fine stucco moldings. Most of the paintings were in secco on dry plaster, with the lower portion of the walls decorated with painted panels, and above them were “hanging pictures” – paintings of windows with shutters open to the view. They were painted as if hanging from a nail with a thread, and even the shutter catches were painted in. Between the paintings were engaged stucco columns decorated with floral motifs and topped with Corinthian capitals with stucco entablature of floral motifs. Among the paintings were rural, Nilotic and maritime scenes, and also a number of animals and human figures. Egyptian motifs such as crocodiles and date palms, both victory symbols generally associated with the Battle of Actium, can be made out, and the sea battle itself is also depicted. According to the techniques used and the subjects which appear in the Herodium paintings, and by comparison with a number of examples known from Italy, they can be dated almost certainly to the years 20 to 15 BCE. It appears that the royal chamber’s decoration is related to the visit of Marcus Agrippa, a close associate of the Emperor Augustus, in 15 BCE. The room was re-decorated in his honor in secco – a simpler and quicker technique. The paintings’ subjects may even have been specially chosen to match Agrippa’s deeds, as a sign of Herod’s appreciation.

Read more:

• Netzer E., Kalman Y., Porat R. and Laureys-Chachy R., 2009. “Herod’s Grave and the Royal Theater on the slope of the Herodium Hill”, Qadmoniyot 138 (year 42), Pp. 104-117
• Netzer E, Kalman Y, Porat R, Chachy-Laureys R. 2010 .”Preliminary report on Herod’s mausoleum and theatre with a royal box at Herodium”, JRA 23, pp. 84-108.

• Netzer E, Porat R., Kalman Y. and Chachi R., 2013. “Herodium”, Mevorah D. and Rozenberg S. (eds.) Herod the Great: The King’s Final Journey, Jerusalem, Pp. 126-161.
• Pozenberg S., 2013. “Interior Decoration in Herod’s Palaces”, Mevorah D. and Rozenberg S. (eds.) Herod the Great: The King’s Final Journey, Jerusalem, Pp. 166-223.
• Weiss Z., 2013. “Buildings for Mass Entertainment in Herod’s Kingdom”, Mevorah D. and Rozenberg S. (eds.) Herod the Great: The King’s Final Journey, Jerusalem, Pp. 224-239.