The Monumental Stairways

With Herodium’s establishment, a wide ceremonial stairway on the hill’s north-east side was installed. The royal theater and mausoleum were built close by on the slope, in various phases of the construction.
When the artificial cone-shaped hill was formed as Herod’s final monument towards the end of his life, the original stairway was put out of use, and a new ceremonial one was built. This was also straight and wide, leading up to the Palace-Fortress via a corridor through the backfill of the artificial hill. This later stairway, built at a slightly different angle to the earlier one in alignment with the architectural axis of the Upper complex, is apparently the one described by Josephus –
“On the hill’s slope two hundred white marble steps were hewn, for the hill was quite high, despite the fact that it was man-made” (The Jewish Wars I, Ullman, pp. 419-421)
The stairways served the King and his court and any distinguished visitors invited to ascend to the upper complex; the later stairway was probably the one used for Herod’s sumptuous funeral, as it allows access to the Burial Monument on the slope.
It should be noted that for day-to-day use (house-keeping, administration, military etc.) more gradual pathways were probably established on the hill’s slopes, but their remains have yet to be found.

Read more:

• Netzer E., Kalman Y., Porat R., and Chachy-Laureys R. 2010. “Preliminary Report on Herod’s Mausoleum and Theatre with a Royal Box at Herodium,” Journal of Roman Archaeology 23. Pp. 84–108.