The Entry-Corridor to the Palace-Fortress

Once built, the later monumental stairway remained visible on the hill’s slope until the modern day, and it is mentioned even in the earliest descriptions of the site. This is apparently what Josephus referred to in his description of Herodium as having “two hundred steps of white marble” (Jewish Wars, I, 420). The extensive later building program at the end of Herod’s reign (end of 1st c. BCE) during which the artificial hill was built, included the establishment of this new monumental stairway which put the earlier one (link) out of use, and the addition of a corridor to enter the hilltop Palace-Fortress. The new stairway rose directly from the bottom of the hill to the corridor which enters the Palace at 45 degrees. On completion, it became the primary link between Lower and Upper Herodium, with the accompanying architectural importance as a result.
In order to allow access to the Palace at the courtyard level, the new corridor to the upper Palace-Fortress had intersect the fills poured on the artificial hill. This demanded the construction of thick, high walls on either side to shore up the cone’s fill and prevent collapse, and four arches were placed along the corridor to buttress the walls from the pressure. Entry into the corridor from the staircase was by way of a partially-preserved barrel vault.

Site Explanation Sign