The Triclinium – Synagogue

On the western side of the hilltop Palace-Fortress stood a large (15 X 10.5 m.) hall, used originally for feasts and receptions. It was paved with a guilloche of colored stones in opus sectile, and the walls were decorated with painted panels in fresco.
Access was from the courtyard via a broad entryway facing east. Along the walls stood rows of columns which would have supported a raised roof and clerestory with the aid of heavy wooden beams. During either the Great Revolt or the Bar-Kokhba revolt, the hall was converted to a synagogue, when the pillars and benches currently in the hall were added.

Site Explanation Sign (Triclinium)
 
Site Explanation Sign (Synagogue)

Read more:

• Porat R., Netzer E., Kalman Y. & Chachy R., 2010; New Research on the Herodium Palace-Fortress, Border and Desert Areas of the Land of Israel 4-5, Pp. 7-19. (in Hebrew)

• Netzer E., 1981. Greater Herodium (Qedem 13), Jerusalem.
• Corbo, V. C. 1989. Herodion I: gli Edifici della-Fortezza. Jerusalem. Franciscan Printing Press.
• Foerster G., 1983. “The Synagogues at Masada and Herodium”, Eretz-Israel 11, Pp. 224-228. (in Hebrew)
• Netzer E., 2003. “The Synagogue og the Second Temple Period on the Basis of the Archaeolocical and Literary Evidence”, Ben-Arieh Y. and Reiner E. (eds.) Studies in the History of Eretz Israel: Presented to Yehuda Ben Porat, Jerusalem, Pp. 195-208. (in Hebrew)
• Netzer E., 2004. “The Synagogue of the Second Temple Period and their Impact on the Later Ones”, Y. Eshel et. al. (eds.) And Let Them Make Me a Sanctuary, Synagogues from the Ancient Times to the Present Day, Ariel, Pp.9-24. (in Hebrew)