Monumental Building, Lower Herodium

Ehud Netzer hopes that excavations near the Monumental Building (B28 plan, above) will reveal the location of Herod’s tomb. The north half of this symmetrical building was excavated first in the hope of uncovering the entrance to Herod’s burial cave behind the building. No such entrance was found. Then the south half of the building was excavated to determine whether an entrance to a burial cave was under the mountain on the south side of the building. Again, no cave was found.

Above is a reconstruction of the possible appearance of the Monumental Building as seen from the north. The reconstruction is based on the Temple of Diana at Nimes, to which the Monumental Building bears a striking similarity. The almost three-meter thickness of the north and south walls was probably necessary to support a dome and, perhaps, a second story or a monumental roof.

Below, an excavation volunteer stands in an entrance in the ten-foot-thick north wall. Inside, pilasters forming niches project from the south wall. Although some plaster still clings to the stones, nothing remains today of the frescoes that covered these walls in Herod’s time.