Restoring Herod’s Throne Niche at Machaerus

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There are few archaeological sites in the Holy Land from the time of the New Testament Gospels that can be reconstructed using original architectural elements, but Machaerus—King Herod’s citadel on the eastern side of the Dead Sea, in Jordan—is one of them.

In 2019, we reconstructed part of King Herod’s royal courtyard at Machaerus: the apsidal niche within which Herod’s throne would have been positioned. In 2014, we also reconstructed one complete Ionic column and Doric column from 032the surviving architectural elements. We re-erected these Herodian columns on the two places where a previous Franciscan archaeological expedition found the only two in situ column-bases of the Herodian royal castle: a complete Ionic column in the apodyterium hall (or “undressing room”) of the Herodian bathhouse and a complete Doric column in the central peristyle.^a

Archaeologists first uncovered the royal court of Machaerus in 1980, but the area of the Herodian throne remained unexcavated, under about 6 feet of ancient debris, for another 13 years. When archaeologists discovered the apsidal throne niche in 1993, they failed to identify it as such. They overlooked the importance of this curved wall—the only one in the 033Machaerus citadel—and even built a modern wall in front of it!^b

Our archaeological excavations at Machaerus on behalf of the Hungarian Academy of Arts and the Pontifical University Faculty of the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum in Jerusalem began in 2009. In 2014, we corrected many of the false archaeological reconstructions from previous excavations, and finally, in 2019, we removed the modern wall in front of the freshly restored apsidal throne niche. With this act, we accomplished our mission of correcting the inaccurate 1993 monument presentations at the Machaerus citadel.

During the same archaeological field season, we excavated in the throne niche until we hit bedrock. We exposed and documented the foundations of the area, and then we reerected a second, additional row of stones of the apsidal throne niche, to give visitors a 3D understanding of this important architectural space.

The fortress of Machaerus (Greek: Μαχαɩροῦς, meaning “sword”) was built by the Hasmonean Alexander Jannaeus in c. 90 B.C., destroyed by the Roman general Gabinius in 57 B.C., transformed into a royal palace and city by King Herod the Great in c. 30 B.C., and destroyed by the Nabatean king Aretas IV in A.D. 36. From its hilltop location east of the Dead Sea, Machaerus could provide a view all the way to Jericho and the Temple of Jerusalem, Masada to the south, and even to Sartaba-Alexandreion, well north of Jericho overlooking the Jordan Valley. Its unique strategic location, overlooking the Dead Sea and the West Bank, made it one of the most fortified places in Judea. In 034fact, according to Pliny the Elder, Machaerus was the second most fortified place in Roman Judea—second only to Jerusalem but more prominent than Masada, Herodion, and Alexandreion (Historia Naturalis 5.15–16).

The Jewish historian Flavius Josephus recounts that Herod Antipas had John the Baptist imprisoned and executed at the fortress of Machaerus (Antiquities 18.116–119). This complements the descriptions of the Gospels of Mark (Mark 6:14-29) and Matthew (Matthew 14:1-12). The Christian historian Eusebius later (c. 324) also relates the story to Machaerus (Ecclesiastical History 1.11.4–6).

Josephus and the Gospels thus provide a picture of Machaerus as the historical scene of the tragic birthday banquet of Tetrarch Herod Antipas at which Princess Salome danced c. A.D. 29. As the only royal palace that the tetrarch inherited from King Herod, Machaerus was to Antipas the best symbol of his Herodian royal legacy.

After a period of occupation by Judean rebels, the Romans destroyed the post-Herodian fortress during the winter of 71/72 (Jewish War 7.190–209), and Machaerus disappeared from the maps for nearly two millennia.

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The above literary sources are in full harmony with the archaeological research of the biblical site that has, during the past 52 years, revealed the complete fortified Herodian palace. Also exposed were remains of a circumvallation wall with campuses around the citadel and an unfinished agger-ramp (an artificial elevation or rampart) of the Legion X Fretensis, as well as the lower city of Machaerus.

The architectural legacy and the archaeological materials (including epigraphic, ceramic, and numismatic evidence) all fully agree with the detailed description of Josephus.^c

The once magnificent, c. 7,000-square-foot royal courtyard—with its in situ apsidal throne niche and even part of the lithostrotos (“stone pavement”)—had to be the setting for the birthday banquet of Antipas, described by the Gospels. Many people were invited, even from Galilee, the northern half of his tetrarchy: “An opportunity came on Herod’s birthday when he gave a banquet for the nobles of his court, for 036037his army officers and for the leading figures in Galilee” (Mark 6:21). The royal courtyard is not only the largest but also the only architectural space in the fortified palace of Machaerus where the tetrarch would have been able to receive the large gathering of official guests. This courtyard had to be the very place where, according to Josephus, Antipas delivered his judgment of a death-sentence on John the Baptist. Antipas would have delivered his sentence from the throne-seat—within the apsidal niche—of the royal court.

So five biblical figures once resided at Machaerus: King Herod the Great, his son Tetrarch Herod Antipas with his second wife, Princess Herodias, her daughter Princess Salome, and John the Baptist. The first four lived in the citadel, while John the Baptist suffered his political house arrest (together with his close disciples) in the fortified Herodian lower city.

It appears that the historical references of the Gospels, Josephus, and Eusebius can be wonderfully contextualized with archaeology and even with imaginative works of art that portray Machaerus. There are only a few historical sites that appear in the Gospels where such an attempt or quest can be executed. A unique position among these sacred places belongs to Machaerus, where the archaeological legacy survived in the form of a 2,000-year-old time capsule that we were able to uncover and reimagine using the latest technologies.

Currently, we are excavating the houses of the Herodian lower city of Machaerus, in one of which John the Baptist suffered his imprisonment. From this place, he sent his disciples to Jesus in Galilee with a query (Matthew 11:2-6; Luke 7:18-23), and this is where he was executed by one of the bodyguards of Antipas (Mark 6:27-28; Matthew 14:10). After this, he presumably would have been buried in the necropolis of Machaerus. Stay tuned as we uncover a new chapter of the biblical drama at this historic site!

King Herod the Great built an impressive palace-fortress at Machaerus, east of the Dead Sea. See how the site’s excavators restored the throne niche in his royal palace.