Image Details

Courtesy of Győző Vörös

ANASTYLOSIS COMPLETE. Two re-erected columns—one Doric (right) and one Ionic—stand tall atop Machaerus with the Dead Sea in the background. The Doric column is shorter, stumpier and with a plain capital. The Ionic column is taller, slenderer and with a fancy scroll capital. With both of them in place, it is easy to envision the grandeur of the Herodian palace that once dominated this hilltop. According to Pliny the Elder, Machaerus was the strongest citadel in Judea—next to Jerusalem.