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ISRAELPHOTOARCHIVE ©ALEXANDER SCHICK/BIBELAUSSTELLUNG.DE

HEROD’S THIRD PALACE at Jericho included a five-room bathhouse that featured this laconicum, or sweating room. A typical feature of Roman baths, it was built of Roman concrete faced with small sandstone blocks forming opus reticulatum and opus quadratum patterns (the former used on walls and niches, the latter on corners). The round room has four semi-circular niches that preserve the original floor level and must have been covered by a cupola, possibly with a round aperture at the top. The purpose of the two concentric substructural channels remains unknown. Visible behind the laconicum is a large courtyard that featured a garden in the open central space and colonnades with covered walkways on three sides.