Second Testament Jericho
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According to Josephus, the Jericho of his day was a huge garden, eight miles long and more than one wide, irrigated by Elisha's spring. In fact, the Hasmonean and Herod brought water from many springs, because under the tropical conditions, they could grow the costliest spices and perfumes, especially balsam (Josephus, War, IV 8.3). For this reason Cleopatra of Egypt coveted Jericho, doing all she could to get it from Herod. Eventually she succeeded, and he had to lease it back from her until her suicide in 31 BC.
Heading south from Tell es-Sultan, we take a brief look at one of the three surviving fig sycamores in Jericho (Zacchaeus! Luke 19:1-8). We then continue south. Crossing a riverbed (Wadi Qilt), we make the next right. We are now following the line of the old Roman road toward Jerusalem, with the riverbed on our right. After a kilometer, we see a small mound before us and pull off to the right in front of it. This was part of Herod's winter palace. A bridge crossed the river to the main part of the palace on the other side, the outlines of which are clearly visible.
Here Herod died, at the age of 69, in 4 BC. Josephus tells the story.
(Note: The ascent westward from here is hazardous, a two-way street. Drive with care -- and not at all when it's wet.)
Before Herod's time, this area was the royal quarter of the Hasmonean. North of the palace, near the foot of the cliff, is a small excavated hill. It was the palace-turned-villa of Alexandra, mother of Mariamne, whom Herod fiercely loved. Alexandra had a 17-year-old son named Jonathan Aristobolus. She got Mariamne to pressure Herod to appoint him High Priest. As soon as he had done so, however, Herod rued the decision. For Jonathan soon proved very popular (he had the blood of the freedom-fighting Hasmoneans in his veins) and for the last hundred years the high priest had also been king. Herod, on the other hand, was a "mere" Edomite, whose paternal grandfather had converted to Judaism, and his fellow Jews considered him a collaborator with Rome.
Fearing a coup, Herod decided to cut his losses. The event occurred at a large swimming pool, still visible just east of the villa (one must visit by foot in order to see it). It was here that young Jonathan's troubles ended and Herod's began. See Josephus (Antiquities).
© 2003 Near East Tourist Agency (NET) Text © 2003 Stephen Langfur
Scripture taken from the NEW A
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