Machaerus
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Machaerus (Arabic: ِقلة المشناقى, Qalat el-Mishnaqa) is a fortified hilltop palace located in Jordan fifteen miles southeast of the mouth of the Jordan river on the eastern side of the Dead Sea. It is widely believed to be the location of the imprisonment and execution of John the Baptist. Also of note is the panoramic vista it presents of the surrounding countryside, the Dead Sea, and the West Bank. From time to time, shepherds and their flocks can be seen seeking shelter in the myriad caves and grottoes around Machaerus. |
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History[1]
The fortress Machaerus was originally built by the Hasmonean king, Alexander Jannaeus (104 BC-78 BC) in about the year 90 BC.[1] It was destroyed by Pompey's general Gabinius in 57 BC [2], but later rebuilt by Herod the Great in 30 BC to be used as a military base to safeguard his territories east of the Jordan.
Upon the death of Herod the Great, the fortress was passed to his son, Herod Antipas, who ruled from 4 BC until 39 AD. It was during this time, at the beginning of the first century AD, that John the Baptist was imprisoned and beheaded at Machaerus.[3]
After the death of Herod Antipas (39 AD), Machaerus passed to Herod Agrippa I until his death (44 AD), after which it came under Roman control. Jewish rebels took control after 66 AD during the First Jewish Revolt.[4] Shortly after defeating the Jewish garrison of Herodium, the Roman legate Lucilius Bassus advanced on Machaerus with his troops and began siege in 72 AD. An embankment and ramp were created in order to facilitate Roman siege engines but the Jewish rebels capitulated before the Roman attack had begun. The rebels were allowed to leave and the fortress was torn down, leaving only the foundations intact.
Biblical Signifigance
Located by the village of Mkawer, it is said, Salomé danced for her father, Herod Antipas, who presented her with the head of the John the Baptist (Prophet Yahya) to honor her wishes. According to Matthew 14: 9-12:
"The king was sad, but because of the promise he had made in front of all his guests, he gave orders that her wish be granted. So he had John beheaded in prison. The head was brought in on a plate to the girl, who took it to her mother."[2]
Topology
The isolated mountain on which the fortress stood (Qal`at al-Mishnaqa, in Arabic, 700 m above sea level) is located at the end of a ridge between the Wadi Zerqa Ma`in to the north and the Wadi Heidan-Mujib (Arnon) to the south.
The mountain isolated by deep wadis forms two saddles to the south east and north west sides. It could be reached from the Dead Sea on the west or from the region of Madaba on the east[3].
On a clear night one can see the lights of al-Quds (Jerusalem) and Ariha (Jericho).
Excavations
The village on the plateau to the east of the mountain is known Mukawir (also Meqawer, Arabic: مقاور). The site was visited in 1807 by the German explorer Ulrich Seetzen, and the name of the village reminded him of the name of Machaerus in Greek.
The Digs
The first archaeological excavation of the fortress began in 1968 by Jerry Vardaman, then of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, and later director of the Cobb Institute of Archeology at Mississippi State University. The work was resumed by the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum directed by the late V. Corbo in 1978 to 1981, and continued in 1992-93 by the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities.
In 1973, the German scholar, August Strobel, identified and studied the wall by which the Romans encircled the defenders within the fortress. In 1978-1981, excavations were carried out by Virgilio Corbo, Stanislao Loffreda and Michele Piccirillo, from the Franciscan Biblical Institute in Jerusalem.
The Upper City
Excavations have clarified the distinction made by Josephus' description of the upper city on the top of the mountain, and the lower city built on the steep northern slope.
The upper city was composed of the royal palace defended by four towers, of which only three have been identified. The palace results of two superimposed and mingled structures not well chronologically determined. The main upper structure (possibly the Herodian phase) was divided into two main wings by a paved corridor stretching north south.
The eastern wing developed on the sides of a central paved courtyard covering a cistern with the thermae on the south and elongated rooms on the north side. The western wing had a peristilium on the north built on the top of a cistern, connected to a triclinium on the south. Stuccios, drums of columns, capitals and bases of Jonic and Doric style have been found at the bottom of the cistern[4].
Defensive Wall
In its final phase a polygonal defensive wall was built on the perimeter of the upper city, possibly to be related with the Jewish revolt. Traces of the revolt have been found inside the palace, like two ovens on the mosaic floor of the apoditerium, and a poor executed wall on the west side of the triclinium.
Within the fortified area are the ruins of the Herodian palace, including rooms, a large courtyard, and an elaborate bath, with fragments of the floor mosaic still remaining. Farther down the eastern slope of the hill are other walls and towers, perhaps representing the "lower town," of which Josephus also speaks[5].
The Lower City
In the lower city, only few houses have been excavated inside the north large retaining and defensive wall surrounding the city. The wall was defended on both sides by a tower. Inside the north west tower could be reached the protected opening of a large cistern.
Traceable also, coming from the east, is the aqueduct that brought water to the cisterns of the fortress. Pottery found in the area extends from late Hellenistic to Roman periods and confirms the two main periods of occupation, namely, Hasmonean (90 BC-57 BC) and Herodian (30 BC-AD 72), with a brief reoccupation soon after AD 72 and then nothing further—so complete and systematic was the destruction visited upon the site by the Romans[6].
The lower and upper city were reached from the east through a bridge 15 m. high which connected the fortress to the highplateau. It served also as an acqueduct diverting rain water to the cisterns hewn in the northern slope of the mountain. A lower aqueduct served the same purpose for the cisterns on a lower hight.
Excavations in the village of Mekawer have unearthed three Byzantine churches built in the sixth century. The central church was mosaiced at the time of Bishop Malechios[7].
References
- ↑ The Franciscan Archaeological Institute
- ↑ ESV Bible - Matthew 14: 9-12
- ↑ The Franciscan Archaeological Institute
- ↑ Wikipedia: Machaerus Excavation
- ↑ The Franciscan Archaeological Institute
- ↑ Wikipedia: Machaerus Excavation
- ↑ The Franciscan Archaeological Institute
