The first historical figure with whom the Gospel of Matthew essentially begins is King Herod.
Herod I the Great is a highly extraordinary and controversial personality.
According to the Roman "imperial" concepts of that time, Herod appears to be a peripheral, minor figure; undoubtedly necessary, even irreplaceable – and for a long time a model of what dependent rulers of this kind should be. However, for us, who draw a significant part of the traditions not only from Rome or Athens, but also from Israel, Herod cannot in any way be considered a peripheral figure: he ruled Jerusalem itself, the center of that very different world. However, he and his activities are of primary interest to Jews and Christians alike. During his reign, he expanded the possessions of the Kingdom of Judah, leaving behind unique examples of art and masterpieces of architecture. It was during his reign that the preconditions for Christianity were laid; this was the historical period immediately preceding the birth of Jesus Christ. However, he still firmly retains his reputation as a merciless tyrant, which he acquired thanks to the massacre and mass murder of infants in Bethlehem.
Christ was born during the life of Herod. According to the Bible, Herod learned about his birth from the eastern sages, who reported the birth of the King of the Jews in Bethlehem. “Then Herod, seeing himself ridiculed by the Magi, became very angry and sent to kill all the infants in Bethlehem and throughout its borders, from two years old and under, according to the time that he found out from the Magi.”(Matt. 2:16). Massacre of the Innocents is all most people have ever heard about Herod the Great. Dedicated to this topic a large number of European works of art. By the way, many still confuse Herod the Great with his son Herod Antipas, who executed John the Baptist, and with his grandson King Herod Agrippa I, who executed the Apostle James Zebedee and imprisoned St. Petra.
Herod is the founder of the Edomite dynasty of the Herodias, which ruled Judea for more than 135 years. The names of the Herods known to us are Herod I the Great, Herod Archelaus, Herod Antipas, Herod Philip, Herod Agrippa I, Herod the king of Chalcis and Herod Agrippa II. They all belong to family tree Jewish monarch Herod the Great. King of Judea (40 - 4 BC).
We have basic biographical information about Herod the Great thanks to Josephus, a Jewish-Roman historian, who, in turn, drew information from Nicholas of Damascus, Herod’s advisor and personal court historian.
Mid-1st century BC with all the turmoil and unrest, one of the most fruitful periods in the history of human civilization. In Rome, despite political and military upheavals, it was a golden age of writers: Caesar himself, Cicero, Lucretius, Catullus and Virgil, who was several years younger than Herod.
Herod I the Great(c. 73 BC - 4 BC) - was from Idumea (a historical region in the south of Palestine, which bordered Judea in the north; the Edomites had a special hatred for the Jews, believing that because of them they lost the beautiful lands of Canaan; in 63 BC, Idumea, along with Judea, was conquered by Rome). His father Antipater was the Roman procurator (prime minister) of Judea, which at the time was formally ruled by Hyrcanus II.
Herod began his political career in 48 BC. e. When Herod was only 25 years old, his father appointed him tetrarch (governor) of Galilee (a historical region in northern Israel, on the border with Lebanon). Despite his youth, Herod showed valor and prudence in this position, managed to quickly cleanse the country of the robbers who ravaged it and gain the favor of the local residents. Having become a tetrarch, Herod marries an Edomite woman named Doris, with whom he has a son, Antipater.
During the same period, approximately 47–46 BC, a conflict arose between Herod and the Sanhedrin, which was provoked by the execution without trial of the conspirators who rebelled against his father. The young governor was accused of unauthorized executions and summoned to court. Before appearing before the Sanhedrin, Herod took precautions in advance and, as soon as he felt that things were heading towards his condemnation, he fled to Roman Syria. Sextus Caesar, who was governor of this province, gave him control of Coelesyria. Having gathered troops there, Herod marched on Jerusalem and brought such fear to Hyrcanus II that he dropped all charges against him and again gave him control over Galilee.
In the eyes of the Roman authorities, Herod becomes trustworthy; he soon received the appointment of strategist (governor and commander of troops) of Palestine and Southwestern Syria.
Half-Arab Herod (his mother was Arabian), although converted to Judaism, provoked discontent among many circles of the Jewish population. In 44 BC, after the assassination of Julius Caesar, another civil war began in Rome. Herod's opponents took heart, as they expected his inevitable fall. But he came to Mark Antony with a large number of gifts and managed not only to justify himself, but also to become a friend of the powerful triumvir. In 43 BC. After the death of Antipater the father, Anthony appointed Herod and his elder brother Phasael as tetrarchs and entrusted them with managing all the affairs of the Jews. But formally Hyrcanus II remained on the throne.
In 41 BC, caught up in his affair with the Egyptian queen Cleopatra, Anthony abandoned everything and went to live with her in Egypt. The enemies of Herod and Hyrcanus hastened to take advantage of this.
The nephew of Herkan II Antigonus, having secured the military support of the Parthians, in 40. BC. captured Jerusalem, imprisoned his uncle Hyrcanus and captured Herod's brother Phazael, who soon committed suicide. Herod himself managed to escape to Egypt, from where, after meeting Cleopatra, he sailed by ship to Rome. There, with the support of Mark Antony, he was presented to the Roman Senate and “elected” as the new king of Judea.
At 37 BC e. Herod and the Roman legions took Jerusalem. After taking the city, Herod beheaded King Antigonus, the last monarch of the Hasmonean dynasty, and dealt with his supporters (45 members of the Sanhedrin).
Even during the siege of Jerusalem (which lasted 5 months), in order to increase his chances for the throne, Herod expelled his wife Doris with their 3-year-old son Antipater and married Mariamne, the granddaughter of the high priest Hyrcanus II, thereby trying to give his dynasty a blood relationship with the house Davidov. Mariamne bore Herod five children.
According to Josephus, Mariamne “in her beauty and ability to carry herself with dignity, she surpassed all her contemporaries.” Herod loved his wife very much, but she treated him with hostility, since Herod, fighting the Hasmoneans, destroyed her entire family and “she was not at all embarrassed to tell him this directly.” Moreover, Mariamne’s influence on Herod was enormous. So, in 35 BC. Herod, at the request of his wife, appoints Miriamne's 17-year-old brother Aristobulus as high priest of the Jerusalem Temple. Subsequently, Herod regretted this: he invited his relative to the Jericho Palace and, while swimming in the pool, Aristobulus “accidentally” drowned. Mariamne caused great discontent among the king's relatives. Herod's mother and sister convinced him that his wife wanted to poison him, and he brought her to trial. After the verdict was pronounced, Herod at first did not carry it out and imprisoned Mariamne in one of the palaces, but then, under pressure from his sister Salome, who frightened him with popular unrest, he ordered Mariamne to be killed. Mariamne was executed in 29 BC. e. She was only 25 years old.
By 31 BC. power in the Roman state was divided between Octavian Augustus, the ruler of the West, who was in Rome, and Mark Antony, the ruler of the East, with his residence in Alexandria.
After the defeat of Mark Antony in civil war against Octavian, Herod, who had previously been loyal to Mark Antony, took the side of the winner, who now became Caesar Augustus. In gratitude, Octavian Augustus approved in 30 BC. Herod on the throne of Judea.
After the death of his beloved wife, Herod plunged into depression. Josephus reports that Herod ordered Mariamne's body to be embalmed and left in the palace, while he wandered around his chambers in a frenzy and called her by name. Apparently, Herod began to develop psychosis - he even began to hear voices.
It was during this period that the mother of the executed Mariamne, Alexandra, having secured the forceful support of like-minded people, decided to seize the throne. She proclaims herself queen, declaring that because of mental illness Herod can no longer rule the country. But Alexandra’s actions only mobilized the previously weakened Herod - Alexander and all the conspirators were executed even without a trial.
Assessing the personality of this sovereign, both contemporaries and descendants often experienced ambivalent feelings.
Without any doubt, Herod was a very gifted and active ruler. Under him, Judea turned into a rich and prosperous country. Enormous wealth allowed the king to rebuild many old cities and found new ones.
First of all, on the site of the Strato Tower, he built himself a new magnificent residence, Caesarea, decorated with luxurious palaces made of white stone. An extensive and convenient harbor with numerous anchorages was also built here. In Sebaste (as abandoned and devastated Samaria began to be called), Herod settled 6 thousand of his veterans, building a large and beautiful city. Many beautiful buildings were built in Jerusalem. He extended his truly royal generosity to foreign cities. It is difficult to even list the blessings with which he showered Syria and Hellas, as well as other areas where he had to visit during his travels. To the Rhodians he own funds built a Pythian temple; he helped the inhabitants of Nicomedia build most of their public buildings; he decorated the central street of Antioch with two rows of porticos, and ordered the entire area occupied by the city to be paved with polished slabs; he gave significant funds to the Eleans for the organization and conduct Olympic Games and revived these ancient competitions, which, due to lack of money, had completely lost their former meaning. In addition, he helped many cities and individuals, so he was rightly known as one of the most generous sovereigns of his time.
But, probably, the most ambitious construction project of Herod the Great was the reconstruction of the Jerusalem Temple. Construction began in 22 BC. e. and lasted 9 years.
The scale of the Temple of Herod the Great amazed not only his contemporaries. It still makes an impression on those who try to imagine what this Temple was like. For the construction of the temple complex, a massive platform of earth and stone was initially built with an area of 144,000 square meters, which is approximately 12 football fields! The height of this elevation was 32 meters. The area of the Temple was twice the size of Emperor Trajan's Forum in Rome!
Many were therefore amazed at the contradictions in Herod’s character and how courage, deep intelligence and genuine greatness of spirit coexisted in him with ruthlessness, injustice and evil deceit. However, according to Josephus, there was nothing surprising in these contradictions: both his magnanimous generosity and his despotic cruelty had one reason - immeasurable ambition. For the sake of the desire to gain glory and immortality, Herod was ready to do anything. Despite his Hellenic gloss, he remained a true oriental despot. This was most clearly manifested in his relationships with those close to him and his family. Those who knew how to please him could feel how immeasurable his generosity was. But those who did not flatter him, or did not recognize themselves as his slave, or aroused suspicions of treason, Herod did not tolerate at all and was cruel to them without any measure.
Last years Herod's reign was marked by particular suspicion, vindictiveness and cruelty. Herod expected deception and conspiracy from everywhere. But if earlier the danger came only from conservative elements, now he began to suspect his inner circle, including relatives, of conspiracies. So, when Herod turned 65 years old, it seemed to him that his two sons from Mariamne, Alexander and Aristobulus, were preparing a coup. Then he ordered their execution (they were hanged in Samaria in 7 BC). Just five days before his death, Herod ordered the execution of his eldest son (by his first wife Doris), Antipater (4 BC). The most famous and perhaps the most extensive episode illustrating Herod's cruelty is the massacre of the infants in Bethlehem (Mt 2:16-18).
Soon Herod was struck down by one of the most severe attacks of the disease. He was tormented by an unbearable hunger that no amount of food could satisfy. The stomach and other internal organs were ulcerated and eaten away. It was difficult for him to breathe, and the unfortunate man's breath became so foul that no one dared to approach him. Being in such a sad and terrible situation, he was forced to suffer from unbearable pain. After unsuccessful attempts to recover, he came to terms with his death, regretting that after death he would deserve the condemnation of his subjects. Herod paid salaries to his loyal soldiers. He divided the kingdom between his sons: Herod Archelaus (Idumea, Judea and Samaria), Herod Antipas (Galilee and Perea) and Herod Philip (Iturea, Trachonitida with adjacent regions).
Archelaus gave his father a magnificent funeral: the body of the deceased was placed on a golden bed and covered with purple. The procession was attended by an honor guard of Gali, German and Thracian warriors. According to the will of the deceased, his body was interred between Jerusalem and Bethlehem, on the edge of the Judean Desert in Herodium (an artificially raised hill), where his grave was discovered by archaeologists in 2007. The mourning for Herod lasted seven days.
The news of the death of the despotic king of Judah found the Holy Family in Egypt. The Divine Infant Our Lord Jesus Christ was then four years old.
In conclusion, we note that this was a king equal in both his deeds and his sins: one of the most educated and active monarchs of his time, who expanded the borders of his state and gave it economic prosperity and peace for many decades.
The king who built more than all his predecessors since the days of David and Solomon; a successful politician who skillfully maneuvered troubled times the departure of one Roman emperor and the arrival of another, while remaining the king of the Jews.
He did not stop before executing the majority of the members of the Sanhedrin in order to overcome the resistance of the priestly class, cruelly and mercilessly dealt with all real and possible opponents, among whom were his wives and sons, relatives and local nobility; a victim of his own manic suspicion, whose name became a symbol of cruelty for centuries.
The Jewish king Herod the Great remains one of the most controversial figures in ancient history. He is best known for the biblical story of the massacre of the infants. Therefore, even today the word “Herod” itself is a phraseological unit meaning a vile and unprincipled person.
Nevertheless, the personal portrait of this monarch would be incomplete if it began and ended with a mention of the massacre of infants. Herod the Great received his nickname for his active work on the throne in a difficult era for the Jews. This characterization goes against the image of a bloodthirsty killer, so it’s worth taking a closer look at the figure of this king.
Family
By origin, Herod did not belong to the royal Jewish dynasty. His father Antipater the Edomite was governor of the province of Idumea. At this time (1st century BC), the Jewish people found themselves in an expansion that was making its way to the east.
In 63 BC. e. Jerusalem was taken by Pompey, after which the Jewish kings became dependent on the republic. During the years 49-45. Antipater had to choose between contenders for power in the Senate. He supported Julius Caesar. When he defeated Pompey, his supporters received significant dividends for their loyalty. Antipater was awarded the title of procurator of Judea and, although not formally a king, actually became the main Roman governor in this province.
Back in 73 BC. e. The Edomite had a son - the future Herod the Great. In addition to the fact that Antipater was a procurator, he was also the guardian of King Hyrcanus II, on whom he had great influence. It was with the permission of the monarch that he made his son Herod tetrarch (governor) of the province of Galilee. This happened in 48 BC. e., when the young man was 25 years old.
First steps in politics
Tetrarch Herod the Great was a governor loyal to the Roman supreme power. Such relationships were condemned by the conservative part of Jewish society. The nationalists wanted independence and did not want to see the Romans on their land. However, the external situation was such that Judea could have protection from aggressive neighbors only under the protectorate of the republic.
In 40 BC. e. Herod, as tetrarch of Galilee, had to face the Parthian invasion. They captured all of defenseless Judea, and installed their protege as a puppet king in Jerusalem. Herod safely fled the country in order to gain support in Rome, where he hoped to receive an army and drive out the invaders. By this time, his father Antipater the Edomite had already died of old age, so the policy had to be adopted independent decisions and act at your own risk.
Expulsion of the Parthians
On the way to Rome, Herod stopped in Egypt, where he met Queen Cleopatra. When the Jew finally found himself in the Senate, he managed to come to an agreement with the powerful Mark Antony, who agreed to provide the guest with an army to return the province.
The war with the Parthians continued for two more years. with the support of Jewish refugees and volunteers, they liberated the entire country, as well as its capital Jerusalem. Until this moment, the kings of Israel belonged to an ancient royal dynasty. While still in Rome, Herod received consent to become a ruler himself, but his pedigree was of low birth. Therefore, the contender for power married the granddaughter of Hyrcanus II Miriamne in order to legitimize himself in the eyes of his compatriots. So, thanks to Roman intervention, in 37 BC. e. Herod became king of Judea.
Beginning of reign
Throughout the years of his reign, Herod had to balance between two polar parts of society. On the one hand, he tried to maintain good relations with Rome, since his country was actually a province of the republic, and then the empire. At the same time, the king needed to not lose his authority among his compatriots, most of whom had a negative attitude towards newcomers from the West.
Of all the methods of maintaining power, Herod chose the most reliable - he mercilessly dealt with his internal and external opponents, so as not to show his own weakness. The repression began immediately after Roman troops recaptured Jerusalem from the Parthians. Herod ordered the execution of the former king Antigonus, who was placed on the throne by the interventionists. For new government the problem was that the deposed monarch belonged to the ancient Hasmonean dynasty, which had ruled Judea for more than a century. Despite the protests of dissatisfied Jews, Herod remained adamant, and his decision was implemented. Antiochus, along with dozens of his associates, was executed.
Way out of the crisis
The centuries-old history of the Jews has always been full of tragedies and difficult trials. The era of Herod was no exception. In 31 BC. e. A devastating earthquake occurred in Israel, killing more than 30 thousand people. At the same time, the southern Arab tribes attacked Judea and tried to plunder it. The State of Israel was in a deplorable state, but the always active Herod did not lose his head and took all measures to minimize the damage from these misfortunes.
First of all, he managed to defeat the Arabs and expel them from his land. The nomads attacked Judea also because the echo continued in the Roman state and spread to Israel. In that memorable year 31 BC. e. Herod's main defender and patron, Mark Antony, was defeated in the battle of Actium against the fleet of Octavian Augustus.
This event had the most long-lasting consequences. The King of Judea sensed a change in the political wind and began to send envoys to Octavian. Soon this Roman politician finally seized power and proclaimed himself emperor. The new Caesar and the king of Judea found mutual language, and Herod was able to breathe a sigh of relief.
Urban planning activities
A devastating earthquake destroyed many buildings throughout Israel. In order to raise the country from ruins, Herod had to take the most drastic measures. Construction of new buildings began in cities. Their architecture acquired Roman and Hellenistic features. The capital of Jerusalem became the center of such construction.
Herod's main project was the reconstruction of the Second Temple - the main religious building of the Jews. Over the past centuries, it had become very dilapidated and seemed outdated against the backdrop of new magnificent buildings. The ancient Jews treated the temple as the cradle of their nation and religion, so its reconstruction became Herod’s life’s work.
The king hoped that this restructuring would help him gain the support of ordinary people, who for many reasons did not like their ruler, considering him a cruel tyrant and a protege of Rome. Herod was generally distinguished by his ambition, and the prospect of being in the place of Solomon, who built the First Temple, did not give him any peace at all.
Restoration of the Second Temple
The city of Jerusalem prepared for several years for the restoration, which began in 20 BC. e. The necessary construction resources - stone, marble, etc. - were brought to the capital from all over the country. Everyday life The temple was full of sacred rituals that could not be violated even during restoration. For example, there was a separate internal section where only Jewish clergy could enter. Herod ordered that they be taught construction skills so that they could do all the work themselves. necessary work in an area prohibited for lay people.
The first year and a half was spent rebuilding the main temple building. When this procedure was completed, the building was consecrated and religious services continued there. Over the next eight years, restoration of the courtyards and individual premises took place. The interior was changed to make visitors feel cozy and comfortable in the new temple.
The long-term construction of King Herod outlived its inspiration. Even after his death, reconstruction was still ongoing, although the bulk of the work had already been completed.
Roman influence
Thanks to Herod, the ancient Jews received the first amphitheater in their capital, which hosted classic Roman spectacles - gladiator fights. These battles were fought in honor of the emperor. In general, Herod tried in every possible way to emphasize that he remained loyal to the central government, which helped him sit on the throne until his death.
The Hellenization policy was not liked by many Jews, who believed that by inculcating Roman habits, the king was insulting his own religion. Judaism at that time was experiencing a stage of crisis, when false prophets appeared throughout Israel, convincing the common people to accept their own teachings. The Pharisees, members of a narrow stratum of theologians and priests who tried to preserve the old religious order, fought against heresy. Herod often consulted them on particularly sensitive issues of his policy.
In addition to symbolic and religious buildings, the monarch improved roads and tried to give his cities everything that was necessary for a comfortable life for their inhabitants. He did not forget about his own wealth. The Palace of Herod the Great, built under his personal control, captured the imagination of his compatriots.
In a critical situation, the king could act extremely generously, despite all his love for luxury and grandeur. In the year 25, a massive famine began in Judea, and the suffering poor filled Jerusalem. The ruler could not feed them with funds from the treasury, since all the money at that time was invested in construction. Every day the situation became more and more frightening, and then King Herod the Great ordered the sale of all his jewelry, with the proceeds from which tons of Egyptian bread were purchased.
Massacre of the innocents
All the positive character traits of Herod faded with age. By old age, the monarch turned into a merciless and suspicious tyrant. Before him, the kings of Israel often became victims of conspiracies. This is partly why Herod became paranoid, not trusting even his loved ones. The darkening of the king's mind was marked by the fact that he ordered the execution of two of his own sons, who turned out to be victims of a false denunciation.
But another story related to Herod’s painful outbursts of anger has become much more famous. The Gospel of Matthew describes an episode in which mysterious wise men came to the ruler. The magicians told the ruler that they were going to the city of Bethlehem, where the real king of Judah was born.
The news of an unprecedented contender for power frightened Herod. He gave an order that the history of the Jews had never known. The king ordered to kill all the newborns, which was done. Christian sources give different estimates about the number of victims of this massacre. Thousands of babies may have been killed, although modern historians dispute this theory due to the fact that there could not have been so many newborns in an ancient provincial town. One way or another, the “king of Judea,” to whom the Magi were heading, survived. He was Jesus Christ - the central figure of the new Christian religion.
Death and funeral
Herod did not live long after the story of the massacre of the infants. He died around 4 BC. e., when he was 70 years old. For the ancient era, this was an extremely respectable age. The old man left this world, leaving behind several sons. He bequeathed his throne to his eldest son Archelaus. However, this candidacy had to be considered and approved by the Roman emperor. Octavian agreed to give Archelaus only half of Israel, giving the other half to his brothers and thus splitting the country. This was the emperor's next step on the path to weakening Jewish authorities in Judea.
Herod was buried not in Jerusalem, but in the fortress of Herodion, named after him and founded during his reign. His son Archelaus took charge of organizing the funeral events. Ambassadors from various provinces arrived to him. Guests of Judea witnessed an unprecedented spectacle. The deceased was buried magnificently - in a golden bed and surrounded by a large crowd of people. The mourning for the deceased king continued for another week. The State of Israel spent a long time seeing off its first ruler from the Herodiad dynasty on his final journey.
The king's tomb was discovered by archaeologists quite recently. This happened in 2007. The find made it possible to compare many facts given in ancient written sources with reality.
Conclusion
Herod's personality was controversially accepted by his contemporaries. The epithet “Great” was given to him by modern historians. This was done to highlight the large role that the king played in integrating his country with the Roman Empire, as well as maintaining peace in Judea.
Researchers gleaned the most reliable information about Herod from the works of a historian who was his contemporary. All the successes achieved by the sovereign during his reign became possible thanks to his ambition, pragmatism and confidence in his decisions. There is no doubt that the tsar often sacrificed the destinies of his specific subjects when it came to the viability of the state.
He managed to hold on to the throne, despite the confrontation between two parties - the Roman and the nationalist. His heirs and descendants could not boast of such success.
The figure of Herod is important for all Christian history, although his influence is often not so obvious because he died on the eve of the events associated with the work of Christ. Nevertheless, the entire New Testament history took place in the Israel that this ancient king left behind.
Many of us met Herod the Great on the pages of Mikhail Bulgakov’s immortal novel “The Master and Margarita.” Or rather, not with Herod himself, but only with his palace, into the covered colonnade of which the fifth procurator Pontius Pilate once came out. To that historical event We will return in future articles, but for now let’s get acquainted with the owner of the palace, King Herod, one of the greatest rulers of the pre-Christian era.
However, this is not entirely true. Herod ruled Judea for the first year or two after the birth of Jesus. After all, the fifth verse of the Gospel of Luke begins with the words "In the days of Herod king of Judah...". Luke tells us about the birth of John the Baptist, and another evangelist, Saint Matthew, tells us about how Herod the Great, having learned from the Magi about "born king of the Jews", "he was greatly troubled, and all Jerusalem with him"(Gospel of Matthew 2:3). So what caused the anxiety of the elderly king? Why did the ensuing Bethlehem massacre, known as "massacre of the innocents", was not described in any of the historical documents of that era?
We will try to answer these and other questions that historians and biblical scholars still face in this article. But these will only be hypotheses and assumptions, for the Temple Mount, which acquired its modern appearance under King Herod the Great, still keeps its terrible secrets...
It’s interesting that no one called Herod “great” during his lifetime. Most likely, in those days one of the nicknames stuck to him, similar to the familiar expression “Herod the accursed,” which became a common noun in the Russian language. But the most interesting thing is that his name was not Herod at all. His name in the local dialect was pronounced Hordos, and he was the son of a major politician and courtier Antipater. It was in honor of his father that he would name one of his sons Herod Antipas. And this second Herod will become even more famous than his father, because he will go down in history as the murderer of John the Baptist. So the Russian “Herod the accursed” can be successfully addressed to both father and son.
But let's return to those times when, since the time of the great revolt of Judas Maccabee, little Judea was closely watched by its overseas neighbor - the Roman Republic.
The Republic had its own plans. The Republic did not like the dominance of the Ptolemies in Egypt and the Seleucids in Syria. And she saw small independent Judea as a future political and military partner. Until the Republic of Kazakhstan decides to “play” another political card in Judea. Therefore, in 63 BC. Gnaeus Pompey, in the recent past a consul, and now a commander in chief of the entire army of the Republic, invades Judea and carries out a terrible massacre in Jerusalem. As befits a pagan, he robs and desecrates the Jerusalem Temple.
Pompey appoints Alexandre's son Jannaeus, known in history as Hyrcanus the Younger, as ruler of Judea. No, Hyrcanus was no longer a king like his father. He was a puppet ruler who strictly followed the rules of the game established by the Republic. Thus Judea falls under the rule of Rome, which will last until the end of the seventh century AD. And then the cunning Antipater, taking advantage of the situation, brings his four sons into the world. And our hero Hordos, then unknown to anyone, but a promising military leader, marries the granddaughter of Hyrcanus the Younger, the beautiful Miriam. In Russian translations she is known under the name Mariamne. And the entire further history of Jerusalem will henceforth be inextricably linked with the name of this man, Herod the Great.
But Pompey fell victim to a conspiracy led by his former friend and comrade-in-arms Gaius Julius Caesar. And then Caesar himself was betrayed and killed by his associates. So in 36 BC, with the support of the future emperor Octavian Augustus and his rival Mark Antony, Hordos-Herod became the sovereign ruler of Judea.
His path to power, despite the support of Roman patrons, was marked by local civil strife. The storming of Jerusalem, blood and looting, then the death of his beloved brother Fazael and the overthrow of Antigonus, who was the last ruler of the capital, then the execution of forty of the most prominent citizens of the capital - this is far from full list disasters and atrocities that led to the power of the greatest despot and builder of Judea.
Traces of construction from Herod's time can be seen today in many places in Israel, including Jerusalem. The first thing Herod started with was the reconstruction of the entire water supply system of the capital.
In the spurs of the Hebron Highlands south of Jerusalem, a gigantic water pipeline for those times, about 70 kilometers long, was laid. From it, water flowed to the southern city wall and was collected in a large drainage basin located in the Gehenom ravine. Today, this site, known as Sultan's Ponds, houses a city park and an outdoor concert venue.
Then, through a system of aqueducts, the water rose up and entered the second reservoir - Migdalon (“the basin of Hizkiyahu”). The remains of this pool can be seen from the observation deck. It supplied water to the luxurious royal palace built in the western part of the city. Today there is no longer any water in the pool, but at the end of the 19th century there was water in it. Evidence of this is the sketch of the famous Russian artist N.A. Yaroshenko. Why the pool bore the name of the Jewish king who lived in the 8th century BC - we do not know.
Several more pools were built by Herod during the reconstruction of the Jerusalem Temple and Temple Mount. The largest pool, known as Birkat Israel, was located in the northern part of the city, and is currently hidden under the pavement slabs and buildings in the Arab Quarter. But nearby the remains of a pool known as the Sheep Ponds, or Bethesda (Beit Hesda), have been excavated. Built next to the sheep market during the reign of the Hasmoneans, it originally served to wash livestock brought into the city for sale and for sale. Subsequently, it was discovered that the waters of the stream that filled this pool allegedly possess healing properties, and in the Roman-Byzantine period medicinal baths were built here.
A few hundred meters from Bethesda are the remains of another Strution pool. During the time of the Hasmoneans, it supplied water to the fortress of Bira, the same one where the guards mistakenly stabbed to death Antigonus, the brother of the cruel king Aristobulus. Herod ordered the destruction of the old building, and instead of it he located the Antonia fortress nearby, in which he placed a garrison. Herod was always afraid of assassination attempts, and besides, the presence of a large military unit instilled fear in the inhabitants of the city, and contributed to peace and order on the Temple Mount. For the safety of the fortress, he ordered a deep ditch to be dug in its northern part, which crossed the Hasmonean canal that supplied water to the Temple Mount. In order to prevent water from filling the ditch and supplying the Antonia fortress with water, Herod builds a small pool in front of it, which was called “Struthion” after the former Hasmonean “Stratonic Tower”.
Part of the Srution pool is located under the buildings of the Sisters of Zion monastery. The arched vaults over the pool were built in the 2nd century AD. Roman Emperor Hadrian, since a street was built over this place. The brickwork was built after the construction of the monastery in order to close the passage on its territory through the underground pool. The second half of the pool is located at the end of the Temple Wall tunnel (“Hasmonean Tunnel”).
In addition to large drainage basins, water storage tanks were found in various places in the city in rich houses and public buildings. These tanks, as a rule, had a dome-shaped or rectangular shape with a hole in the ceiling, through which a container was lowered into the tank on ropes and filled with water. If the cistern was built deep enough, then steps were cut along its walls, along which one could go down to get water or clean the cistern from accumulated dirt.
Nowadays, due to the current situation on the territory of the Temple Mount, it is impossible to carry out any archaeological excavations or research. However, scientists using remote sensing discovered 37 water cisterns there, built during reconstruction work carried out on the orders of Herod the Great. The largest of them with a capacity of 12 thousand cubic meters was filled with water from an aqueduct that brought water from the Hebron Highlands.
Remains of a water tank found during excavations in Jewish Quarter Old Town (top view).
In addition to the water supply, the city had a drainage and sewerage system. During excavations in the "City of David" under the Herodian street, underground drainage structures were discovered leading from the southern wall of the Temple Mount to the Gehennom Gully. There is an assumption that wastewater was used to fertilize and irrigate fields and plantations. During the defeat of Jerusalem by the Romans in 70 AD. Here the inhabitants and defenders of the city were hiding, whom the Roman soldiers found, dragged out and killed. Many of them, as Josephus writes in the book “The Jewish War,” not wanting to surrender to the enemy, committed suicide. Not long ago, a leather belt and sword of a Roman legionnaire were found in one of these dungeons. Among the finds were coins minted by the rebels with the inscription "Freedom of Zion", oil lamps and shards of pottery.
Ancient underground structures found in the “City of David” served to drain sewer water during the Second Temple. Now this tunnel is open to visitors and you can walk through it from the lowest section of the archaeological park of the “City of David” - the Pool of Siloam to the Garbage Gate of the Old City.
The Pool of Siloam (Shiloah), during the reign of Herod the Great, was expanded, and another water reservoir was added to it, the remains of the steps of which can be seen in the park of the “City of David”. Historians believe that this pool was intended for ritual ablutions of pilgrims ascending to the Jerusalem Temple. From it the priests took water for libations on the temple altar on the holiday of Sukkot, praying to the Almighty to send rain to the Land of Israel.
Pool of Shiloah ("Pool of Siloam") on a model of Herodian Jerusalem in the Israel Museum. The author of the project, Professor Michael Avi-Yona, who worked on creating the model in the 60s, could not have known what the steps of the pool, found by archaeologists only in 2004, looked like. Therefore, its reconstruction, made according to descriptions, differs from the real appearance of the reservoir.
It is difficult to even imagine how the appearance of Jerusalem changed under Herod. New houses and quarters appeared in the city, a theater and a hippodrome were built, the luxurious houses of the city nobility were located in the Upper Town, while in the Lower Town there were quarters of the urban poor and the pagans who lived there.
In the northwestern part of the city, Herod builds a magnificent palace, in the northern part of which there were three watchtowers, “Phatsael”, “Hippicus” and “Miriam”, named after the king’s brother, his friend and his beloved wife, executed on his orders.
One of the distinctive features of Herod's buildings is the peculiar processing and polishing of the stone blocks used for the outer walls. Today, archaeologists, and not only them, unmistakably identify the stone blocks of Herodian buildings, and if these blocks are also very tightly fitted to each other, then we can talk about the remnant of the original (not destroyed or rebuilt) walls from the time of Herod. Interestingly, the stone blocks in Herodian buildings reached truly gigantic sizes, up to 10-13 meters in length, 4-5 meters thick and weighing up to 500 tons! How did the workers in the quarries manage to extract and process such blocks?
Scientists observed the methods of extracting and processing stones today in primitive artisanal quarries, and came to the conclusion that the technology of the Herodian stonemasons was as follows. from all sides, trimming it with metal tools. All that remained was to separate the block from the sole and trim its lower edge. And here nature itself came to their aid.
The fact is that in Jerusalem and its environs there are sedimentary rocks, limestones and dolomites. These rocks form layers whose thickness, as a rule, does not exceed one and a half meters. And at the junction of such layers, the rock is the most fragile and pliable. If you cut a vertical slot 10-15 cm thick in a block, drive wooden wedges into it, and then fill them with water, the wood, swelling, increases in volume and tears the block away from the sole. Instead of wooden ones, iron wedges were sometimes used, which were driven into the crack with a hammer. To avoid damaging the surfaces of the blocks, they were protected with metal plates.
The second task, which the king’s engineers and architects successfully handled, was transporting giant blocks to the construction site. The blocks were placed on carts drawn by four oxen, or they were dragged along a road lined with round logs. The heaviest and most massive stones were installed as an axle between two giant wooden wheels, and this huge chariot was rolled to the construction site. There the stones were lifted onto the wall using wooden winches.
It must be said that Herod’s architects had considerable ingenuity and excellent knowledge of the laws of mechanics. The Tsar himself also participated in solving the most complex engineering problems.
Between the royal palace and the Temple Mount stretched the quarters of the Upper City, where the highest strata of society lived. During excavations in the Old City, a site of ancient Jerusalem was discovered with the remains of buildings, among which stands out the building in which, according to scientists, the Kohen HaGadol, the temple, could have lived. A mikveh - a pool for ritual ablutions - was considered an invariable attribute of any rich home. A large number of mikvahs of varying sizes can also be seen in the remains of the Herodian quarter of the Upper City. It is interesting that small mikvahs were also installed in the children's rooms of rich houses, the floors of which were decorated with mosaics.
Remains of a ritual mikveh pool
Fragment of a children's room with a mosaic floor and a mikveh
Herod considered the main task of his life to be the reconstruction of everything, including the building of the Temple itself. Built during the time of Ezra and Nehemiah, the Second Temple of Jerusalem was partially reconstructed during the reign of the Hasmoneans, but by the time Herod the Great came to power it was already dilapidated and did not live up to the plans and ambitions of the great builder. And the king’s ambitions would have been enough for several centuries to come. It was as if he challenged the Creator himself to a competition, and built everything against His will. This is how the port city of Caesarea appeared on the deserted seashore, in the inaccessible mountains on the coast of the Dead Sea - the flourishing fortress city of Masada, on an artificially raised high hill south of Jerusalem - the palace of Herodion. In Jerusalem, Herod decided to surpass King Solomon himself and turn the Temple Mount into an architectural masterpiece, which had no equal either in Rome or in other cities of the empire.
In 20 BC. Herod began to implement his plan. He had to solve two main problems: to transform ancient hill Moriah, also called the Temple Mount, into a level area and rebuild the Temple building. The first problem could be solved using purely engineering techniques, while the second required a special approach. We have already said that in the Temple itself there were rooms to which only priests-cohens had access, and only the High Priest could enter the Holy of Holies, and only once a year. Knowing all this, Herod ordered a thousand priests to be trained in construction skills. Their task was to build new premises on the site where the Ark of the Covenant had once been located. These works were carried out with special precautions and in compliance with all measures of ritual purity. In addition, the service in the Temple should not have been interrupted even for a day!
The solution to the second problem was the construction of a supporting wall around the Temple Mount. For this purpose, Herod ordered the area adjacent to the Temple to be leveled and paved with stone slabs. Mount Moriah was razed, and in its place an area of 145 thousand square meters was formed. It can still be seen today from the observation deck on the Mount of Olives. The Temple Mount area towered several tens of meters above the surrounding area; in essence, it was an artificial embankment surrounded by massive supporting walls.
Reconstruction of the “Robinson Arch”. From the exhibition of the Jerusalem History Museum.
Under the slabs that covered the area, Herod ordered the construction of underground rooms, which were used as reservoirs and service spaces.
To build the supporting walls, the most massive stone blocks were used, which were not laid strictly vertically, but at a certain angle. It is believed that this was done to strengthen the walls, which could withstand the pressure of the huge internal embankment, and, in addition, people passing under them from the outside should have felt safe, without fear that the whole structure might one day fall on their heads. This is clearly visible in the surviving Herodian masonry in the southeast corner of the modern wall of the Old City.
The Romans, who destroyed the Jerusalem Temple in 70 AD, were never able to break through these walls in a number of places. This was facilitated by a powerful embankment that pressed on the wall from the inside, which prevented their destruction. The surviving part of the walls can be seen today both outside and underground.
On one of the sections of the western wall of the Temple, traces of stone masonry projections are visible. They were discovered and described by British theologian Edward Robinson in 1838. Since then, this section of the temple complex has been known throughout the world as “Robinson’s Arch.” But what does the arch have to do with it?
Further archaeological research showed that the masonry projections Robinson found were in fact traces of a large arched bridge built at the southern corner of the western wall. Scientists believe that this bridge was built to increase bandwidth main temple gates on holidays. At this time, hundreds of thousands of pilgrims from all over the Land of Israel came to Jerusalem.
Until recently, it was assumed that the arched bridge was destroyed during the siege of the Temple Mount by Roman legionaries. However, the prominent Israeli historian and archaeologist Meir Ben-Dov believes that it was destroyed by groups of Jewish fanatics, led by Shimon Bar-Giora, who settled on the Temple Mount. These rebels, even before the Roman siege of the city, were waging internal wars with another group, led by Johanan of Gush Halav (John of Gischal), entrenched in the Upper City. To strengthen their positions, the warriors of Shimon Bar-Giora destroyed these passages. Thus came the end of these amazing buildings, which were many centuries ahead of all similar buildings in the world.
On the remains of the southern wall of the temple complex, a walled gate was discovered, the so-called “Gate of Hulda”, named after the ancient prophetess who, according to legend, lived during the time of the First Temple. There were steps leading to the gate, along which pilgrims climbed the Temple Mount, having previously bathed in the mikveh and changed into festive clothes. To avoid crowding and overcrowding, pilgrims entered through the eastern (triple) gate and exited through the western (double) gate. These steps had different widths, 40 and 90 centimeters. The Jewish sages explained this by saying that people who climbed the steps to the Temple should not think about earthly affairs, therefore the rhythm of the ascent, which constantly accelerated and slowed down, was supposed to remind them of God.
Under Herod, the temple service was held with special solemnity. Josephus wrote that Herod ordered three hundred oxen to be brought to the solemn consecration of the newly rebuilt Temple! And how magnificent were the celebrations on the days of the great Jewish holidays! The number of pilgrims these days reached hundreds of thousands of people. They walked in families, some on foot, some on donkey carts. At the gates of Jerusalem they bought sacrificial animals: cows, sheep, goats. Those who were poorer bought doves at the entrance to the Temple - the cheapest sacrifice available even to the poor. During excavations of ancient villages in Judea, columbaria were found - special premises for breeding pigeons. They were then sold in shopping galleries and markets located south of the temple complex. The money changers were also sitting there, exchanging Roman coins with the image of Caesar for Jewish ones. According to the tradition commanded by Moses, no images were allowed in the Temple.
Walled "Hulda Gate" and steps leading to the Temple Mount in the Davidson Park (Ophel) archaeological site
During the numerous, ongoing festive sacrifices, the inner courtyard of the Temple presented an eerie sight. It was all spattered with the blood of sacrificial animals, littered with entrails, over which thousands of flies swarmed. It was necessary to periodically clean the area. For these purposes, on the western wall there was a gate called the Water Gate, next to which there was an aqueduct. Water was let through a special conduit into the temple courtyards, and all the remains of the sacrifices were washed away through the Gate of Mercy into the Kidron ravine. Some of the Herodian stones can still be seen today in the masonry of the Gate of Mercy, or, as they are also called today, the “Golden Gate”. During Muslim rule, this gate was walled up, and a Muslim cemetery was located in front of it. Tradition tells that Muslims did this on purpose to block the path of Moshiach, who must pass through these gates to the Temple Mount.
On the opposite slope of the Kidron Ravine to the Temple there is a huge Jewish cemetery. A careful look can immediately notice that modern burials stand out among the ancient dilapidated graves. This cemetery is active, and today people are buried there either for great services to the state and people of Israel, or for a lot of money. According to ancient legend, one day, with the first rays of the sun, Mashiach (Messiah) should descend from the top of the Mount of Olives. It is then that the resurrection from the dead and the Last Judgment will take place over the souls of the dead. And the first to rise from their graves will be those who are buried on the slopes of the Mount of Olives, near the graves of the pious King Jehoshaphat, who ruled Judah in the 9th century BC. and the prophet Zechariah, who lived during the First Temple period. Therefore, the ravine under the slopes of the mountain is called the “valley of Jehoshaphat,” whose name is translated from Hebrew as “Lord the Judge.”
This territory outside the city walls has served as a burial place since the reign of the kings of the house of David. Archaeologists have discovered a very ancient grave in these places, which Muslims consider the grave of the “daughter of Pharaoh” - the first wife of King Solomon. Scientists refute this legend and date the burial to the 8th century BC. One way or another, this is one of the most ancient burials found in the territory of the “Valley of Jehoshaphat.”
Under the foundations of the houses of the Arab settlement of Siluam, located on the western slope of the Kidron ravine, there are numerous ancient cave burials. Local residents use these caves as cellars. There are heaps of garbage around the ancient graves, which causes anger and pain in the souls of the Jews, who see this as a direct violation of the ancient graves.
North of Silouam, on the western slope of the Kidron, several ancient necropolises are visible, which scholars date to the Second Temple period. The farthest one from the south is, according to legend, the grave of Zechariah, who lived during the time of King Jehoash. And it’s not so important that King Jehoash ruled at the end of the 9th century BC, and the mausoleum was built, as we already wrote, in a clearly Greek style. Beginning in the 15th century, wealthy Jews living in Europe requested in their wills to be buried near Zechariah's grave.
The next burial, dated to the 2nd century BC, belongs to the Hezirah family - hereditary temple priests first mentioned in the Book of Nehemiah (10:21) and the Book of Chronicles (24:15). Archaeologists managed to identify the burial in 1854 from a surviving inscription in Hebrew, which mentions the names of the six Khezir brothers buried in this family crypt.
A few tens of meters to the north stands a crypt with a cone-shaped roof, carved from a single block of stone. This is the so-called “grave of Absalom,” the rebellious son of King David, who died at the hands of the soldiers whom David sent to suppress the rebellion. It is clear that no Absalom was buried there, since he lived and died in the 10th century BC, and the mausoleum, according to historians, was built a thousand years later. The reason for the folk legend was an excerpt from the Book of Kings.
Religious Jews, passing by this mausoleum, will not fail to throw a stone at it as a sign of contempt for the son who raised his hand against his father.
At the back of Absalom’s tomb, another burial from the Second Temple period was found, the so-called “Tomb of Jehoshaphat,” which popular tradition associates with the valley that the prophet Joel speaks of as the place of the Last Judgment.
The surviving mausoleum monuments from the Second Temple period are the family burial grounds of very rich and noble citizens of Jerusalem. Less wealthy townspeople buried their relatives in burial caves, which were cut out of soft rocks in the vicinity of the city. Typical in the time of Herod the Great were burial caves consisting of several compartments.
In the central part of the cave there was a stone slab on which the body of the deceased was laid, wrapped in funeral ribbons, richly soaked in balm and incense to eliminate the unpleasant odor. Funeral prayers were read over the body, after which the deceased was placed on a shelf in one of the small compartments of the burial cave. There the body lay for about a year and, in the hot, dry climate, had time to mummify. A year later, the relatives of the deceased entered the tomb, took out the body of the deceased and placed the bones in a stone ossuary box. The box was walled up in a small hole cut inside the cave, and the shelf on which the deceased lay was cleared for a new burial. This method existed in Judea until the destruction of the Temple and Jerusalem by the Romans. Nowadays, archaeologists have found a large number of stone ossuary coffins, decorated with rich carvings or simple, smooth ones. Often you can see the names of the dead carved on them or a warning not to open the coffin so as not to disturb the souls of the dead.
It was in such a luxurious, prosperous Jerusalem, in a palace known to us from the magnificent descriptions of Mikhail Bulgakov, that the elderly king received news of the Magi who had come to the city. And what do you think this sick man, already suffering from a severe form of paranoia, should have thought, who personally sent masses of people to the next world, including his closest relatives, sons and his beloved wife Miriam?
“What other king of the Jews was born in Bethlehem? Here the king of the Jews is me, Herod the Great, and one of my sons will succeed me! And I will order the impostor to be exterminated, even if this means destroying hundreds of innocent babies!”
Theologians believe that such actions were very characteristic of the “great” ruler, and there are countless of them, and therefore such an “insignificant” event for the reign of Herod as the “slaughter of the infants” in Bethlehem and its environs was not included in historical documents.
King Herod.
After the death of Antipater, power in Judea passed to his eldest son Thessael, and his youngest son Herod ruled Galilee. Soon, the son of Aristobulus II, Antigonus, fled from Rome and, with the help of the Parthians, captured Jerusalem. He cut off the ears of his uncle Hyrcanus II, thereby depriving him of the right to be a high priest due to physical disabilities. He imprisoned Thessael, where he committed suicide. But the ruler of Galilee, Herod, managed to escape to Rome. The Senate declared him king of Judea and gave him military aid. With the help of the Roman legions, Herod captured Jerusalem, executed Antigonus and became the sole king of the Jews. This happened in 37 BC. Feeling the precariousness of his position on the throne, Herod began to mercilessly exterminate the entire Maccabean family and even members of the Sanhedrin, whom he suspected of insufficient devotion to his throne. His suspicion and cruelty reached the point that he executed his beloved wife Mariamne, mother-in-law and three sons. The people did not like Herod the Great and eagerly awaited the birth of the Messiah, the heir of David, who would overthrow this bloodthirsty thief of the throne. For this, Herod hated his subjects and brutally dealt with them. And at such a time, a rumor reached the king that some eastern wise men from distant countries came to Jerusalem to worship not him, Herod, but the newborn king of Judah, the true Son of David, whose star rose in the east.
From the book The Lost Gospels. New information about Andronicus-Christ [with large illustrations] author Nosovsky Gleb Vladimirovich From the book 100 Great Biblical Characters author Ryzhov Konstantin Vladislavovich From the book Gospel Stories for Children author Maya Kucherskaya From book Explanatory Bible. Volume 1 author Lopukhin Alexander From the book The Explanatory Bible. Volume 9 author Lopukhin AlexanderHerod Since the time of Antiochus IV, Judea was ruled by the Hasmonean dynasty, whose representatives were both kings and high priests. In 63 BC, power was inherited by the great-great-grandson of Mattathias Hyrcanus II. He was a slow, apathetic man and little capable of government.
From the book The Explanatory Bible. Volume 10 author Lopukhin AlexanderKing Herod Once upon a time there lived a king. He was very angry. His name was Herod. He lived in the city of Jerusalem, in a beautiful palace decorated with gold and precious stones. One day, astrologers came to Herod and said: “A Child has been born in your country.” He will grow up and be a King. We
From the book of the Bible. Modern translation (BTI, trans. Kulakova) author's Bible8. And the king of Sodom, the king of Gomorrah, the king of Admah, the king of Zeboim, and the king of Bela, which is Zoar, came out; and they entered into battle with them in the valley of Siddim, 9. with Chedorlaomer king of Elam, Tidal king of Goim, Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, four
From book Holy Bible. Modern translation (CARS) author's Bible From the book of the Bible. New Russian translation (NRT, RSJ, Biblica) author's Bible37. Pilate said to Him: So are You a King? Jesus answered: You say that I am a King. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I came into the world, to testify to the truth; everyone who is of the truth listens to My voice. Pilate realized that Christ had no intention of acting as a contender
From the book A Guide to the Bible by Isaac AsimovJesus and Herod 7 Herod the ruler, having heard about everything that was happening, was completely confused, because some said that it was John raised from the dead, 8 others that Elijah had appeared, and some that one of the ancient prophets had come to life. 9 But Herod said, “John I
From the book Forty Biblical Portraits author Desnitsky Andrey SergeevichKing Herod kills the prophet Jahiah (Mark 6:14–29; Luke 9:7–9)1 At that time, the ruler Herod a heard about Isa. 2 He said to his entourage: “This is the prophet Yahiya.” He rose from the dead, and that is why He has such miraculous power.3 At one time, Herod arrested Yahia, tied him up and threw him into
From the author's bookKing Herod kills the prophet Jahiah (Matthew 14:1-12; Luke 9:7-9) 14 King Herod heard about Isa, as the name of Isa became more and more famous, and some said: “It is the prophet Jahiah who has risen from the dead, and that is why He has such miraculous power.15 Others said that this is the prophet Elias c.
From the author's bookKing Herod kills John the Baptist (Mark 6:14–29; Luke 9:7–9)1 At that time, Herod the tetrarch also heard about Jesus. 2 He said to his entourage: “This is John the Baptist.” He rose from the dead, and that is why He has such miraculous power.3 At one time, Herod arrested John,
From the author's bookHerod The approximate time of the birth of Jesus is given: Matt., 2: 1. ... Jesus was born ... in the days of King Herod ... The mention of Herod immediately tells us that the time of the Maccabean kingdom has passed. Much has happened in the century that has passed since the end of the events described in the First Book
From the author's bookHerod Antipas The account given in Luke's Gospel of Jesus' crucial week in Jerusalem is slightly different overall from the account given in Matthew and Mark. But Luke is a non-Jew, and apparently he sought to reduce the extent of the participation of the pagan ruler Pilate in the crucifixion
From the author's bookHerod Antipas It is this king who is mentioned in the Gospels (except for the story of the Nativity) under the name Herod. We are talking about Herod Antipas, one of the sons of King Herod the Great, who ruled Galilee from 4 to 39 AD. e. He got along well with Rome and even named his residence on Lake Galilee
(40 - 1 BC), founder of the Idumean Herodiad dynasty. Known for large-scale construction projects in Jerusalem and other parts of Judea, including the construction of the Second Temple.
Origin and early years
Herod's grandfather Antipater submitted to the Hasmonean Jewish state, adopted Judaism and retained power over Idumea. Herod's father Antipater the Edomite actively supported Roman expansion (which culminated in the capture of Jerusalem by Pompey in 63 BC), hoping to weaken the Jews. In 47 BC. e. Herod received Roman citizenship. In 47 BC. e. the father appointed his son as ruler, and Herod brutally suppressed the uprising against his father there. Fearing a death sentence from the Sanhedrin for illegally executing rebels, Herod fled to Syria and was given a position as a Roman official, which granted him immunity in Judea. In 43 BC. e. Antipater II was poisoned, Herod, enlisting the support of Rome, dealt with his father’s murderers. In 37 BC. e. The Roman Senate approved Herod as king of Judea, but Herod did not have enough of his own forces to capture Jerusalem and he turned for help to Mark Antony, who agreed to send troops to Judea after the end of the Parthian War. The siege of Jerusalem lasted five months, after which the city fell under the onslaught of the armies of Herod and the Romans. Having captured Jerusalem, Herod ordered the execution of 45 members of the Sanhedrin, supporters, and turned the Sanhedrin into a controlled religious court, where he himself could appoint and remove high priests. During the reign of Herod, it flourished and practically returned to the borders of the state under King David. Herod carried out large-scale construction throughout the country, palaces, hippodromes, amphitheaters, but the most important object was the construction of the Second Temple. Another gigantic project was Herodium, a fortress built in 23-20. BC. on the spot where Herod won an important battle. Herodion was built on a man-made mound; the height of the structure was 8 floors. The attitude of the Jewish people towards Herod was negative; they saw him as a promoter of Rome and a man who violated the Branch of David. Herod decided to marry Mariamne, the granddaughter of the high priest Hyrcanus II, in order to outwardly restore contact with the House of David. This did not help, opposition arose from the Zealots. Herod, without hesitation, dealt with the opposition and destroyed the entire Hasmonean house, not even sparing his beloved wife Mariamne. At the end of Herod's reign, Jesus Christ appeared to the world. According to the Gospel of Matthew, the wise men who came to worship the newborn Jesus did not tell Herod the whereabouts of the baby.
“Then Herod, seeing himself ridiculed by the Magi, became very angry, and sent to kill all the infants in Bethlehem and throughout its borders, from two years old and under, according to the time that he found out from the Magi.” (Matt. 2:16).
The last years of Herod's reign were marked by particular cruelty. Already mortally ill, Herod ordered the execution of his heir, the son from his first wife Doris, who was convicted of conspiracy. It is known that when approving the sentence, the Roman Emperor Augustus said:
“Being such a man’s pig is better than being his son!”
Before his death, Herod gave the order to kill many representatives of the Jewish nobility on the day of his death, but this order was not carried out. Four days before his death, Herod I bequeathed the throne to Archelaus, his son from his Samaritan wife Maltaca, and appointed Herod Antipas and Herod Philip as tetrarchs. Nevertheless, according to, Herod was buried magnificently:
“After this they began to bury the king. Archelaus did everything to make the burial as magnificent as possible: he even took all the royal jewelry out of the palace so that they could be carried behind the body. The funeral bier, made of pure gold, was decorated with precious stones and decorated with expensive purple. Herod's body was dressed in fine linen, a diadem rested on his head, and on top of it was a golden crown, and a scepter was placed in his right hand. Following the body were the sons of Herod and all his numerous relatives, followed by bodyguards, followed by a column of Thracians, Germans and Gauls, all in full battle dress. Next marched an army fully armed, maintaining battle formation and led by military leaders, behind the army were 500 household slaves and freedmen, burning incense. The body was carried a distance of 70 stadia to Herodion, where, in fulfillment of the will of the late king, it was buried. Thus ends the story of Herod."
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Years of life: 73-74 BC e–1 BC e. (according to other sources 4 AD)
Helpful information
Herod I, the title Great was later given by historians
in Russian - Herod from the traditional Middle Greek transmission
Hebrew הוֹרדוֹס
translit. Hordos, Hordus
lat. Herodus
Greek Ἡρῴδης
translit. "Herodos"
Don't be confused
Herod I is often confused with Herod Antipas, his son by the Samaritan Maltaca, who ruled Galilee (1 BC - 40 AD) during the time of John the Baptist and Jesus Christ.
Title "Great"
Assigned by historians to Herod after his death. They were due to the dexterity of Herod the politician, the grandiose achievements of Herod the builder, as well as the luxury of the court of Herod the ruler.
This title mainly distinguishes Herod from his successors, who bore the same name, but does not contain a moral assessment of this ruler - vicious, treacherous and cruel.
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