The Herodium, also called Har Hordus (meaning “Mount Herodes”), is an archaeological site and ancient palace fortress, located at Ar-Rahniah in the Judaean Desert on the West Bank.

Herod I, also known as Herod the Great constructed the palace/fortress, along with a small town between 23-15 BC. Herod was a Roman client king of Judea (referred to as the Herodian kingdom), where he commissioned the construction of many major colossal building projects, such as the port at Caesarea Maritima, the fortress at Masada, the Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron, and the renovation of the Second Temple in Jerusalem.

The Herodium was built on an extended hill at a site Herod supposedly fought against Jews loyal to his enemy Antigonus (the last Hasmonean king), emerging victorious. Contemporary accounts by the Roman Jewish historian Josephus, stated that Herod “built a town on that spot in commemoration of his victory, and enhanced it with wonderful palaces… and he called it Herodium after himself”.

The most prominent monuments in the layout of the Herodium consists of the upper palace/fortress situated on the hill, overlooking a large pool complex in the lower Herodium, a lower palace, residential buildings, a theatre, and storage areas.