The Hasmonean Palace, Jericho is one of the favorite Jericho Tourist Attractions and is visited by thousands of tourists every year. The city is near the Jordan River in the West Bank region. The city is quite ancient as it has been inhabited continuously for centuries. The Hasmonean Palace, Jericho is situated 2.5 kilometers from west of Jericho at the place where the Wadi Qilt enters the Jordan plain.
Excavations here have revealed a large palace which has Hellenistic architecture influences. Many archaeologists believe that the Hasmonean Palace, Jericho has been built by the Hasmonean king Alexander Jannaeus (103-76 B.C). It was occupied by the last Hasmonean rulers and then by King Herod. Herod expanded the Hasmonean Palace in Jericho and used it for official and state occasions. Herod lived and died in this palace.
The Hasmonean Palace, Jericho was built around a spacious courtyard on a symmetrical plan. The palace was surrounded by a park which was laid out with terraces and water channels. Some of the structures identified at the Hasmonean Palace, Jericho are rooms decorated with frescoes, spacious audience chamber, Roman baths and Jewish ritual baths. Another important feature is a large swimming pool of 105 feet by 60 feet with a depth of 13 feet. It is believed that this was the bath where Herod had drowned his 18 year old brother-in-law, Aristobulus who was appointed as high priest a year back by Herod himself.
The entertaining rooms of the palace had colonnaded facades and the bathrooms have bathtubs. These places were decorated with colored frescoes in geometric patterns in Hellenistic style. The main room in the bathhouse of the Hasmonean Palace, Jericho is pave with mosaic in red, white and black geometric patterns.
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