The character of Herod the Great is not clear to me. Of course, there's no archaeological or historical law that says we must be able to understand people from the past, but the accounts of Herod the Great (73-4 BC) are so extreme that it's hard to know what is propaganda and what isn't.
Ruins of Herodium. Photo (c)2008 National Geographic
On the one hand, the buildings he is associated with--Caesaria Maritima, Masada, and the Herodium illustrated here--are architectural marvels, or would have been two thousand years ago. On the other hand, he is associated--in the judeo-christian bible at any rate--with the massacre of the first-born children of Bethlehem.
In the final NatGeo Expedition Week film premiering this evening, archaeologist Ehud Netzer reports on evidence that somebody didn't Herod very much at all--the discovery of the sherds of his richly appointed sarcophagus, deliberately smashed to smithereens.
- Herod's Lost Tomb, Viewer Guide on About.com
- Herod's Lost Tomb, NatGeo home page
- Tomb of Herod discovered, Hebrew University
Herod's Lost Tomb premieres tonight, Sunday, November 23, 2008, on the National Geographic Channel. Check local listings.
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