{"id":37191,"date":"2024-07-11T00:00:57","date_gmt":"2024-07-11T04:00:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biblicalarchaeology.org\/?p=37191"},"modified":"2024-07-10T11:48:21","modified_gmt":"2024-07-10T15:48:21","slug":"herods-jerusalem-palace-trial-of-jesus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biblicalarchaeology.org\/daily\/news\/herods-jerusalem-palace-trial-of-jesus\/","title":{"rendered":"Tour Showcases Remains of Herod\u2019s Jerusalem Palace\u2014Possible Site of the Trial of Jesus"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"herod-jerusalem-palace\"<\/a>

Visitors can see remains of King Herod\u2019s palace in Jerusalem, where the trial of Jesus may have occurred. Photo: Courtesy Tower of David Museum.<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

Visitors to Jerusalem\u2019s Old City can explore remains of King Herod\u2019s palace<\/a>, which may be where Roman governor Pontius Pilate<\/a> tried and condemned Jesus of Nazareth<\/a> to death. Excavating from 1999\u20132000<\/a> underneath an abandoned Ottoman-period prison known as the Kishle\u2014which is part of the so-called Tower of David complex<\/a>\u2014Israel Antiquities Authority archaeologist Amit Re\u2019em uncovered the foundation walls and sewage system of Herod\u2019s Jerusalem palace. Tours offered through the Tower of David Museum<\/a> will showcase these finds.<\/p>\n

Although the discovery of the remains of Herod\u2019s Jerusalem palace has recently made headlines<\/a>, the finds are not surprising, according to University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill archaeologist Jodi Magness.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have other remains of the substructure of Herod’s palace, and its identification as the praetorium<\/em> [the Roman governor\u2019s residence and headquarters] is not new, either,\u201d Magness told Bible History Daily<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Herod\u2019s Palace in Jerusalem<\/h4>\n

Jewish historian Josephus<\/a> tells us that Herod\u2019s Jerusalem palace complex, begun in the last quarter of the first century B.C.E., comprised a palace with two wings divided by pools and gardens and was protected by three large towers on the northwestern corner of the precinct. Excavations undertaken by different archaeological teams since the 1960s uncovered various remains of the palace substructure, but almost none of the superstructure has survived. In The World of Jesus and the Early Church<\/em>, edited by Craig A. Evans (Hendrickson Publishers, 2011), archaeologist Shimon Gibson, Senior Associate Fellow at the Albright Institute, summarizes the archaeological evidence of Herod\u2019s palace complex in Jerusalem.1<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

If evidence of Herod\u2019s Jerusalem palace has long been known, why is it in the news now? Media attention<\/a>, which has focused on Herod\u2019s palace as the possible location of the trial of Jesus, has coincided with the Tower of David Museum\u2019s opening of the site for tours. The preparation of the site, The Washington Post<\/em> reports<\/a>, was delayed by wars and a lack of funding.<\/p>\n\n\n\t\t

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FREE ebook, Who Was Jesus? Exploring the History of Jesus\u2019 Life<\/strong>. Examine fundamental questions about Jesus of Nazareth.<\/p>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t