Herod the Great (Builder)

Ehud Netzer's book The Architecture of Herod the Great Builder is both informative and interesting. Herod the Great (73 - 4 BC) was nearing the end of his life when Jesus was born. However, one of Herod's great architectural projects, the rebuilding of the temple and its precincts, was still not finished during the ministry of Jesus some 30 years later. That great project began about 15 years before Jesus was born (see John 2:20). Many other projects, however, had been completed, and archaeologists like Ehud Netzer have done us a great service in describing them for us.

Part I surveys Herod's known building projects including those at Masada, Jericho, Samaria, Caesarea Maritima, Jerusalem, and Herodium. The descriptions of each project include detailed floor plans and architectural drawings. (A few black-and-white pictures can be found in the introduction and plates at the end of the book.) Part II discusses the planning of the projects, Greco-Roman influences, and Herod's personal involvement.

The descriptions of Herod's architecture in this book demonstrate that Herod was not only an ambitious builder, but also an innovative and creative one. When he built the artificial harbor at Caesarea Maritima, he was one of the first builders to pour concrete underwater. Along with innovative engineering, Herod exhibited creative design. When Herod built a hippodrome in Jericho, he included a theater in the semicircular end turning the hippodrome into a multi-function facility. Of special interest to me as a Bible student were descriptions of the Antonia fortress, the temple mount, Herod's palace in Jerusalem, and the three towers just north of it.

The book is an excellent resource about Herod's architecture. I would give the book a rating of five although I think a few color pictures would have added to the book.