Herod the Great’s Bathtubs Were Locally Sourced

News May 17, 2022

(Prof. Amos Frumkin, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem)
SHARE:
Herod Alabaster Bathtub
(Prof. Amos Frumkin, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem)

RAMAT GAN, ISRAEL—According to a statement released by Bar-Ilan University, a new study conducted by Ayala Amir, Boaz Zissu, and Aren Maeir of Bar-Ilan University and Amos Frumkin of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and their colleagues suggests that high-quality calcite-alabaster vessels were produced in the Levant. It had been previously thought that all ancient calcite-alabaster vessels discovered in the region were made of stone imported from Egypt. The scientists analyzed the chemical composition and crystalline structure of modern and ancient samples of calcite-alabaster from Egypt, calcite-alabaster chips from a recently discovered quarry in Te’omim cave in the Jerusalem hills, and a block of calcite-alabaster from Umm el-‘Umdan, an archaeological site situated near the cave. They then compared the results of the tests with the composition of two high-quality bathtubs found in the Kypros fortress and the palace of Herod the Great. The study indicates that the bathtubs were made from local calcite-alabaster, and suggests that the calcite-alabaster industry in Judea was developed enough in the second half of the first century B.C. to meet Herod’s exacting standards, Maeir explained. Read the original scholarly article about this research in Scientific Reports. To read about a Roman basilica complex unearthed in Ashkelon that was built during Herod’s reign, go to “Herodian Hangout.”

  • Features March/April 2022

    The Last King of Babylon

    Investigating the reign of Mesopotamia’s most eccentric ruler

    Read Article
    (iStock/HomoCosmicos)
  • Features March/April 2022

    Paradise Lost

    Archaeologists in Nova Scotia are uncovering evidence of thriving seventeenth-century French colonists and their brutal expulsion

    Read Article
    (© Jamie Robertson)
  • Features March/April 2022

    Exploring Notre Dame’s Hidden Past

    The devastating 2019 fire is providing an unprecedented look at the secrets of the great cathedral

    Read Article
    (Patrick Zachmann)
  • Letter from Doggerland March/April 2022

    Mapping a Vanished Landscape

    Evidence of a lost Mesolithic world lies deep beneath the dark waters of the North Sea

    Read Article
    (M.J. Thomas)