Herod's Winter Palace, Jericho

From up on the hill you really have to imagine a grand palace and court yards.

A bridge across the wadi.

 Up close you can see the ancient remains of the walls.  These would have been plastered and painted.

 Cute kids brought brand new baby goats for pictures and a shekel.

Here is a very simplified history of Herod.  He is known as a master builder but a wicked evil person.  His winter palace is an archaeological dig.  It had luxurious living quarters, spacious reception halls, courtyards, a hippodrome (an arena for chariot racing and other events), gardens, two swimming pools and a spa.  Ironically it is in this now desolate place that Herod took the life of his bother in-law(had him drowned in one of the pools) .  This was not the first nor the last family member he killed, including his wife, children and in-law family members.  Herod also died here at the winter palace.  Knowing that the people wouldn't morn his death he had the lead elders of all the surrounding tribes or towns gathered in and commanded his sister to put them to death upon his death so the people would morn.  Fortunately his sister did not follow this order.  Nice guy.

 Ahh, a camel.  10 shekles for a ride or 5 for a picture.(The exchange rate right now is 3.68 so in the store I just divide everything by 3 and that gets me close)

A nice pottery store along the highway.

 And we go back into the Judean Wilderness.

 Lots of people are still traveling by camel and donkey.  At some of the stores in Jericho's surrounding area they are tied up outside, just like the hitching posts of the wild west.

 We are standing on the Wadi(river)-Qelt overlook.  Down in the gulch water runs sometimes and goes by Herod's Winter Palace.  You can see the St. George Monastery built into the side of the mountain.  Monks around 400-500 BC built this to remember Elijah.  It is in this area that he hid in caves and was fed by ravens after he fled from Jezebel.

 

On the drive from Jerusalem to Jericho you go by Bedouin dwellings in the middle of know where.  It makes the sheep herders camps of south eastern Idaho look nice.  I have some more pic's Hannah posted that although these villages look like dumps they do have the "Dish"  on top of  the tent-shed like homes.  These nomadic Arab tribes are known the world over as great traders and as great hosts.They are the best trackers in the world and used in the armies and the Israel's border guard units.  When a terrorist infiltration is detected they are called into do the job.