Herodian Period (37 B.C. to 70 A.D.)

The Romans took control of the ancient Near East in the first century B.C., but appointed locals to rule on their behalf. Herod the Great, despised by the people and by his family for his murderous behavior, was put in charge of Judea. Under his command engineers doubled the size of the Temple Mount and renovated the Jerusalem Temple. They refurbished fortresses, including Masada; they built tombs, palaces and cities, including the port city of Caesarea Maritima where Herod also had a palace built.

During Herod the Great’s rule, according to the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus was born in Bethlehem; it was during the rule of his son, Herod Antipas, that Jesus died. Bethsaida, frequently mentioned in the New Testament and by the historian Josephus, is where, according to the excavators, Jesus performed the miracle of healing the blind man and feeding the multitudes.