Herod’s Royal Entryway and Burying Ground

Dec. 23 2014

Archaeologists have discovered a grand entryway, consisting of a series of massive arches, at King Herod’s hilltop fortress of Herodium in the Judean desert. And there are additional, unexpected finds, writes Tamar Pileggi:

[D]uring the excavations, it became increasingly evident that the corridor and expansive arched entryway was never used. The corridor was back-filled and the entryway was built over. The archaeologists suspect that midway through its construction, Herod—known for the large construction projects undertaken during his reign—decided to build a royal burial monument for himself before his death instead. . . .

The arched corridor also revealed hidden tunnels dug on the site by the Jewish fighters during the Bar Kokhba revolt, about 120 years after Herod’s death. The hidden tunnels, supported by wooden beams, exit the fortress through secret openings in the corridor, and were likely used by Jewish rebels who waged an unsuccessful fight against the Roman occupation of Judea in 132-136 CE.

Read more at Times of Israel

More about: Ancient Israel, Archaeology, Herod, Simon bar Kokhba

Egypt Is Trapped by the Gaza Dilemma It Helped to Create

Feb. 14 2025

Recent satellite imagery has shown a buildup of Egyptian tanks near the Israeli border, in violation of Egypt-Israel agreements going back to the 1970s. It’s possible Cairo wants to prevent Palestinians from entering the Sinai from Gaza, or perhaps it wants to send a message to the U.S. that it will take all measures necessary to keep that from happening. But there is also a chance, however small, that it could be preparing for something more dangerous. David Wurmser examines President Abdel Fatah el-Sisi’s predicament:

Egypt’s abysmal behavior in allowing its common border with Gaza to be used for the dangerous smuggling of weapons, money, and materiel to Hamas built the problem that exploded on October 7. Hamas could arm only to the level that Egypt enabled it. Once exposed, rather than help Israel fix the problem it enabled, Egypt manufactured tensions with Israel to divert attention from its own culpability.

Now that the Trump administration is threatening to remove the population of Gaza, President Sisi is reaping the consequences of a problem he and his predecessors helped to sow. That, writes Wurmser, leaves him with a dilemma:

On one hand, Egypt fears for its regime’s survival if it accepts Trump’s plan. It would position Cairo as a participant in a second disaster, or nakba. It knows from its own history; King Farouk was overthrown in 1952 in part for his failure to prevent the first nakba in 1948. Any leader who fails to stop a second nakba, let alone participates in it, risks losing legitimacy and being seen as weak. The perception of buckling on the Palestine issue also resulted in the Egyptian president Anwar Sadat’s assassination in 1981. President Sisi risks being seen by his own population as too weak to stand up to Israel or the United States, as not upholding his manliness.

In a worst-case scenario, Wurmser argues, Sisi might decide that he’d rather fight a disastrous war with Israel and blow up his relationship with Washington than display that kind of weakness.

Read more at The Editors

More about: Egypt, Gaza War 2023