The Life and Afterlife of the Palace of Herod Antipas in Tiberias

The city of Tiberias, on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee, was founded in 19/20 c.e. by King Herod Antipas as his new capital in Galilee. Remains identified as the palace of Antipas, characterized by their construction technique and decorations, were uncovered in Yizhar Hirschfeld’s excavations. This article proposes a new study of the remains, suggesting a reevaluation of the architecture, décor, and chronology that are used to substantiate the identification with the palace of Antipas. It discusses the architecture vis-à-vis palaces of Herod the Great and shows that, while there is continuity in style, there is a visible increase in investment in the Tiberias palace, at least in terms of its marble ornamentation. This article further argues that the stratigraphy defined by Hirschfeld did not differentiate between two distinct architectural phases: the first is a palatial complex, while the second attests to the repurposing of the palace into simple dwellings, probably in the 2nd century c.e. Ultimately this study provides a new understanding of the city’s early evolution as well as insights into developments of palatial architecture in the Roman southern Levant on the background of expanding Mediterranean connectivity in the early decades of the Roman Empire.