Foto: Frescos descubiertos en el complejo de Herodes en Cisjordania al sur de Jerusalén el martes 21 de septiembre del 2010. Un grupo de arqueólogos israelíes excavó un elegante palco privado de teatro en una sala para 400 espectadores en el palacio invernal del rey Herodes en el desierto de Judea. © Bernat Armangue / AP Foto.

Fuente: The Associated Press, Jerusalén | El Nuevo Herald, 21 de septiembre de 2010

Un grupo de arqueólogos israelíes descubrió un elegante palco teatral privado en una sala para 400 espectadores en el palacio invernal del rey Herodes en el desierto de Judea.

Los arqueólogos de la Universidad Hebrea en Jerusalén dicen que el hallazgo confirma la notoria inclinación de Herodes por las extravagancias.

Herodes fue el gobernante judío en Tierra Santa bajo la ocupación romana entre los años 37 y 4 a.C. Era famoso por las numerosas edificaciones en el área.

El director del grupo Ehud Netzer dijo que Herodes encargó a artistas romanos la decoración de los muros del teatro con pinturas y molduras de yeso alrededor del 15 aC.

La parte superior muestra pinturas de ventanas que miran a un río y un paisaje con un velero.

El equipo había excavado por primera vez en el lugar en el 2007.

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Archaeologists Find Theater Box At Herod's Palace

by The Associated Press

Israeli archaeologists have excavated a lavish, private theater box in a 400-seat facility at King Herod's winter palace in the Judean desert, the team's head said Tuesday.

Ehud Netzer of Jerusalem's Hebrew University said the room provides further evidence of King Herod's famed taste for extravagance.

Herod commissioned Roman artists to decorate the theater walls with elaborate paintings and plaster moldings around 15 B.C., Netzer said. Its upper portions feature paintings of windows overlooking a river and a seascape with a large sailboat.

This is the first time this painting style has been found in Israel, Netzer said.

Photo: Archaeologist Tal Rogovski works inside a hall in the Herodium complex, in the West Bank, south of Jerusalem, Tuesday, Sept. 21, 2010. Israeli archaeologists have excavated a lavish private box in a 400-seat theater located at King Herod's winter palace in the Judean desert. Head archaeologist Ehud Netzer says Herod commissioned Roman artists to decorate the theater walls with elaborate paintings and plaster moldings around 15 B.C.

Herod was the Jewish proxy ruler of the Holy Land under Roman occupation from 37 to 4 B.C. He is known for his extensive building throughout the area.

The team first excavated the site — sitting atop a man-made hill 2,230 feet high — in 2007. Netzer described the site as a kind of "country club," with a pool, baths and gardens fed by pools and aqueducts.

But archaeological evidence shows the theater's life was short-lived, Netzer said. Builders deliberately destroyed it to preserve the conic shape of the man-made hill.

After Herod's death in the 1st century B.C., the complex became a stronghold for Jewish rebels fighting Roman occupation, and the palace site suffered significant battle damage before it was destroyed by Roman soldiers in A.D. 71, a year after they razed the Second Temple in Jerusalem.