person · P0445
Herod הורדוס
Idumean client-king of Rome over Yehudah — in the Bavli, the slave of the Hasmonean house who seized the kingship, killed the sages, and on Bava ben Buta's counsel rebuilt the Temple in atonement, a building without equal. Josephus gives the full double portrait: the greatest builder the land ever had (Temple Mount, Caesarea, Masada, Herodium) and the killer of his Hasmonean wife Mariamne and three of his own sons.
I. Who
- Hebrew
- הורדוס
- Also known as
- Herod the Great, Hordos
- Era
- second-temple
- Children
- Archelaus, Antipas
II. When
- Traditional
- c. 3688–3757 AM (reigned 3724–3757)
- Academic
- c. 72–4 BCE; appointed king 40 BCE, reigned in Jerusalem 37–4 BCE
- Lifespan (traditional)
- ≈69 years
- Precision
- approximate
III. Where
- Places
- Jerusalem
V. How do we know
| Claim | Evidence | Confidence | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| "Herod was the slave of the house of the Chashmonaim": the Bavli tells how he seized the kingship, killed the sages, blinded Bava ben Buta — and was counseled by him to rebuild the Temple in atonement, "he who extinguished the light of the world shall busy himself with the light of the world."
The Bavli's narrative; Josephus makes him son of the Idumean minister Antipater — both traditions deny him legitimate descent.
|
rabbinic | ★★★★☆ | |
| "Whoever has not seen Herod's building has never seen a beautiful building in his life" — the sages' own verdict on the rebuilt Temple, of stones of blue-green and white marble. | rabbinic | ★★★★★ | |
| Josephus: made king of Judea by decree of the Roman senate (40 BCE), he took Jerusalem with Sosius in 37; he rebuilt the Temple from the eighteenth year of his reign, built Caesarea with its harbor, Masada, and Herodium, and killed Mariamne the Hasmonean and three of his sons; he died at Jericho in 4 BCE. | external | ★★★★★ | |
| His construction survives monumentally: the Temple Mount platform with the Western Wall's lower courses, Masada, Caesarea's harbor, and Herodium — where an elaborate tomb identified as his was excavated in 2007.
The tomb identification is widely but not universally accepted.
|
external archaeology | ★★★★★ | |
| AM placement (reigned 3724–3757) is schematic: conventional Josephus-based dates mapped onto the atlas timeline at AM ≈ 3760 − BCE / 3760 + CE, consistent with the Second Temple's destruction at 3828 AM. The lifespan band is widened around the attested career. | reconstruction | ★★☆☆☆ |