Upper Jericho Herod the Great winter palace

Herod the Great and Jerusalem’s most powerful priests had “winter homes” in Upper Jericho (it was slightly higher than lower Jericho), close to the entrance of Wadi Qelt. That’s the beginning of the Jericho-Jerusalem road. Herod built three palaces in Jericho, and this video shows what’s left of the palace complex. The great hill was once the base of an observation tower. A bridge spanned the wadi, allowing guests to move from the palace proper to the tower and Herod’s  huge swimming pool. According to archaeologists, there were several luxurious homes in Upper Jericho. The difference between the people who had wealth and those who struggled to make a living was on full display in Upper Jericho. That’s the background of the day when Jesus met Zacchaeus, a man who was trying to get rich through over taxation.