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TechnoratiHistorians do agree that toward the end of his reign, Herod slaughtered many political rivals and perceived plotters, among them one of his 10 wives and three of his sons.
The first century A.D. historian Josephus Flavius wrote that as the elderly Herod lay riddled with disease, he ordered the cream of the local Jewish aristocracy to be executed on his death, so that his passing would bring widespread mourning.
Josephus describes Herodium and Herod's lavish funeral there.
After Herod's death in the first century B.C. Herodium became a stronghold for Jewish rebels fighting Roman occupation, and the site suffered significant battle damage before it was conquered and finally destroyed by Roman forces in A.D. 71, a year after they destroyed the Jerusalem temple.
The insurgents reviled the memory of Herod as a Roman puppet, and Netzer and his team believe that the violence with which the first stone casket was smashed suggests they knew it held his bones.
"That sarcophagus was found shattered all over the place, it seems it was taken from its place and was destroyed in a fit of rage," Porat said. "That, among other things, is what tells us it was the sarcophagus of Herod."
No human remains or inscriptions proving conclusively that the tomb was the king's have been found, but excavation work continues.
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