Server Costs Fundraiser 2026
Towers and Arches at Herod's Harbor
As part of Herod the Great's building program, about Herod's Harbor in Caesarea Maritima, Josephus mentions “a great number of arches where the mariners dwelt” and “very large towers on a wall that ran around it.” The breakwater arms to which Josephus refers were laid out on a circular course and housed 40 acres of water. (Antiquities, 15.9.6; Wars, 1.21.6) Spaced approximately 27 meters (90 ft) apart, the towers likely exceeded 9 meters (30 ft) in diameter as they reached heights exceeding 18 meters (60 ft).
Using archaeological reports by Avner Raban, John Oleson, Robert Hohlfelder, and others, along with comparative analysis of known Roman construction techniques, Josephus' eyewitness descriptions, and Herodian fortification work at Jerusalem and Masada, the image you see is part of the collaborative creation of Lithodomos and Patrick Scott Smith.
