Causeway at Herod's Harbor

by Ibolya Horváth
published on 01 June 2026

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Herod's Harbor was a giant ancient port built between 22 and 15 BCE by Herod the Great. Situated on the lower eastern Mediterranean coast, this structure, as it serviced the city of Caesarea Maritima, was an engineering feat and visual wonder of the world. Built to monopolize eastern Mediterranean trade, with Rome's building skills, using a combination of hydraulic concrete and huge stone blocks, some weighing up to 50 tons, the harbor was constructed like a fortress-as-sea. Supporting a superstructure of curtain walls over 9 meters (30 feet) tall with 11 meter (36 foot) wide towers that reached over 18 meters (60 feet) in height, its breakwaters, which were laid out on a circular course, enclosed 40 acres of water. Using archaeological reports by the likes of Avner Raban, John Oleson, Robert Hohlfelder and others, with comparative analysis of known Roman construction techniques, Josephus’ eye-witness descriptions, Herodian fortification work at Jerusalem and Masada, the video you see is the collaborative creation of Lithodomos and Patrick Scott Smith. Copyright 2024 Lithodomos & Patrick Scott Smith, published on World History Encyclopedia with permission by the copyright holders. #herod #caesarea #ancient #romanempire #israel — RECONSTRUCTION CREATED BY — https://lithodomos.com/ https://www.worldhistory.org/user/patrickscottsmith1956/ — SUPPORT US VIA OUR PATREON — https://www.patreon.com/join/whencyclopedia — GET OUR MERCH — https://www.worldhistory.store​/​ World History Encyclopedia www.worldhistory.org