Pollen analysis as evidence for Herod’s Royal Garden at the Promontory Palace, Caesarea

Abstract

This study is the first to successfully address the identification of the botanical components of a garden in the 2000-year-old palatial courtyard of Herod the Great's Promontory Palace in Caesarea Maritima. Based on the extraction and identification of fossil pollen grains, we were able to reconstruct at least part of the garden's flora, which, we argue, could only have grown within the confines of a garden of this splendid seaside palace which was protected architecturally from salty sea spray. The palynological spectrum included, among other taxa, high percentages of Cupressaceae pollen (cypress) as well as pollen of the non-local tree Corylus sp. (hazelnut), which was most probably introduced as an ornamental from the northeast Mediterranean or from Italy. These trees appear to have been accompanied by other ornamental plants (e.g. Salvia and various Rosaceae plants). The choice of flora to be planted in the garden is consistent with our knowledge of prestige Roman gardens dated to Herod's time. This exceptional and magnificent palace, with its luxurious architectural features and its impressive, well-maintained garden, symbolized the power and the abilities of King Herod, the greatest builder in ancient Jewish history.

The Citrus Route Revealed: From Southeast Asia into the Mediterranean

“…According to Pagnoux et al (2013), one can therefore assume that the Romans played an important role in the spread of citrus into Egypt. A similar scenario was recently suggested in another eastern Mediterranean case, where a possible Roman influence on the vegetation of the Herodian garden at Caesarea was identified (Langgut et al, 2015).…”

Prestigious early Roman gardens across the Empire: the significance of gardens and horticultural trends evidenced by pollen

“…Another two samples were collected from a plaster-coated basin in the apse of the main triclinium in the Lower Palace; although it was not an exterior feature, it was open to the garden that was constructed around the pool, and may have captured some pollen from breezes passing through the garden and entering the triclinium. Two additional samples were taken from the plaster on the south side of the Lower Palace (Langgut et al 2015). A suggested reconstruction is presented at Figure 12.…”

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The information presented below describes the archaeological context and the locations of the samples which were palynologically analyzed in order to study the gardens of Herod the Great in Caesarea (Langgut et al 2015), Jericho (Langgut and Gleason 2020) and Herodium (Langgut et al in press).

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GUEST EDITORIAL: Studies in botanical archeology, ethno-botany and plant domestication: honoring Professor Daniel Zohary

“…It supplements the line of study of the origin and spread of agriculture in the Old World reviewed in Zohary's classic volumes (Zohary & Hopf 1988, 1993Zohary et al 2012). This group of papers ends with the contribution of Langgut et al (2015), describing pollen analysis as evidence for the composition of King Herod's Royal Garden at the Promontory Palace, Caesarea. The most surprising find at Caesarea was of hazel nut trees (Corylus spp.)…”