Masada - Western Palace

Along the walls in Masada, we see to the south one of the towers of the West Gate (opposite the Roman ramp) and the large Western Palace. It can be seen how the Zealots altered the building to provide living accommodation and constructed another mikve to the southeast.

While the Northern Palace was Herod's private residence the Western Palace, which covers an area of some 4,000sq.m/4,800sq.yd, was his official residence. The north and west wings contained domestic and administrative offices and accommodation for officials and servants, and in the south wing were the king's residential and state apartments. In one room, apparently an audience chamber, the excavators found a well preserved mosaic pavement, the oldest ever discovered in Israel, with geometric designs and plant motifs (vine and fig leaves, olive- branches, etc.). At various points where the pavement has been destroyed can be seen the guide-lines used in laying the mosaic.