Jericho - Hisham's Palace

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ranges of buildings opening off an inner courtyard and no entrances on the outside. Immediately north is a large bath-house. The palace is entered through a spacious forecourt containing a square pool, originally covered by a domed roof, and a gatehouse leading into a square inner courtyard. Set up here is a circular window which was originally in one of the rooms surrounding the courtyard. Straight ahead is the west wing, with steps leading down to an underground bath-house. To the right (north) are the remains of a mosque and beyond this the large bath-house, 40m/130ft square, the bareness of its outer walls relieved by semicircular recesses which originally contained alternating male and female figures. The roof was borne on sixteen pillars. Parts of the mosaic pavement have been preserved.

At the northwest corner of the bath-house is a small room with an apse, no doubt a rest room or reception room for the Caliph. It is famed for its completely preserved mosaic, a work of consummate craftsmanship depicting three gazelles under an orange-tree, one of them being attacked by a lion.