Maheron

Maheron or Maher ^[2] ( Arabic: قلة المشناقى , Kalat el Mishnak - “The Hanging Palace”) - an ancient Jewish fortress, located in one of the most secluded oases , east of the Dead Sea ^[3] , on the Moab Highlands .

It was built by the Jewish king Alexander (103-75 years BC) from the Hasmonean dynasty. After almost 100 years, King Herod the Great surrounded the top of the mountain with a wall, built towers in the corners, and a palace was erected in the center, which had many luxuriously decorated chambers. In addition, in the fortress, by order of the king, special tanks were built to collect water in case of a long siege and large stocks of arrows were collected. ^[four]

“The fortress itself was formed by a rocky hill rising to an extreme height and therefore difficult to reach, but nature still made sure that it was inaccessible. On all sides, the hill is surrounded by incredible depths of abysses, so the passage through them is almost impossible. The western mountain depression extends over 60 stages and reaches the Asphalt Lake, and just on the same side the Maheron reaches its highest height. Although the northern and southern troughs are inferior in length to the just mentioned, they also make it impossible to attack the fortress. As for the eastern one, it has at least 100 cubits of depth, but adjoins the mountain opposite to Maheron. ”

- Josephus , The Judean War , Prince VII, ch. 6, 1

More than once the ancient fortress withstood enemy sieges and assaults. But it went down in history not as an impregnable fortress, remarkable in military terms, but as a prison where John the Baptist was kept and executed.

The Execution of John the Baptist (painting by Caravaggio , 1608)

The sermon of John the Baptist, stigmatizing the heinous sins of the dignitaries of Israel, not excluding the king himself, terrified Herod Antipa and his illegitimate wife Herodias . Nevertheless, the king was afraid to give the order to kill the prophet. Herod Antipas commanded to imprison John in the impregnable fortress of Maheron.

Today, at the top of this mountain you can see a rather large depression, from which narrow corridors can get into the cave, which serves as a refuge from the weather to shepherds. “ The walls of the cave are clearly of artificial origin, obviously, it was once a dungeon of the castle. Here, in this gloomy prison, they kept John the Baptist after his arrest . ” ^[5] But even in such terrible conditions, John was not broken. And even the execution did not silence him. According to legend, the severed head of John the Baptist again convicted King Herod Antipas with the words: “Herod, you must not have your brother's wife!”