Herod the Great inherited or built a series of fortresses on his eastern frontier. He ruled as a puppet king for Rome on the empire’s eastern frontier. He needed to defend it from possible invaders from the East. A couple weeks ago we visited two of them that I had never seen before.
West of the Dead Sea in the middle of nowhere (the Buqeia Valley) is a fortress called Hyrcania, founded by John Hyrcanus. Before Herod and Rome were ruling Israel, the Hasmoneans were in charge. This was about a century (c. 165 – 67 BC) of independent rule by the Jews. One of their leaders was John Hyrcanus, who originally built the fortress and named it after himself. When Herod took over, he improved it for himself. Much later, a monastery was built on top.
To the north, we hiked up a fortress built by Herod just west of his palaces at Jericho called Cypros (named after his mother). From on top, it’s possible to see a wide expanse of the plain north of the Dead Sea (including Jericho) to the east and the Mount of Olives to the west.
Herod built many other fortresses than just the two we visited that day. I’ve written about others like Masada and Herodium. Why did he need these (or think he did)? What are fortresses for? Fortresses are for protection, both for those inside them and for the border they are guarding. King David compared the Lord to a fortress:
The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer;
Psalm 18:2
my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge,
my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
David knew that God is the ultimate protector to seek refuge in times of trouble. Where do you turn?