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Preservation and Interpretation of Archaeological Sites

Herod's Northern Palace, Masada, Israel

The Role of Ingram Consultancy

Excavated by Yigael Yadin in the 1960's and now managed by the INNPPA (Israeli Nature and National Park Protection Authority), the Northern Palace has been subject to deterioration and intense visitor pressure for more than thirty years. Ingram Consultancy has worked with the INNPPA's own team of conservators to develop a conservation plan for the palace, carry out emergency masonry stabilisation and raise awareness of the risks to Masada. The conservation plan includes minimal reconstruction of lost elements both to support fragile masonry and to assist interpretation of the architectural remains.

The Site and its Condition

Two thousand years after its construction, the northern palace perched on the precipitous northern cliff edge of the Masada plateau remains a spectacular feat of engineering and architecture. King Herod devoted the second half of his rule to a massive programme of monumental building throughout the land of Israel: amongst these the enlargement and beautification of the Second Temple, the king's palace in Jerusalem, the great palace of Herodion, the man made harbour of Caesarea, and the 'hanging-palace' on the northern cliff of Masada rank amongst the most ambitious. The three terraces of the 'hanging-palace' were cut into the unstable dolomite rock mass and fortified with great revetment walls which provided stable platforms for construction. The masonry was built with relatively soft limestone that could be cut and shaped into ashlars. The walls were plastered externally and internally, with frescoes decorating the principal rooms.

The Northern Palace presents a range of structural and materials problems formidable both in quality and quantity. The stones facing the great revetments are of a poorly cemented limestone which is highly susceptible to wetting and drying cycles and salt movement and which weathers in a spectacular manner, with great cavernous holes forming in the face. The Herodian mortars are ingenious using mud in the corework, gypsum for the bedding mortar and lime for the protective and decorative finish. Once the lime finish weathers off the exposed gypsum and mud core mortars are vulnerable. Perched on the edge of precipitous cliffs, the walls are at great risk from heavy rain and other agents of decay.

Some immediate dangers threatening the Northern Palace have already been averted, but others have become even more apparent following erection of scaffolding. The conservation of the Northern Palace is a great challenge. Israel's Ministry of Tourism and the Nature and National Park Protection Authority have funded the first four years of work. Continuity of work is critical and private as well as public sector funding is being sought to maintain impetus for the programme of work.

Our range of work may be summarised as follows:

• Development of a phased conservation plan
• Formation and training of the Masada Conservation Team
• Recording and documentation of the buildings of the Northern Palace
• Geological investigation of the rock terraces
• Development and implementation of a 'stone tile' filling system to strengthen limestone walls
• Partial reconstruction of vault and supporting walls in the small bath house to secure this fragile building to the mountain and protect it from rock falls
• Support of unstable areas of stone and plasterwork at risk of collapse
• Support and filling of damaged stucco
• Surface consolidation of friable limestone surfaces
• Examination and emergency treatment of frescoes
• Commencement of mortar and plaster research programme
• Treatment of the mosaic floors of the upper terrace

Client: Israeli Nature and National Parks Protection Authority

Further Information

Yigael Yadin, Masada: Herod's Fortress and the Zealot's Last Stand, second edition, Steimatzky, Israel, 1997 Professor Ehud Netzer et al, Masada, volumes I to V, excavation report published by Israel Exploration Society and Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Ingram Consultancy Limited
Tel: +44 (0) 1747 820 170 - Fax: +44 (0) 1747 820 175
e-mail: enquiries@ingram-consultancy.co.uk

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