Other Archaeological Sites / The Neolithic of the Levant (500 Page Book Online) Ancient Machaerous The Fortress of Machaerous The fortress of Machaerous was one of the strongholds of the defence system of the Jewish state in the eastern province of Perea on the south boundary with the Nabataeans of Petra. With Masada, Hyrcania, Alexandreion and Cypros, Machaerous is one of the fortresses that Herod the King has inherited from the Hasmoneans. It was not inhabited before the Hasmoneans, nor it was ever reoccupied after the destruction of the Romans. Few is left of the Herod's palace. The walls were razed to the foundation level and only in one case a door with its threshold was found. Quite nothing is still known of the Hasmonean fortress buried and reused in the later fortress ... |