Where Saint John the Baptist Was Beheaded

The Beheading of Saint John the Baptist, also known as the Decollation of Saint John the Baptist or the Beheading of the Forerunner, is a biblical event and holy day observed by various Christian churches that follow liturgical traditions. The day commemorates the martyrdom by beheading of Saint John the Baptist on the orders of Herod Antipas through the vengeful request of his step-daughter Salome and her mother.

Archaeologists have uncovered a king-size mikveh in the ruins of Machaerus, a fortress built by the vassal Roman king Herod by the Dead Sea.
Only a few marble columns and stone walls remain of what once was one of Herod's fortresses.

On the eastern side of the Dead Sea, and about 16 miles southeast of the mouth of the Jordan River, one finds the hilltop where the fortified palace of Mkawir (“Maxairous,” in Greek; “Machaerus,” in Latin) once stood.

Simulation of the royal bathhouse in Machaerus, built by King Herod in Jordan. Courtesy of the Hungarian Archaeological Mission to Machaerus

Only a few marble columns and stone walls remain, but from the hilltop one can perfectly well see the many small caves that hermits, anchorites, and monks carved into the sandstone to live a life of prayer in the vicinity of the place in which, according to Flavius Josephus, John the Baptist was beheaded. Nowadays, these caves are used by shepherds who seek refuge from both the heat (during the day) and the cold (during long, starry nights) of the southern Jordanian desert. In fact, perfect silence is here only interrupted by an occasional goat bell. Some say, though, that the Baptist himself might have been held prisoner in one of these caves.

According to the gospels of Mark (6:24) and Matthew (14:8), the beheading of John the Baptist took place in 32 AD, after the “last of the prophets of the Old Testament” — as the Baptist is often described — spent at least two years imprisoned in this fortress. In the video above, you can see the renowned Israeli archaeologist Danny Herman and Erick Stakelbeck taking a deep look at the Machaerus fortress. Also, you can look at the caves and road leading to the hilltop in the slideshow below.

Where Saint John the Baptist Was Beheaded

14,000-Year-Old Piece Of Bread Rewrites The History Of Baking And Farming

When an archaeologist working on an excavation site in Jordan first swept up the tiny black particles scattered around an ancient fireplace, she had no idea they were going to change the history of food and agriculture.

Amaia Arranz-Otaegui is an archaeobotanist from the University of Copenhagen. She was collecting dinner leftovers of the Natufians, a hunter-gatherer tribe that lived in the area more than 14,000 years ago during the Epipaleolithic time — a period between the Paleolithic and Neolithic eras.

Natufians were hunters, which one could clearly tell from the bones of gazelles, sheep and hares that littered the cooking pit. But it turns out the Natufians were bakers, too --at a time well before scientists thought it was possible.

When Arranz-Otaegui sifted through the swept-up silt, the black particles appeared to be charred food remains. "They looked like what we find in our toasters," she says — except no one ever heard of people making bread so early in human history. "I could tell they were processed plants," Arranz-Otaegui says, "but I didn't really know what they were."

So she took her burnt findings to a colleague, Lara Gonzalez Carretero at University College London Institute of Archaeology, whose specialty is identifying prehistoric food remains, bread in particular. She concluded that what Arranz-Otaegui had unearthed was a handful of truly primordial breadcrumbs.

"We both realized we were looking at the oldest bread remains in the world," says Gonzalez Carretero. They were both quite surprised — with good reason.

The established archaeological doctrine states that humans first began baking bread about 10,000 years ago. That was a pivotal time in our evolution. Humans gave up their nomadic way of life, settled down and began farming and growing cereals. Once they had various grains handy, they began milling them into flour and making bread. In other words, until now we thought that our ancestors were farmers first and bakers second. But Arranz-Otaegui's breadcrumbs predate the advent of agriculture by at least 4,000 years. That means that our ancestors were bakers first —and learned to farm afterwards.

"Finding bread in this Epipaleolithic site was the last thing we expected!" says Arranz-Otaegui. "We used to think that the first bread appeared during the Neolithic times, when people started to cultivate cereal, but it now seems they learned to make bread earlier."

When you think about it, the idea that early humans learned to bake before settling down to farm is logical, the researchers behind the finding say. Making bread is a labor-intensive process that involves removing husks, grinding cereals, kneading the dough and then baking it. The fact that our ancestors were willing to invest so much effort into the prehistoric pastry suggests that they considered bread a special treat. Baking bread could have been reserved for special occasions or to impress important guests. The people's desire to indulge more often may have prompted them to begin cultivating cereals.

"In our opinion, instead of domesticating cereals first, the bread-making culture could have been something that actually fueled the domestication of cereal," says Gonzalez Carretero. "So maybe it was the other way around [from what we previously thought.]" The research appears in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Andreas Heiss, an archaeologist at the Austrian Academy of Science who is familiar with the project but not directly involved in the study, finds the discovery "thrilling." He says it shows that ancient tribes were quite adept at food-making techniques, and developed them earlier than we had given them credit for.

"It tells us that our ancestors were smart people who knew how to use their environment well," Heiss says. "It also tells us that processing food is a much more basic technique in human history than we thought — maybe as old as hunting and gathering."

As the team analyzed the crumbs further, they found out that the Natufians were sophisticated cooks. Their flour was made from two different types of ingredients — wild wheat called einkorn and the roots of club-rush tubers, a type of a flowering plant. That particular combination allowed them to make pliable elastic dough that could be pressed onto the walls of their fireplace pits, much like flatbreads are baked today in tandoori ovens — and baked to perfection. Besides the einkorn and tubers, the team also found traces of barley and oats.

The Natufians may have had rather developed taste buds, too. They liked to toss some spices and condiments into their dishes, particularly mustard seeds. "We found a lot of wild mustard seeds, not in the bread but in the overall assemblage," says Gonzalez Carretero.

But, she adds, mustard seeds had also been found in some bread remains excavated from other sites, so it's possible that Natufians sprinkled a few on their own pastries. So far, the team has analyzed only 25 breadcrumbs with about 600 more to go, so they think chances are good that some charred pieces with mustard seeds might turn up. Arranz-Otaegui thinks it's possible. "The seeds have [a] very particular taste, so why not use them?"

Exactly how delicious was this special Natufian treat? It's hard to tell. Modern-day bread recipes don't include ancient wheat or roots of tuberous plants. But Arranz-Otaegui does want to find out how the Epipaleolithic bread played on the palate. She has been gathering the einkorn seeds, as well as peeling and grinding the tubers. She plans to partner up with a skilled chef and baker to reconstruct the exact mixture in correct proportions.

It will be the oldest bread recipe ever created by mankind.

14,000-Year-Old Piece Of Bread Rewrites The History Of Baking And Farming

Tomb with ancient Greek inscription discovered in the ancient site of Beit Ras, Jordan

The town is one of the ten cities of the Decapolis listed by Pliny the Elder. There are many primary sources, including Pliny the Elder that list different variations of the cities of the Decapolis.

Capitolias was founded as a planned Roman city, perhaps for military purposes, under Nerva or Trajan in 97 or 98 CE. This date comes from the coins that were minted within the city. Inscriptions show that local citizens served in the Roman army. It was surrounded by a wall built in the 2nd century and had an area of 12.5 hectares according to one source, 20 acres according to another.

Capitolias theatre with Beit Ras in the background. 

The city was named after Jupiter Capitolinus. Evidence shows that the site was extensively settled and grew in importance during the Roman and Byzantine eras. Capitolias also had some importance in the early Islamic (Umayyad) period.

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And while it may seem antithetical for a grim burial, the ‘vibrant’ scope pertains to the various brightly colored frescoes  with ancient Greek inscription that cover the walls of the tomb chambers.

Interestingly enough, the discovery in itself was made quite fortuitously, with the unearthing being achieved during works to extend a local sewerage network. In terms of structure, the tomb complex comprises two separate chambers. 

The larger one among them consists of a basalt sarcophagus that is decorated with the carvings of lion heads. As for the smaller one, the chamber contained two additional graves, but without any accompanying artifact.

Now as we mentioned before, the incredible part of this archaeological scope pertains to the vibrantly colored frescoes that dot the walls of the chambers.

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According to Jordan Tourism Board, these kaleidoscopic scenes depict a range of subjects – from human forms, horses to even mythological renditions; thus alluding to the seemingly ‘festive’ funerary rites of the time. 

And since we brought up the time-factor, researchers have hypothesized (from preliminary analysis) that the tomb is dated from the late Roman or early Eastern Roman (Byzantine) period, which corresponds to late antiquity.

Lastly, the historical ambit of Capitolias is not just limited to the Roman time-frame. In fact, a particular Arabic poetry excerpt not only mentions the city’s name, but also describes how the settlement contained a 2nd century theater and a later Byzantine church that provided the architectural ‘template’ for the subsequent Islamic buildings (of the Ummayad Caliphate era).

From the historical perspective, such comparisons do make sense, since many of the earliest Islamic structures, including mosques and shrines, like the Dome of the Rock, were considerably influenced by early Christian styles, namely the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) palaces and churches from the proximate areas.

Tomb with ancient Greek inscription discovered in the ancient site of Beit Ras, Jordan

7,200 yr-old vessel for food storage unearthed in Jordan Valley

A unique 7,200-year-old clay vessel recently unearthed in the Jordan Valley by researchers from Israel and Germany may represent the oldest evidence yet of ancient class structure as it relates to food storage rituals in the Near East.

The relic was discovered at the Tel Tsaf archeological site during digs overseen by Prof. Danny Rosenberg of the Zinman Institute of Archeology at the University of Haifa, and Dr. Florian Klimscha of the German Archeological Institute in Berlin.

According to Rosenberg, the clay vessel provides unprecedented insights into ancient political and socioeconomic class structure among elites during a period that remains somewhat mysterious.

“Until now, discussions of the early transition to complex societies in this area have focused mainly on later periods, and on the connection between the development of socioeconomic elites and the ability of certain individuals or families to store large quantities of food – beyond their own needs – for survival,” Rosenberg said on Wednesday.

“In this context, the findings at Tel Tsaf provide firsthand evidence of the early connection between food storage on a large scale and the observance of a ritual associated with the successful storage and preservation of agricultural yields.” Located near the Jordan River, the Tel Tsaf site was first documented in the late 1940s.

It was subsequently excavated during the late 1970s, and later between 2004 and 2007.

Since 2013, with the assistance of an international team of experts equipped with advanced scientific methodologies, Rosenberg and Klimscha have led a multidisciplinary project at the site, focusing on the area’s ancient economy and environment.

The rare findings unearthed at Tel Tsaf include numerous silos found in the courtyards of ancient buildings once used for large-scale grain storage.

The silos, the researchers said, are evidence of the storage of food on a scale not previously documented at sites from this period.

“The wish and ability to store food certainly constitutes an important step in the transition of humans to societies characterized by more complex social organization,” noted Klimscha. “It also seems that Tel Tsaf’s location, near a major water source such as the Jordan River is no coincidence, considering the site’s potential to accumulate such a large amount of crops.”

Rosenberg said that with the exception of the finds at Tel Tsaf, no evidence of mass-food storage between 7,500 and 6,500 years ago has been found in the region.

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“The significance of storage for development of complex societies is evident by later testimonies from our own region,” he said, “but even more so from Mesopotamia and Egypt, where complex, pre-state and state-level societies emerged and engaged in the intensive storage of food as an essential condition for the development of a social hierarchy.”

Researchers have long debated the early emergence of societies characterized by social and economic elites, a phenomenon frequently associated with the Bronze Age, which in the Near East began around 5,300 years ago.

However, no evidence has previously been found illustrating that large-scale food storage in earlier societies was accompanied by social or ritual acts intended to ensure the successful storage and distribution of produce.

During the excavation season at Tel Tsaf two years ago, researchers found numerous pottery shards in a room situated in the center of a cluster of silos and cooking installations.

The fragments appeared to belong to a single vessel. After painstaking work, they managed to reassemble the pieces, and were surprised to find a unique miniature vessel with a height of around 20 centimeters and a small, window-like aperture on its side.

“All the pottery vessels we are familiar with from this period have an opening on the top, facing up, just like most pots and cups in any modern kitchen,” Rosenberg explained. “But this vessel is dome shaped, closed on the top, and covered with red-painted clay balls, whose significance is unclear to us.”

The researchers said they believe that the vessel is actually a model of the silos.

“This vessel is not ‘functional,’ and was found in a building that was used for intensive storage, on the floor in a room surrounded by numerous silos similar to those we are familiar with from archeological and ethnographic records from various parts of the world,” said Klimscha.

“We can hypothesize that this vessel was associated in some way with the silos, and particularly with the act of storage,” she continued. “From later evidence, we know that humans created vessels symbolizing larger storage structures; and, indeed, pottery vessels similar to this one – though larger – appear a few centuries later in [this] region, used for secondary burial.”

                                 TRENDS

Rosenberg and Klimscha said the size and characteristics of the vessel – together with the archeological context in which it was found – reinforce their contention that it symbolized the silos and was probably used in a ritual setting, possibly as part of the ceremonies that preceded the placement of grains of wheat and barley in the silos, or their removal from storage.

The correlation between the growth of food storage capacity and the human cycle of life and death is well known to researchers from various sources, including later findings from the ancient Near East.

“Tel Tsaf offers a glimpse into a unique time capsule, with excellent preservation of organic remains and other archeological findings that reflect a thriving community practicing long-distance trade,” said Rosenberg.

“Putting together all these findings, the picture reveals an increasingly strong connection between ritual and intense food storage and consumption,” he added.

“We believe that the economic prosperity reflected by the astonishing findings from Tel Tsaf was accompanied by notable changes in the way the community of Tel Tsaf organized itself, and by rituals and ceremonies that were practiced in order to ensure that this prosperity will last.”

The miniature silo may be the best example yet of the connection between the desire to store large amounts of agricultural crops to gain social and economic advantage, and rituals intended to sustain and ensure economic prosperity, Rosenberg and Klimscha said.

7,200 yr-old vessel for food storage unearthed in Jordan Valley

2019 Pella Volunteer Application

For more than ten years (1994-2007), work at Pella focussed on the excavation of the six architectural phases of the massive mud-brick and stone Fortress (or Migdol) temple, the largest (32x 28m) of its type ever discovered. The temple had distinct Middle Bronze (ca. 1800-1500 BCE), Late Bronze (1500-1200 BCE) and Iron Age (ca. 1000-800 BCE) phases, one on top of the other. Finds were spectacular, and included several figured, painted and incised ceramic cult stands; Egyptian stone statuary, metal and clay figurines, lapis and gold jewellery, faience and glazed ceramics, and many ceramic bowls, jugs and jars (bearing ‘tree of life’ motifs) and a large mixing bowl with ‘bulls-head’ handles. 

In more recent seasons (since 2005) our attention turned to the exploration of a series of related secular building complexes that lie to the west of the temple. The first uncovered was a very large Iron Age Building (detected in 1997 and under intensive exploration since 2005), which by the end of the 2017 field season had resulted in the excavation of parts of at least 46 rooms, many with their contents preserved by a fiery destruction (ca. 800 BCE) which destroyed the site. 

We now know a very great deal about what went on in each individual room, of what is turning out to be a structure of unprecedented size and grandeur. It is contemporary with a small Iron II period 12 x 8m structure, the latest of the temples in the sequence, suggesting that in the Iron Age II, the secular complexes were much more the source of wealth and power than the relatively unimportant temples. 

From 2009 we started to explore an earlier Late Bronze Age (ca. 1400-1200 BCE) Stone-Paved Building that lies below the Iron Age complex. With its Egyptian-style ‘Lamp and Bowl’ deposits, and its intriguing incense pipes and miniature vessels, this structure seems very closely aligned to the Egyptianising ‘Pillared Hall’ phase of the temple to its east. 

Most recently in 2013-2017, we've started to get an idea of the large Middle Bronze Age (1800-1500 BCE) Palatial residence that seems probably to be a structure of the ‘Courtyard Palace’ type, the main palace-form of the later MBA in the southern Levant. We have only exposed a few rooms and courtyard areas of this structure, but the thick yellow plaster floors, and the intriguing mud-brick features, along with the administrative paraphernalia (scarabs, cylinder seals and their sealing impressions on clay) all suggest the presence of a major administrative structure, which seems to reflect the wealth and power of the huge Stone Migdol temple phase to its east. 

At the end of the 2017 season, one phase of Early Bronze Age (ca. 3200 BCE) and one phase of middle Chalcolithic (ca. 4500 BCE) architecture had been uncovered in deep soundings, indicating the promise of things to come. In 2019, we plan to further explore the major civic structures, in new trenches to the north and west of the current excavation zone.

We look forward to an interesting and rewarding season as we expand our work exploring one of the more fascinating and important cities of ancient Jordan.

Find out more about what happens at Pella: Click here

Download a 2019 Pella Volunteer Application Form: 

2019 Pella Volunteer Application

Hellenistic Temple Uncovered in Jordan

A “first-of-its-kind” Hellenistic temple in the Levant region has been discovered in Umm Qais, an archaeologist said on Monday.

An archaeological excavation team from Yarmouk University has recently discovered a Hellenistic temple and network of water tunnels, Atef Sheyyab, president of the archaeology department at the university told the Jordan Times. 

The temple dates from the Hellenistic era (332 BC to 63 BC) and was later reused during the Roman, Byzantine and Islamic eras, Sheyyab said.

The temple, built following the Greek architectural  design of “Distyle in Antis”, consists of a pronaos (the inner area of the portico of a Greek or Roman temple), a podium and a naos, the holy chamber of the temple, he explained.

At the temple, the team has found a number of Ionic-order columns that once supported the structure’s roof, Sheyyab added.

The team has taken pottery samples to examine in order to identify the exact date of the temple. The experts will also use them to prepare a blueprint showing the temple’s layout at the time, according to Sheyab.

The team has also discovered a network of water tunnels at the centre of the ancient town, which are separated from the external tunnel that was discovered decades ago in the area, the professor said.

The network consists of a number of Hellenistic wells and Roman tunnels, he noted, adding that the tunnels lead to a hot bath inside the town.

In addition to Jerash and Amman, Gadara (now Umm Qais) and Pella (Tabaqit Fahl) were once Decapolis cities — a league of 10 ancient Greek cities in eastern Palestine that was formed after the Roman conquest of Palestine in 63 BC which also included Philadelphia (modern Amman) and Damascus, according to Encyclopaedia Britannica — and each has particularities. 

Perched on a scenic hilltop overlooking the Jordan Valley and the Sea of Galilee, Umm Qais, some 125km north of Amman, boasts impressive ancient remains, such as the black basalt theatre, the basilica and adjacent courtyard strewn with intricately carved black sarcophagi.

Other remains include the colonnaded main street and a side street lined with shops, an underground mausoleum, two baths, a nymphaeum (fountain), a city gate and the faint outlines of what used to be a massive hippodrome (stadium for chariot races), according to the Jordan Tourism Board website.

Source

http://www.ancienthellas.eu

Hellenistic Temple Uncovered in Jordan

Archaeologists Find Monumental Mikveh at King Herod's Palace in Jordan

Machaerus, King Herod's fortress in Jordan which was razed by the same Roman legion that destroyed Masada, before which Salome did her dance and John the Baptist was killed

Archaeologists have uncovered a king-size mikveh in the ruins of Machaerus, a fortress built by the vassal Roman king Herod by the Dead Sea.

The Machaerus fortress was erected on a prominent hill about 32 kilometers southwest of Madaba. The mikveh ritual bath and immersion pool used for purification were apparently built for the Herod royal family's personal use.

The bath is the biggest of its kind ever found in Jordan. It boasts 12 steeps and a reserve pool containing water to fill the pool when its water ran low.

Beyond its sheer dimensions, the architecture closely resembles mikvehs discovered in Qumran, on the other side of the Dead Sea, in Israel,  that had previously been considered to be unique.

The king-size mikveh was found three meters below the royal courtyard, where it had been hidden under 2,000 years of sand and dust. It had originally been equipped with a vaulted stone ceiling.

The roof of the mikveh was destroyed in 71 C.E. when the 10th Roman legion, X Frentensis, headed by Lucilius Bassus, attacked the desert fortress, which at that point was sheltering Jewish fighters from the Great Jewish Revolt (66-73 C.E.). The excavators also uncovered collapsed walls, four Roman ballistic missiles and two collapsed massive column drums.

Monumental walls

The archaeological investigation of Machaerus was first undertaken in 1968 by the American Archaeological Baptist Mission, led by E. Jerry Vardamann.

The most recent excavations, by a Hungarian-Jordanian team led by Dr. Győző Vörös, have unearthed intact massive walls of the interior of the western fortification, around 9.2 meters (30 feet) in height. For the first time since the days of yore, the extraordinary dimensions of the Herodian desert citadel were unveiled.

The excavators also found a vast underground cistern some 18 meters deep, that watered the Dead Sea desert fortress gardens and Roman style baths. The archaeological analysis has showed that the cistern remained in use throughout the Herodian period.

The excavators also discovered dozens of Hasmonean and Roman coins, as well as 47 Aramaic ostraca (broken pottery shards inscribed with Aramaic letters).

Where Salome danced

Actually, Herod – known as the great builder of antiquity – didn't build this royal palace in Jordan. It was actually of Hasmonean origin, and had been erected by the king Alexander Jannaeus in around 90 B.C.E., on a towering plateau known as Mukawir, which rises 800 meters high above the arid Dead Sea

What Herod did was to renovate and redevelop the fortress that Jannaeus built.

Machaerus was of critical importance to the defense of Judea, partly thanks to its bird's eye view of the capital, Jerusalem. Rabbinic writings report that the smoke of the sacrificial offerings could been seen rising from the altars of the Herodian temple in Jerusalem all the way in Machaerus (Mishnah 3, Tamid 3.8).

Any army approaching Jerusalem from the east would first have to occupy Machaereus. Fire signals could be lit on the fortress walls, warning the other citadels of encroaching enemies.

As Pliny the Elder wrote, "Machaerus, after Jerusalem, the strongest fortification in Judea" (Historia Naturalis, V. 15, 16). Evidently, the Romans considered the site better fortified than either Herodium and Masada. But then, Machaerus was more than just a military outpost.

When fixing up Machaerus, Herod also built a palace with a courtyard, a Roman-style bath, a triclinium for fancy dining, and a formal courtyard with a small royal garden (peristyle) surrounded by porticos on four sides.

That is where, according to the historian Josephus Flavius, Salome danced for Herod Antipas.

Head on a plate

Shortly before the Passover in 32 C.E, King Herod held a large celebration for his birthday at Machaerus. During the festivities he invited his stepdaughter, the princess Salome, to dance before his court.

So delighted was Herod at Salome’s performance that he promised her anything she requested—up to half his kingdom. Upon her wicked mother’s advice, according to the story, Salome asked for the head of John the Baptist.

Though greatly distressed, Herod, “out of regard for his oaths and for those reclining with him commanded it to be given; and he sent and had John beheaded in the prison. And his head was brought on a platter and given to the maiden, and she brought it to her mother.” (Matthew 14:1-11. Mark 6:17-28.)

According to Josephus, the Baptist was brought to Machaerus in chains and put to death (Jewish Antiquities, Book 18, chap. 5, par. 2 [Loeb 18.119]).

Machaerus also includes a semicircular apse in the axial center of the courtyard, marking the place of King Herod’s throne, which was later passed on to his son Tetrarch Herod Antipas (the Baptist's executioner).

The archaeologists have also re-erected two ancient Herodian columns of the Doric order (3.8 meters high) that stood in the royal peristyle courtyard, where Salome is said to have danced, and another of the Ionic order  (4.7 meters high) that stood in the palace bathhouse.

Ruins atop Masada Moshe Gilad

At the mercy of the Romans

Machaerus was destroyed in 71 C.E. by the same Roman legion that captured Masada from the Jewish zealots, the Tenth Roman Legion. In both cases the Romans are said to have  built a siege ramp to gain access, though in Masada's case at least, argument rages to this day about what really happened there.

Again in both cases, the only known account belongs to Josephus, himself a Jewish rebel who turned coat and joined the Romans.

Josephus wrote that the Romans captured Eleazar, a young rebel from a large and distinguished family, who had recklessly wandered outside Machaerus' gate. The Roman general Lucilius Bassus “ordered Eleazar to be stripped and carried to the spot most exposed to the view of the onlookers in the city and there severely scourged him.”

The Machaerus rebels were “profoundly affected by the lad’s fate,” Joseph tells us, and “the whole town burst into such wailing and lamentation as the misfortune of a mere individual seemed hardly to justify.”

Noting this, Bassus erected a wooden cross as if to prepare for Eleazar’s crucifixion. As Bassus had intended, this led to the negotiations that saved Eleazar’s life and gave the residents of Machaerus permission “to depart in safety.”

In these circumstances, the ramp that the Romans were building was never completed, and the still-existing uncompleted ramp testifies to the essential veracity of Josephus’s account.

Unlike at Masada, the rebels at the Machaerus citadel survived. But apparently this compact did not apply to the Jews in the lower city of Machaerus. Some Jews tried to escape the Roman siege at night but were caught. The Romans proceeded to slay the 1,700 men living there and enslave the women and children (Josephus, Jewish War 7.190-209 (Loeb ed.)

Thus ended the settlement in Machaerus that, within its walls, had hosted five figures from the Gospels: Herod the Great Herod; his son, Herod Antipas; his second wife, Herodias; her daughter from a previous marriage, Salome and John the Baptist. 

The "Roman ramp" at Masada: Some scholars think it too narrow and small to have been used to breach the fortress' thick walls. Dan Lundberg

The archaeological site 2,000 years later is historically significant to Christians, Muslims and Jews – and features a memorial to Prophet Yahya Bin Zakariyya, also known as John the Baptist.

Simulation of Herod's hilltop palace-cum-fortress Reconstruction at Machaerus, Jordan: The Royal Courtyard is visible in the upper right corner and the bathhouse in the lower left. Courtesy of the Hungarian Archaeological Mission to Machaerus

Source

Philippe Bohstrom
haaretz.com

Archaeologists Find Monumental Mikveh at King Herod's Palace in Jordan