Hasmonean and Herodian Palaces at Jericho. Final Reports of the 1973-1987 Excavations. Vol. I: Stratigraphy and Architecture
The oasis of Jericho was an agricultural center, a garden city and a winter resort for the Jerusalem kings and aristocracy in the days of the Second Temple. The Hasmonean kings turned the western plain of Jericho into a huge royal estate where palm trees and balsam bushes were cultivated. Next to the estate, on the banks of Wadi Qelt, they erected a winter palace compex with numerous gardens and swimming pools. Herod the Great made this site (known as Tulul Abu el-`Alayiq in Arabic) into a palatial center including three wings built over a number of years. The last to be built was the Third Palace, also known as the Opus Reticulatum Palace, an outstanding architectural creation built on both sides of the wadi.