Machaerus

1 definition found

From Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary [easton]:

  Machaerus
     the Black Fortress, was built by Herod the Great in the gorge of
     Callirhoe, one of the wadies 9 miles east of the Dead Sea, as a
     frontier rampart against Arab marauders. John the Baptist was
     probably cast into the prison connected with this castle by
     Herod Antipas, whom he had reproved for his adulterous marriage


     with Herodias. Here Herod "made a supper" on his birthday. He
     was at this time marching against Aretas, king of Perea, to
     whose daughter he had been married. During the revelry of the
     banquet held in the border fortress, to please Salome, who
     danced before him, he sent an executioner, who beheaded John,
     and "brought his head in a charger, and gave it to the damsel"
     (Mark 6:14-29). This castle stood "starkly bold and clear" 3,860
     feet above the Dead Sea, and 2,546 above the Mediterranean. Its
     ruins, now called M'khaur, are still visible on the northern end
     of Jebel Attarus.