Wender·Vista
Herodium
shown on ceramic, 12-inch tileWest Bank
on a cone-shaped hill south of Bethlehem

Herodium

— — the king who built his own grave into a hill.

— Where it lives

Not only on a wall.

A small tile on the nightstand catching the morning. A larger one above the fire. Yours, wherever you spend the slow hours.
— On the nightstand, a 6-inch on a walnut stand
— Among the books, a 6-inch leaning into the spines
— Beside the kettle, a 12-inch propped
— Down a quiet hall, an 18-inch floating off the wall
— Above the fire, the 24-inch in a walnut surround
— a note from the studio

“A fortress-palace twelve kilometres south of Jerusalem, built by Herod the Great in the 20s BCE on a hill he had partly raised by hand. Round double walls at the summit. A lower palace, a long pool, a small theatre cut into the slope. Archaeologists found Herod's tomb on that slope in 2007 after a thirty-five-year search.

from the studio
Herodium
— bring it home

Herodium, on ceramic.

Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.

What kind of piece?
One tile — square or rectangle.
How big?
the popular one — counter, shelf, nightstand
6 × 6 in · 15 cm · 1.6 lb
Surface finish
A clear glossy finish — the artwork reads as if under resin. Ideal for show-pieces and framed wall art.
How it sits
A hidden cleat — sits ¼″ proud of the wall.
$58
Hand-finished and shipped from our studio at the foot of the Smokies. On your wall in about ten days.
— size
6 × 6 in
15 cm
— weighs
1.6 lb
solid in the hand
— surface
ceramic, hand-finished
art rests beneath a thin glossy finish
— from
Knoxville, TN
our family studio, at the foot of the Smokies
— start a Coaster Set

Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.

— about Herodium

The place, in three passes.

A little of what's known, in case you fall down the rabbit hole — or want to go see it yourself.
— the place

Herodium (also Herodion, in Hebrew Har Hordos) sits at 758 metres on the edge of the Judaean Desert, roughly twelve kilometres south of Jerusalem and five kilometres southeast of Bethlehem. Herod the Great built it between 23 and 15 BCE, according to the first-century historian Josephus, as a fortress, palace, and intended burial place in one site. The upper hill is partly artificial: earth was piled around a natural cone to give the structure its distinctive shape. The site lies in Area C of the West Bank and is administered as Herodium National Park.

— the stone

The summit holds a round double wall enclosing a Roman-style palace with bath complex, courtyards, and four towers. Lower Herodium spreads across the plain below, with a 70-by-46-metre pool fed by aqueduct from Solomon's Pools and a small theatre seating roughly 300, decorated with rare Roman wall paintings. Hebrew University archaeologist Ehud Netzer searched for Herod's tomb for thirty-five years before locating it on the northeast slope in 2007. Netzer was killed in a fall at the site in 2010 and is buried nearby.

— the visit

Herodium National Park is open daily, with shorter hours on Friday and the eves of Jewish holidays. Standard adult admission is around 29 shekels. The site is reached via Route 356 from Jerusalem, passing through Israeli-controlled checkpoints; many visitors come on a day trip combined with Bethlehem or Mar Saba Monastery. The climb from the lower parking lot to the summit takes about ten minutes. Spring and autumn are the most comfortable seasons; summer afternoons on the exposed cone routinely pass 35 degrees Celsius.

— where
West Bank · Bethlehem Governorate, West Bank
— within
Herodium National Park
— elevation
758 m · 2,487 ft
— position
31.6658° N · 35.2414° E
— the neighborhood

What's nearby.

A handful of named places within an hour's walk or short drive. Some we've already painted; some we will.
5 km NW
Bethlehem
biblical city
5 km S
Tekoa
village, birthplace of Amos
12 km E
Mar Saba Monastery
Greek Orthodox monastery
12 km N
Jerusalem
Old City
N
Herodium
Bethlehem
Tekoa
Mar Saba Monastery
Jerusalem
— common questions

What people ask.

A few questions we get about Herodium — and about bringing the piece home.
— about the place

Herodium is a fortress, palace, and burial complex built by Herod the Great in the 20s BCE, twelve kilometres south of Jerusalem. The summit forms a distinctive cone, partly raised by hand around a natural hill.

Herod the Great built it between 23 and 15 BCE as a fortified palace and his intended burial site. According to Josephus, Herod was buried there in 4 BCE following his death at Jericho.

In 2007, Hebrew University archaeologist Ehud Netzer located the tomb on the northeast slope after a thirty-five-year search. The identification is widely accepted, though some scholars have raised questions about the structure's scale.

Herodium sits in the West Bank, in Area C, about twelve kilometres south of Jerusalem and five kilometres southeast of Bethlehem, at an elevation of 758 metres on the edge of the Judaean Desert.

Yes. It is open as Herodium National Park, administered by the Israel Nature and Parks Authority. The site receives visitors daily, with shorter hours on Friday and the eves of Jewish holidays.

Most visitors spend ninety minutes to two hours on site, including the ten-minute walk to the summit and time in the lower palace, the pool, the theatre, and the tomb area on the northeast slope.

— about the piece in your home

Yes. Herodium is a quieter stop than the famous biblical sites, and travellers who made the detour tend to remember it sharply. A Small or Medium with a handwritten note from the studio carries the recognition well.

The desert ochres and Roman reds read well in earth-tone modern, warm minimalist, and library or study rooms with leather and wood. It also pairs with other Levantine or classical antiquity pieces in the atlas.

Yes. Warm minimalism has moved toward terracotta, oxidised reds, and parchment tones, and the Herodium palette belongs to that family alongside other desert-archaeology destinations in the WenderVista atlas.

A single Large fits above a console or a reading chair. Above a sofa, a 4-tile Mural reads at the right scale; for a long wall, a 9-tile Mural carries the room.

Yes. Order it in the Dura Satin or Matte finish for wet rooms and vertical installations. The Glossy finish is meant for framed wall art and show-pieces, not for backsplashes or showers.

A microfibre cloth and water. No abrasives, no ammonia-based cleaners, no scouring pads. The colour lives in the ceramic surface beneath a thin glossy finish and will not lift with normal cleaning.

Yes. Every piece in WenderVista is made in our Knoxville, Tennessee studio. Reid Wender curates the atlas and the artwork is original to the studio. We do not licence imagery in or out.

— if this one stayed with you

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