Theater Looking West 2

A view looking west from within the theater from one of the seven cunei.  The semicircular Orchestra area is clearly visible as is the reconstructed stage area (scaena) where a group of people has gathered.

In the distance is a later fortification wall and to the left of that, the western tip of the Promontory Palace is visible. Note that in ancient times, the three-story stage building (scaena frons) would have blocked the view of the audience towards the Mediterranean Sea and the Promontory Palace.

---

The theater was first constructed by Herod the Great (37 to 4 B.C.) and went through many modifications until it went out of use in the sixth century A.D.  Herod Agrippa I (r. 39–44) may have been struck with an illness that led to his death in this theater (or possibly in the circus; Acts 12:19-23; Josephus Ant. 19.343-52 [8.2]).