King Herod the Great, king of Judea in the second half of the first century BC, is well known for his grandiose building projects, abundant wealth, political power and relentless pursuit of the opulent Roman lifestyle. Among the few archaeological artifacts found which give a peek into his private life are two of his personal calcite-alabaster bathtubs found in the palace of Herodium and his Kypros fortress near Jericho.Though never scientifically tested, archaeologists have until now assumed that all calcite-alabaster vessels found in the Southern Levant (modern day Israel and Palestine) had been made with foreign alabaster mainly from Egypt....
