The Peristyle Courtyard of Alexandrium/Sartaba in the Light of the Herodian Royal Palace in Machaerus: A Comparative Architectural and Archaeological Analysis, 40 Years After the Excavations and Surveys in 1981 and 1983

It has been just 40 years since the completion of the only excavations among the ruins of the historical site of Alexandrium, led by the late Yoram Tsafrir (1938-2015) of Hebrew University. It is documented that the late Virgilio Corbo OFM (1918-1991) of the SBF knew and visited Alexandrium as early as at least 1956, and wanted to start the excavations there, immediately after his 1980 discovery of the Doric peristyle courtyard in the Herodian royal palace of Machaerus, but his request was rejected by the Israeli authorities. Corbo had a very good reason to begin this fieldwork, as the Doric peristyle courtyard of Alexandrium is the closest archaeological and architectural analogy for the Machaerus royal court. In his sharp eyes, there was a serious scientific potential that the two surviving, similar Herodian monumental structures can mutually testify, authenticate, date and verify each other, through their architectural and archaeological legacies. The important academic mission of the comparative in-depth examinations, analyses and inspections was halted for another 40 years, for the next generation, and as it will be clear, provided an extraordinary, fantastic result.