Perched on a steep hill above the oasis of Jericho, King Herod erected Cypros as a fortified palace to monitor his estate and the road connecting Jericho with Jerusalem. He named it after his mother, the Nabatean Princess Cyprus. In 1974, Prof. Netzer from the Hebrew University excavated the site. Shortly after, the Israeli army established a military bunker over parts of it. The remains were relatively fragmentary, but they included a bath house with colorful floor tiling (‘Opus Sectile’) and a big-sized bath tab made of one block of colorful stone. Weighting a ton and a half, the tab is on display at the Rockefeller museum today. Aside from its archaeological remains, the site offers some breathtaking views of Jericho and the plains of the Jordan Valley.

A tour to Cypros can be combined with a day tour to Jericho and its surroundings.