The following is the results of your search for machaerus.
Machaerus: The Black Fortress, was built by Herod the Great in the gorge of
Callirhoe, one of the wadies 9 miles east of the Dead Sea, as a
frontier rampart against Arab marauders. John the Baptist was
probably cast into the prison connected with this castle by Herod
Antipas, whom he had reproved for his adulterous marriage with
Herodias. Here Herod "made a supper" on his birthday. He was at this
time marching against Aretas, king of Perea, to whose daughter he had
been married. During the revelry of the banquet held in the border
fortress, to please Salome, who danced before him, he sent an
executioner, who beheaded John, and "brought his head in a charger,
and gave it to the damsel"
(Mark 6:14-29) This castle stood "starkly
bold and clear" 3,860 feet above the Dead Sea, and 2,546 above the
Mediterranean. Its ruins, now called M'khaur, are still visible on
the northern end of Jebel Attarus.
