The site is part of the royal winter palace complex built by the Hasmoneans in the warm desert oasis of Jericho, west of the town.

It included a ritual bath and a small courtyard surrounded by seven or eight rooms with a rectangular main hall measuring 16 by 11 m (53 by 37 ft).

Diners reclined, Roman style, on benches against three walls of the chamber while eating.

[1] Despite the excavator's identification of a building among the Hasmonean palatial complex near Wadi Qelt as a synagogue,[5] the matter is far from conclusive.

In fact, few scholars seriously consider this suggestion in discussions of Second Temple period synagogues, though even fewer have openly challenged the identification in print.