late 2010. The royal theatre was uncovered near the base of Herod's tomb (see Tomb of Herod). The theatre contained an elaborately decorated loggia, or a theatre box, was discovered. This means that when Herod or other notable officials went to see a play, they would receive luxury treatment. The rest of the audience would be seated below on benches that could accommodate about 450-650 people. What is quite unique about this find is that frescoes of landscapes were discovered, of a kind suggesting that the painters were well travelled; they depict scenes of Italy and even the Nile River in Egypt. It is also assumed that the painters were on loan to Herod from Caesar in Rome. Tomb of Herod Hebrew University professor Ehud Netzer reported on 8 May 2007 that he had discovered the tomb of Herod, above tunnels and water pools at a flattened site halfway up the hill to the hilltop palace-fortress of Herodium, south of Jerusalem. Later excavations strengthened the idea that this site is Herod's mausoleum. The base of the tomb has now been uncovered and is visible to visitors to the site. The 2009–2010 excavations uncovered near the tomb base a small 450-seat capacity (see Theatre). Netzer died in October 2010 from injuries sustained from a fall at the site, and access to the mausoleum was subsequently blocked to the public pending review of the site's safety. In October 2013, archaeologists Joseph Patrich and Benjamin Arubas challenged the identification of the tomb as that of Herod. According to Patrich and Arubas, the tomb is too modest to be Herod's and has several unlikely features. Roi Porat, who replaced Netzer as excavation leader after the latter's death, stood by the identification. Fragments of three stone sarcophagi were found near the mausoleum: one of them was reddish and the other two light-colored. The reddish sarcophagus, decorated in an sumptuous but restrained style, was identified by the excavators as Herod's sarcophagus. It was found smashed into hundreds of pieces. Scholars suggested that this sarcophagus held the king's body and was destroyed by Jewish rebels during the Jewish-Roman war. The sarcophagus is displayed today at the Israel Museum. Legal aspects In February 2013 an exhibit dedicated to Herod at the Israel Museum featured finds from among some 30 tons of material transferred from the Herodium site back into Israel. The Palestinian National Authority protested, and Rula Maayah,