A Walk to Caesarea: A Historical-Archaeological Perspective

Caesarea, the capital of the province of Judaea-Palaesinan the Roman and Byzanne perods, Is one of Israel’s most important archaeological airacions, providing a glimpse at centuries of history. This book is the product of extensive excavaions conducted ‪in Caesarea from the early 1990s by archaeological expediions from Israel and abroad. The structures and small inds uncov-ered in these and earlier excavaions, and works of restoraion and development that followed them, transformed ancient Caesarea into a world-class tourist airacion. An analysis of all of the indings on the basis of a variety of historical sources and the many inscripions from the site makes it possible to revise the history of Caesarea in detail and to provide the visitor to the historical city a comprehensive guide.The book consists of two parts: a historical review and an archaeological guide. The historical review starts with Straton’s tower – the Hellenisic site that preceded Caesarea – and concludes with the founding of Kibbutz Sdot Yam in 1940. It covers the Herodian period, the Roman and Byzanine periods when Caesarea reached its greatest development and territorial extension, and the early Muslim and Crusader periods, when the city was much reduced in size. In the late Muslim period Caesarea was just a pile of rubble, and in the 19th-century the Otoman authortees setled Bosnian refugees among the ruins.The archaeological review presents a number of walking tours: an internal route along the Mediterranean coast, from the Roman theater in the ןiuth ito the aqueduct in the north and a peripheral route related to the ruins east of the Crusader wall and adjacent to the Roman-Byzanine wall. Also are included a tour along the aqueducts of Caesarea and a visit to the Archaeological Museum in Kbbutz Sdot Yam and to the archaeological exhibition in Ralli l Museum in modern Caesarea. Numerous illustraions are included in the book – photographs, maps, plans and graphical reconstrucions. The reader will also ind a glossary, chronological table and a selected bibliog-raphy for further reading.