The ascent to the temple platform in Caesarea from the Harbor side

The Temple of Rome and Augustus in Caesarea was erected on top of a raised platform retained on the west by barrel vaults. During the years changes took place in the dates assigned to these vaults by archaeologists. At present, following more recent excavations conducted by the Israel Antiquities Authority, it is agreed by all that the vaults are Herodian. It was also found that the number of vaults was fourteen: four on the north, four on the south, and in between six narrower vaults. A large ashlar pier 20 x 10m in dimensions, perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the vaults and the Temple, is still extant on the edge of the Inner Harbor quay, c. 10m away from the inner vaults. Three stairs, leading up from east to west, were exposed above its central part. So far, scholars had suggested that the ascent to the temple platform was by means of a bridge that had started from this pier, but these proposals are not in accord with the archaeological finds. The proposal presented here is that the ascent was by means of a three-stories double Stair-Tower that resembles the Large Altar (or Observatory Tower) in the courtyard of the Temple of Jupiter in Baalbek (Heliopolis) in Lebanon.