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Ancient Israel

The Temple Podium, Caesarea Philippi

The reconstructed platform, or podium, near the cave at Caesarea Philippi was originally the base of a temple either to the Roman emperor Augustus or to Pan (or possibly both). The entrance to the Grotto (or cave) of Pan is seen to the left of the Podium. Niches in the cliff face originally held statues of Pan and other gods. The largest arched nic...

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Temple Mount

Also known as Haram, Haram Ash-Sharif, Haram esh-Sharif, Mount Moriah, the Noble Sanctuary, Temple Platform. The present Temple Mount was constructed by Herod the Great beginning in 20 B.C. Construction on it continued for 83 years until 64 A.D. when a halt was called to the project and 18,000 workers were laid off (riots resulted). The Temple Moun...

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Caesarea Philippi

Also known as Baal-gad, Banias, Baniyas, Banyas, Barias, Belinas, Caesarea Neronias, Caesarea of Philip, Caesarea Paneas, Caesarea Panias, Caesareia Sebaste, Keisarion, Kisrin, Medinat Dan, Mivzar Dan, Neronias, Pamias, Paneas, Paneias, Paneion, Panias, Panium....

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Niches, Caesarea Philippi

These niches originally held statues of the pagan gods worshipped at Caesarea Philippi. The largest is actually an artificial cave that leads to a niche in the cliff itself. This niche apparently held a statue of Pan. Above it is another niche with an inscription indicating that a priest named Victor dedicated the statue of the goddess in the niche...

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Grotto of Pan

Against the cliff and in the large cave on the left, in the third century BC, was a cult center to the fertility god Pan. This center probably was built to compete with the high place at Dan, about three miles away....

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Mudbrick Gate of Tel Dan

In the Middle Bronze Age, around the eighteenth century BCE, the occupants of Dan constructed a massive city gate on the eastern side of the city. Built entirely of mudbricks surviving today as high as 47 courses, the gate featured three enormous arches framing the entryway into the city. Classical archaeologists once boasted that it was the Romans...

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Herod's Palace in Masada

Herod built the fortress-palace of Masada on a huge rock plateau overlooking the Dead Sea in the barren, remote, Judea Wilderness....

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Great Theater at Ephesus

The ancient city of Ephesus is located outside the modern city of Selçuk on the Mediterranean coast of present-day Turkey. Although the region was settled as early as 5000 BC, the city whose ruins we see today dates from the 3rd BC and are the product of Hellenistic city planning and Roman renovations. Lysimachus, the Thessalian general of Alexand...

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Masada Palace

Herod's palace stood at the top of Masada and provided a spectacular view....

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Synagogues of Capernaum

Aside from various references to Capernaum in the Gospels, the earliest literary attestation of Capernaum is from Josephus, who refers to the village in connection with a fertile spring. The Jewish historian reports he spent a night there with a fever during the second year of the Jewish War. For centuries, Capernaum has traditionally been identifi...

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