Ancient Israel

Herod's Temple

The Jewish Temple in the First Century A.D. It is interesting that in the Middle East certain places have remained holy throughout the centuries, even if another religion may have taken possession of them. Today the Moslem Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem is the prominent building where the Jewish temple once stood. When Jesus came to Jerusalem, the T...

Read More

Crusader Wall, Caesarea

The most substantial city walls are of the small Crusader city, not the larger Herodian or the still larger Byzantine ones. Here, bits of Roman columns can be seen re-used as fill near the east gate of the Crusader wall....

Read More

Herodium

Also known as el-Fureidis, Har Hordos, Herodeion, Herodion, Jebel Fureidis Herodium is 3 miles southeast of Bethlehem and 8 miles south of Jerusalem. Its summit is 2460 feet above sea level.Herod built or re-built eleven fortresses. This one he constructed on the location of his victory over Antigonus in 40 B.C....

Read More

Roman Theater and Pilate Inscription - Caesarea

The theater was built by Herod in 22-10 BC and was the first of its kind in Israel. It was continuously maintained throughout the Roman and much of the Byzantine eras. It had (and has) a seating capacity of 3,500-4,000 and was built using many granite columns from Aswan. Originally, there was a large stage that blocked the view of the sea....

Read More

Aqueduct of Caesarea Virtual Tour Panorama

The Aqueduct brought running water to the old city of Caesarea, along a raised aqueduct. The source of the water was the springs of Shummi, 10 KM away. Herod build the aqueduct in the 1st C BC. later, in the 2nd C AD it was expanded by the Romans. Later, 2 more aqueducts were built...

Read More

Ma'agan Mikhael Ancient Ship

Ships are unique. A ship is a microcosm of political, economic, cultural and technological activity. Why do we deem the discovery of a ship so significant? It serves as a bridge between different cultures and peoples carrying goods, ideas and technologies. As the sea is a bridge between cultures so is the ship the means of carrying and diffusing th...

Read More

Caesarea, Archaeology in Israel

Some scientists believe that the breakwater walls formed an intricate system of sluicing whereby the power of the sea was weakened, but how this functioned is not known yet. What seems certain is that the earthquake of 130 BCE pushed the harbour floor up, whereby the breakwaters came to lie just under the water surface. The result of this is 17 shi...

Read More

The Roman shipwreck from Caesarea

Underwater Archaeology. In 1976, a survey team of divers from the AURI discovered the frames of a large vessel in the northern anchorage of Caesarea at a depth of 2.5 m. In 1983, the CMS headed by A. Raban excavated the wreck in collaboration with the University of Maryland, the University of Colorado and the University of Victoria. The excavations...

Read More

Israel launches world's first underwater museum at Caesarea

The ancient port of Caesarea, along the Mediterranean coast of Israel, was inaugurated as the world's first underwater museum. It was the largest, most impressive port in the Roman Empire when it was inaugurated in 10 BCE. And some 2,016 years later, the ancient port of Caesarea - along the Mediterranean coast of Israel - was inaugurated again last...

Read More

Two 8th century B.C. Phoenician ships

ARCHAEOLOGY: Bible's Bad Boys Weren't Such Philistines After All Michael Balter ASHKELON, ISRAEL--The discovery of two 8th century B.C. Phoenician ships loaded with wine amphoras off the southern part of Israel's coast, announced last week, may help burnish the image of the Philistines, a people who occupied the territory of the Levant nearest to w...

Read More