Καισάρεια / قيصرية / קיסריה | |
 The ruins of Caesarea Maritima, with the modern resort town ofCaesarea (Keisarya) shown in the top right | |
  Caesarea Shown within Israel | |
| Location | Caesarea National Park,Hof HaCarmel Regional Council,Israel |
|---|---|
| Region | Sharon plain |
| Coordinates | 32°30′0″N34°53′30″E / 32.50000°N 34.89167°E /32.50000; 34.89167 |
| Type | Settlement |
| Part of | Roman Judea,Syria Palaestina |
| History | |
| Builder | Abdashtart I |
| Founded | 4th century BCE |
| Abandoned | 1265 |
| Periods | Classical antiquity toHigh Middle Ages |
| Cultures | Phoenician,Roman,Byzantine |
| Site notes | |
| Management | Israel Nature and Parks Authority |
| Public access | Yes |
Caesarea (/ˌsɛzəˈriːə,ˌsɛs-,ˌsiːz-/)[a] alsoCaesarea Maritima,Caesarea Palaestinae orCaesarea Stratonis,[1][2][b] was an ancient and medieval port city on the coast of theeastern Mediterranean, and later a small fishing village. It was the capital ofRoman Judaea,Syria Palaestina andPalaestina Prima, successively, for a period ofc. 650 years and a major intellectual hub of the Mediterranean.[3][4] Today, the site is part of the Caesarea National Park, on the western edge of theSharon plain inIsrael.
The site was first settled in the 4th century BCE as aPhoenician colony and trading village known asStraton's Tower[5] after the ruler ofSidon. It was enlarged in the 1st century BCE underHasmonean rule, becoming a Jewish village;[6] and in 63 BCE, when theRoman Republic annexed the region, it was declared an autonomous city. It was then significantly enlarged in the Roman period by theJudaean client KingHerod the Great, who established a harbour and dedicated the town and its port toCaesar Augustus asCaesarea.
During the early Roman period, Caesarea became the seat of theRoman procurators in the region.[7][8] The city was populated throughout the 1st to 6th centuries CE and became an importantearly centre of Christianity during theByzantine period. Its importance may have waned following theMuslim conquest of 640 when the city, then known in Arabic asQisarya (قيسارية), lost its status as provincial capital.[9] After being re-fortified by Muslim rulers in the 11th century, it was conquered by theCrusaders, who strengthened and made it into an important port, which was finally slighted by theMamluks in 1265.
Qisarya was a small fishing village in the early modern period. In February 1948, during the1948 Palestine war andNakba, some of its population fled following an attack on a bus by theZionist militant groupLehi, and the remainder were expelled by thePalmach, who subsequently demolished its houses.[10] The ruins of the ancient city beneath the depopulated village were excavated in the 1950s and 1960s for archaeological purposes.[11]
Whilst the nameCaesarea was frequently used alone for the subject of this article, variousmarkers were used to differentiate the location from these other locations; these include "Palaestina" ("ofPalestine"),[12] "Maritima" ("by the sea";Greek:ΠαράλιοςParálios), "Sebaste" and "Stratonis".[13][14] "Palaestina" is the most common term used in ancient sources,[1] but, since the creation of Israel in 1948, historians in the West have tended to use the term less frequently.[2]
The Latin nameCaesarea also referred to several other cities in the region, notablyCaesarea near Mount Hermon andCaesarea the capital of Cappadocia.
Stratonos pyrgos (Straton's Tower) was founded in the 4th century BCE byAbdashtart I, or Straton I king ofSidon.[6] It was first established as aPhoenician colony and trading village.[5] In 90 BCE, Jewish rulerAlexander Jannaeus captured Straton's Tower as part of his policy of developing the shipbuilding industry and enlarging theHasmonean kingdom.[6] Straton's Tower remained a Jewish settlement for two more generations, until the area became dominated by theRomans in 63 BCE, when they declared it an autonomous city.[6]
Caesarea was built inRoman Judea under the Jewish client KingHerod the Great duringc. 22-10/9 BCE near the ruins of the small naval station of Straton's Tower.[6] The site, along with all of Judea, was awarded by Rome to Herod in 30 BCE.[15] The pagan city underwent vast changes under Herod, who renamed it Caesarea in honour of the Roman emperor,Caesar Augustus.[6][12] Caesarea was known as the administrative, economic, and cultural capital of the Judean province from this time.[16]
In 22 BCE, Herod began construction of a deep-sea harbour named Sebastos and built storerooms, markets, wide roads, baths, a temple to thegoddess Roma and EmperorAugustus, and imposing public buildings.[17] Herod built his palace on a promontory jutting out into the sea, with a decorative pool surrounded bystoas.[12][15] Every five years, the city hosted major sports competitions, gladiator games, and theatrical productions in its theatre overlooking the Mediterranean Sea.[18]
Herod built the twojetties of the harbour between 22 and 15 BCE,[19] and in 10/9 BCE he dedicated the city and harbour to Emperor Augustus (sebastos is Greek foraugustus).[20] The pace of construction was impressive considering the project's size and complexity.[21] At its height, Sebastos was one of the most impressive harbours of its time. It had been constructed on a coast that had no natural harbours and served as an important commercial harbour in antiquity, rivalingCleopatra's harbour atAlexandria.Josephus writes: "Although the location was generally unfavorable, [Herod] contended with the difficulties so well that the solidity of the construction could not be overcome by the sea, and its beauty seemed finished off without impediment."[22]
When it was built in the 1st century BCE, the harbour of Sebastos ranked as the largest artificial harbour built in the open sea, enclosing around 100,000 m2.[23][21][24]
Thebreakwaters were made oflime andpozzolana, a type of volcanic ash, set into an underwater concrete. Herod imported over 24,000 m3 of pozzolana from the name-giving town ofPuteoli, today Pozzuoli in Italy, to construct the two breakwaters: the southern one 500 meter, and the northern one 275 meter long.[21]
A shipment of this size would have required at least 44 shiploads of 400 tons each.[19] Herod also had 12,000 m3 of localkurkar stone quarried to make rubble and 12,000 m3 of slaked lime mixed with the pozzolana.[25]
Architects had to devise a way to lay the wooden forms for the placement of concrete underwater. One technique was to drive stakes into the ground to make a box and then fill it with pozzolana concrete bit by bit.[21] However, this method required many divers to hammer the planks to the stakes underwater and large quantities of pozzolana were necessary.
Another technique was a double planking method used in the northern breakwater. On land, carpenters would construct a box with beams and frames on the inside and a watertight, double-planked wall on the outside. This double wall was built with a 23 cm (9 in) gap between the inner and outer layer.[26]
Although the box had no bottom, it was buoyant enough to float out to sea because of the watertight space between the inner and outer walls. Once it was floated into position, pozzolana was poured into the gap between the walls and the box would sink into place on the seafloor and be staked down in the corners. The flooded inside area was then filled by divers bit by bit with pozzolana-lime mortar and kurkar rubble until it roseabove sea level.[26]
On the southern breakwater,barge construction was used. The southern side of Sebastos was much more exposed than the northern side, requiring sturdier breakwaters. Instead of using the double planked method filled with rubble, the architects sank barges filled with layers of pozzolana concrete and lime sand mortar. The barges were similar to boxes without lids, and were constructed usingmortise and tenon joints, the same technique used in ancient boats, to ensure they remained watertight. The barges were ballasted with 0.5 meters of pozzolana concrete and floated out to their position. With alternating layers, pozzolana-based and lime-based concretes were hand-placed inside the barge to sink it and fill it up to the surface.[26]
However, there were underlying problems that led to its demise. Studies of the concrete cores of the moles have shown that the concrete was much weaker than similar pozzolana hydraulic concrete used in ancient Italian ports. For unknown reasons, the pozzolana mortar did not adhere as well to thekurkar rubble as it did to other rubble types used in Italian harbours.[21] Small but numerous holes in some of the cores also indicate that the lime was of poor quality and stripped out of the mixture by strong waves before it could set.[21]
Also, large lumps of lime were found in all five of the cores studied at Caesarea, which shows that the mixture was not mixed thoroughly.[21] However, stability would not have been seriously affected if the harbour had not been constructed over ageological fault line that runs along the coast. Seismic action gradually took its toll on the breakwaters, causing them to tilt down and settle into the seabed.[22] Studies of seabed deposits at Caesarea have shown that atsunami struck the area sometime during the 1st or 2nd century.[27]
Although it is unknown if this tsunami simply damaged or completely destroyed the harbour, it is known that by the 6th century the harbour was unusable and today the jetties lie more than 5 meters underwater.[28]
WhenJudea became a Roman province in 6 CE, Caesarea replacedJerusalem as its civilian and military capital and became the official residence of its governors, such as procuratorAntonius Felix and prefectPontius Pilatus.[29] The city was chiefly a commercial centre relying on trade.
Caeserea is described in detail by the 1st-century Roman Jewish historianFlavius Josephus.[30] Josephus describes the harbour as being as large as the one atPiraeus, the major harbour ofAthens.[23] Remains of the principal buildings erected byHerod the Great as well as the medieval town are still visible today, including the Crusader city, the city walls, the ruined citadel surrounded by the sea, and remains of the cathedral and a second church. Herod's Caesarea grew rapidly, in time becoming the largest city in Judaea with an estimated population of 125,000 over an urban area of 3.7 square kilometres (1.4 sq mi).[citation needed] According to Josephus, Caesarea was the scene in 26 CE of a major act of civil disobedience to protest against Pilate's order to plant eagle standards on theTemple Mount ofJerusalem.[31]
EmperorVespasian raised its status to that of aColonia, with the nameColonia Prima Flavia Augusta Caesarea. According to Josephus, the outbreak of theJewish revolt of 66 CE was provoked by Greeks of a certain merchant house in Caesarea sacrificing birds in front of a local synagogue.[32] In 70 CE, after the Jewish revolt was suppressed, games were held there to celebrate the victory ofTitus. Many Jewish captives were brought to Caesarea; Kasher claims that 2,500 captives were "slaughtered ingladiatorial games".[33]
In the aftermath of theBar Kokhba revolt Caesarea was changed toSyria Palaestina in 135.[34] Caesarea was one of four Roman colonies for veteran Roman soldiers in the Syria-Phoenicia region.[35] Caesarea is mentioned in the 3rd-centuryMosaic of Rehob, with respect to its non-Jewish population.[citation needed]
_2011-08-02_098.jpg)
According to theActs of the Apostles, Caesarea was first introduced to Christianity byPhilip the Deacon,[36] who later had a house there in which he gave hospitality toPaul the Apostle.[37] It was there thatPeter the Apostle baptizedCornelius the Centurion and his household, the first time Christianbaptism was conferred onGentiles.[38] When newly converted Paul was in danger in Jerusalem, the Christians there accompanied him to Caesarea and sent him off to his nativeTarsus.[39] He visited Caesarea between his second and third missionary journeys.[40] Paul was a prisoner in Caesarea for two years before being sent to Rome.[41][42]
In the3rd century,Origen wrote hisHexapla and other exegetical and theological works while living in Caesarea. TheNicene Creed may have originated in Caesarea. TheApostolic Constitutions says that the firstBishop of Caesarea wasZacchaeus the Publican, followed by Cornelius (possibly Cornelius the Centurion) and Theophilus (possibly the recipient of theGospel of Luke).[43] The first bishops considered historically attested are those mentioned by the early church historianEusebius of Caesarea, who was the bishop of the see in the 4th century. He speaks ofTheophilus who was bishop in the 10th year ofCommodus (c. 189),[44] of Theoctistus (216–258), Domnus, and Theotecnus,[45] andAgapius. Among the participants in theSynod of Ancyra in 314 was the bishop of Caesarea named Agricolaus, who may have been the immediate predecessor of Eusebius, who does not mention him, or who may have been bishop of a different Caesarea. The immediate successors of Eusebius wereAcacius (340–366) andGelasius (367–372, 380–395). The latter was ousted by the semi-Arian Euzoius between 373 and 379. French historianMichel Le Quien gives much information about all of these and about later bishops of Caesarea.[46] TheGreek Orthodox Church of Jerusalem has a metropolitan see in Caesarea. The Latinarchbishopric of Caesarea in Palestina was made a Roman Catholictitular see in 1432.[47] TheMelkite Catholic Church considers Caesarea a titular see.[47]
Through Origen and especially the scholarly presbyterPamphilus of Caesarea, the theological school of Caesarea gained a reputation for having the most extensiveecclesiastical library of the time, containing more than 30,000 manuscripts:Gregory Nazianzus,Basil the Great,Jerome and others came to study there. TheCaesarean text-type is recognized by scholars as one of the earliestNew Testament types. The collections of the library suffered duringthe persecutions under EmperorDiocletian but were repaired subsequently by bishops of Caesarea.[48] The library is mentioned as late as 6th-century manuscripts, but it may not have survived the capture of Caesarea by the Muslim armies in 640.[49]
During theByzantine period, Caesarea became the capital of the province ofPalaestina Prima in 390. Caesarea was also the metropolitan see, with ecclesiastical jurisdiction over Jerusalem, when rebuilt after its destruction in 70. In 451, however, theCouncil of Chalcedon established Jerusalem as apatriarchate, with Caesarea as the first of its three subordinate metropolitan sees. Caesarea remained the provincial capital throughout the 5th and 6th centuries. It fell toSassanid Persia in theByzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628,in 614, and was re-conquered by Byzantium in 625.
_jewelry_from_Caesarea_in_the_Muslims_and_Crusaders_Exhibit.jpg)
Caesarea was lost for good by the Byzantines to theMuslim conquest in 640. Archaeological excavations discovered adestruction layer connected to the Muslim conquest of the city.[9] Some newer research posits that there was no destruction caused by the Persians in 614 and Muslim Arabs in 640, but rather a gradual economic decline accompanied by the Christian aristocracy fleeing from the city.[54]
According to 9th-century Muslim historianal-Baladhuri, the fall of the city was the result of the betrayal of a certain Yusef, who conducted a party of troops ofMuawiyah into the city.[55] The city appears to have been partially destroyed upon its conquest. The 7th-century Coptic bishopJohn of Nikiû, claims there were "horrors committed in the city of Caesarea in Palestine", while al-Baladhuri merely states that Kaisariyyah/Cæsarea was "reduced",[56] mentioning it as one of ten towns inJund Filastin (military district of Palestine) conquered by the MuslimRashidun army under'Amr ibn al-'As's leadership during the 630s.[57][58][59] After the fall of Caesarea, 4,000 "heads" (captives), men, women and children, were sent to CaliphUmar in Medina, where they were gathered and inspected on the Jurd Plain, a plain commonly used to assemble the troops of Medina before battle, with room for thousands of people, before they were distributed as war booty toslavery in the Rashidun Caliphate.[60]
The former Palaestina Prima becameJund Filastin, with the capital first atLudd and then atRamla. The city likely remained inhabited for some time under Arab rule, during the 7th and 8th centuries, albeit with much reduced population. Archaeological evidence shows a clear destruction layer identified with the conquest of 640, followed by some evidence of renewed settlement in the earlyUmayyad Caliphate.[9] The area was farmed from the Rashidun Caliphate through to theFirst Crusade.[61]
By the 11th century, it appears that the town had once again been developed into a fortified city. Writing in 1047,Nasir Khusraw describes it as "a fine city, with running waters, and palm-gardens, and orange and citron trees. Its walls are strong, and it has an iron gate. There are fountains that gush out within the city".[62][63] This is in agreement withWilliam of Tyre's description of the Crusaders' siege in 1101, mentioning catapults and siege engines used against the city fortifications.[64] Nasir Khusraw notes a "beautifulFriday mosque" in Caesarea, "so situated that in its court you may sit and enjoy the view of all that is passing on the sea."[62] This was converted into the church of St. Peter in Crusader times. A wall which may belong to this building has been identified in modern times.[63][65]
In the early Islamic period, Caesarea reportedly had a significant Jewish and Samaritan population, with al-Baladhuri mentioning 20,000 Jews and 30,000 Samaritans at the time of its capture in 640. While these figures are debated by historians, it is known that a sizable Jewish community existed in the city during the 7th century.[66]
Caesarea was taken byBaldwin I in the wake of theFirst Crusade, in 1101. Baldwin sent a message toemir of Caesarea, demanding him to surrender the city or face a siege, but the Muslims refused. On May 2, 1101, Baldwin began sieging the city withtrebuchets. After 15 days of resistance, the Crusader army broke through the defenses. Like inJerusalem in 1099, the Crusaders proceeded to slaughter a portion of the male populace, enslave the women and children, and loot the city.William of Tyre describes the use of catapults and siege towers, and states that the city was taken in an assault after 15 days of siege and given over to looting and pillaging.Syriac OrthodoxpatriarchMichael the Syrian (born ca. 1126) records that the city was "devastated upon its capture".[67]
Baldwin spared the emir andqadi for a hefty ransom. Baldwin appointed a cleric veteran of the First Crusade, also named Baldwin, as the Latin archbishop of Caesarea.[68] The city was underCrusader control between 1101 and 1187 and again between 1191 and 1265.[69] William of Tyre mentions the discovery of a "vessel of the most green colour, in the shape of a serving dish" (vas coloris viridissimi, in modum parapsidis formatum) which theGenuese thought to be made ofemerald, and accepted as their share of the spoils. This refers to the hexagonal bowl known as theSacro Catino in Italian, which was brought to Genoa byGuglielmo Embriaco and was later identified as theHoly Chalice.[70] Caesarea was incorporated as alordship (dominion) within theKingdom of Jerusalem, and the LatinSee of Caesarea was established, with ten archbishops listed for the period 1101–1266 (treated astitular see from 1432–1967). ArchbishopHeraclius attended theThird Lateran Council in 1179.
Saladin recaptured the city in 1187, but it was once again captured by the Crusaders during theThird Crusade in 1191. In 1251 during theSeventh Crusade,Louis IX of France fortified the city, ordering the construction of high walls (parts of which are still standing) and a deep moat.[71]
By the 12th century, Spanish-Jewish explorerBenjamin of Tudela recorded only 200 Jews and 200 Samaritans in Caesarea, a sharp decline from the much larger populations reported in the 7th century. This reduction aligns with the fact that the city's enclosed area had shrunk by more than 85 percent between the Byzantine and Fatimid periods.[66]
In 1265 the city was reconquered by theMamluk armies of SultanBaibars, who ordered his troops to scale the walls in several places simultaneously, enabling them to penetrate the city.[72] Baibars destroyed the fortified city completely to prevent its re-emergence as a Crusader stronghold, in line with the Mamluk practice in other former Crusader coastal cities.[73][74][75] During the Mamluk period, the ruins of ancient Caesarea and of the Crusader fortified town lay uninhabited.[72]Al-Dimashqi, writing around 1300, notes that Kaisariyyah belonged to the Kingdom of Ghazza (Gaza).
Caesarea became part of theOttoman Empire in 1516, along with the rest of the Levant, and remained under Ottoman rule for four centuries. In 1664, a settlement is mentioned consisting of 100Moroccan families and 7 to 8 Jewish ones.[76] In the 18th century it again declined.[77] In 1806, the German explorerUlrich Jasper Seetzen saw "Káisserérie" as a ruin occupied by some poor fishermen and their families.[78]In 1870, French explorerVictor Guérin visited the site.[79] The village of Qisarya (Arabic:قيسارية) was allocated in 1880 toBushnak (Bosniak) immigrants fromBosnia.[80] The Bosniaks had emigrated to the area afterOttoman Bosnia wasoccupied byAustria-Hungary in 1878. According tohistorianRoy Marom,
Fifty families of Bosnian refugees, mostly fromMostar, the main urban center ofBosnia and Herzegovina, settled among the ruins of Caesarea, renaming it with the Arabic name of Qisarya. Using the ancient masonry found on site, the settlers constructed a modern town with spacious accommodations and broad intersecting streets, according to traditional Bosnian town-plans. The town had two mosques, acaravanserai, amarketplace, a residence for themudir, a harbor andcustom offices. Qisarya attracted high-ranking Bosnian functionaries who established estates near Qisarya. The town was declared the seat of amudirieh (a minor administrative division).[81]
A population list from about 1887 showed that Caesarea had 670 inhabitants, in addition to 265 Muslim inhabitants, who were noted as "Bosniaks".[82]
Petersen, visiting the place in 1992, noted that the 19th-century houses were built in blocks, generally one story high, with the exception of the house of the governor. Some houses on the western side of the village, near the sea, had survived. There were several mosques in the village in the 19th century, but only one ("The Bosnian mosque") has survived. This mosque, located at the southern end of the city, next to the harbour, is described as a simple stone building with a red-tiled roof and a cylindrical minaret.[65]
In the early 20th century, theGreek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem establishedBayyarat al-Khuri (“The Priest’s Orchard”) as an ecclesiastical agricultural estate within the confines of the Roman hippodrome, southeast of the late Ottoman Bosnian town. The complex—sometimes misidentified on British maps as a “Greek convent”—comprised a monumental limestone gateway bearing thetaphos monogram of theBrotherhood of the Holy Sepulchre, a manually filledsabil (drinking fountain), a well house powered by a locally manufactured diesel engine, and a large plastered stepped water pool that fed open irrigation channels for citrus, date, and olive plots. In Addition, the Patriarchate owned extensive properties within the Bosnian town, including St. Paul’s supposed Prison Cellar, and the remnants of Caesarea’s Crusader cathedral. The Church properties inside the Bosnian town served as an occasional retreat for Church elders.[41]
Qisarya قيسارية Qisarya | |
|---|---|
Village | |
 The Bosnian Mosque at Qisarya | |
 Interactive map of Qisarya | |
| Palestine grid | 140/212 |
| Geopolitical entity | Mandatory Palestine |
| Subdistrict | Haifa |
| Date of depopulation | February 1948[83] |
| Area | |
• Total | 31,786dunams (31.786 km2; 12.273 sq mi) |
| Population | |
• Total | 960 |
| Cause(s) of depopulation | Expulsion byYishuv forces |
| Current Localities | Caesarea |
In the1922 census of Palestine, conducted by theBritish Mandate authorities, Caesarea had a population of 346; 288 Muslims, 32 Christians and 26 Jews,[86] where the Christians were 6 Orthodox, 3 Syrian Orthodox, 3 Roman Catholics, 4Melkites, 2 Syrian Catholics and 14Maronite.[87] The population had increased in the1931 census to 706; 19 Christians, 4 Druse and 683 Muslims, in 143 houses.[88]
During theArab Revolt in 1938 the resident priest, Father Hanna al-Khuri, was abducted and killed.[41]
A Jewish settlement,Kibbutz Sdot Yam, was established 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) south of the Muslim town in 1940. The Muslim village declined in economic importance and many of Qisarya's Muslim inhabitants left in the mid-1940s, when the British extended thePalestine Railways which bypassed the shallow-draft port. Qisarya had a population of 960 in1945 statistics,[85] with Qisarya's population composition 930 Muslims and 30 Christians in 1945.[84][85] In 1944/45 a total of 18dunums of Muslim village land was used for citrus and bananas, 1,020 dunums were used for cereals, while 108 dunums were irrigated or used for orchards,[89][90] while 111 dunams were built-up (urban) land.[91]Kibbutz Sdot Yam reused Bayyarat al-Khuri for agriculture in the 1940s.[41]
Thecivil war in Mandatory Palestine began on 30 November 1947. In December 1947 a village notable, Tawfiq Kadkuda, approached local Jews in an effort to establish a non-belligerency agreement.[92] The 31 January 1948Lehi attack on a bus leaving Qisarya, which killed two and injured six people, precipitated an evacuation of most of the population, who fled to nearbyal-Tantura.[93] TheHaganah then occupied the village because the land was owned by thePalestine Jewish Colonization Association and, fearing that the British would force them to leave, decided to demolish the houses.[93][10] This was done on 19–20 February, after the remaining residents were expelled and the houses were looted.[93] According to Israeli historianBenny Morris, the expulsion of the population had more to do with illegal Jewish immigration than the ongoing civil war.[94] In the same month the 'Arab al Sufsafi and SaidunBedouin, who inhabited the dunes between Qisarya andPardes left the area.[95]
In 1952, the Jewish town ofCaesarea was established 1–2 kilometres (0.62–1.24 mi) to the north of the ruins of the old city, which in 2011 were incorporated into the newly created CaesareaNational Park.
In 1992, Palestinian historianWalid Khalidi described the village remains: "Most of the houses have been demolished. The site has been excavated in recent years, largely by Italian, American, and Israeli teams, and turned into a tourist area. Most of the few remaining houses are now restaurants, and the village mosque has been converted into a bar."[96] Since 2000, the site of Caesarea is included in the "Tentative List of World Heritage Places" of theUNESCO.[15]
Large-scale archaeological excavations began in the 1950s and 1960s and continue to this day, conducted by volunteers working under the supervision of archaeologists. The majority of the archaeological excavations are done by the United States and Israel.[97] Remains from many periods have been uncovered, in particular from the large city of the Roman andByzantine periods and from the fortified town of the Crusaders. Major Classical-era findings are theRoman theatre; a temple dedicated to the goddessRoma and EmperorAugustus; ahippodrome rebuilt in the 2nd century as a more conventional theatre;[dubious –discuss] the Tiberieum, where archaeologists found a reused limestone block with adedicatory inscription mentioning Pilate[98] the only archaeological find bearing his name and title; a doubleaqueduct that brought water from springs at the foot ofMount Carmel; a boundary wall; and a 200 ft (60 m) wide moat protecting the harbour to the south and west.
In 1986, theIsrael Exploration Society published the archaeological findings of L.I. Levine and E. Netzer, during three seasons of excavations (1975, 1976 and 1979) at Caesarea.[99] In 2010, archaeological surveys-excavations of the site were conducted by Dani Vaynberger and Carmit Gur on behalf of theIsrael Antiquities Authority (IAA),[100] and others by Peter Gendelman and Jacob Sharvit on behalf of the IAA, Yosef Porath, Beverly Goodman, and Michal Artzy on behalf of University of Haifa.[101] The site continued to be excavated as late as 2013.[102] A new phase of exploration began in 2018 under the direction of Joseph L. Rife, Phillip Lieberman, and Peter Gendelman on behalf of Vanderbilt University and the IAA.
In February 2015, marine archaeologists and diving club members from theIsrael Antiquities Authority announced that about 2,000 gold coins dating back more than 1,000 years had been discovered. According to the researchers, the coins may have been part of a large merchant ship trading with the coastal cities and ports in the Mediterranean, and the coins may have been used to pay the salaries of theFatimid military garrison.[103] In January 2021, researchers re-examined the coins discovered in 2015, and they retrieved hundreds more. The coins with Arabic text on both sides were 24 carat gold and 95 percent purity.[104]
A large compound, located in the archaeologists' Area CC, in the firstinsula of the Roman and Byzantine city south of the Crusader wall and close to the sea, along thedecumanus, was in use as the Romanpraetorium of theequestrianfiscal procurator, and then became the seat of theByzantine governor.[105] It contained abasilica with an apse, where magistrates would have sat, for the structure was used as a hall of justice, as fragments of inscriptions detailing the fees that court clerks might claim attest.[citation needed]
A rare, colorfulmosaic dating from the 2nd-3rd century CE was uncovered in 2018, in the Caesarea National Park near a Crusader bridge. It contains the image of three male figures wearingtogas, geometric patterns, as well as a largely damaged inscription inGreek. It is one of the few extant examples of mosaics from that specific time period in Israel. The mosaic measures 3.5 × 8meters and is, according to its excavators, "of a rare high quality" comparable to that of Israel's finest examples.[106]
In 1962, a team of Israeli and American archaeologists discovered in the sand of Caesarea three small fragments of one Hebrew stone inscription bearing the partial names of places associated with thepriestly courses (the rest of which had been reconstructed), dated to the third-fourth centuries. The uniqueness of this discovery is that it shows the places of residence inGalilee of the priestly courses, places presumably resettled by Jews after theFirst Jewish–Roman War underHadrian.[107][108][109][110]
The main Byzantine church, an octagonalmartyrion, was built in the6th century and sited directly upon the podium that had supported Herod'stemple, as was a widespread Christian practice. Themartyrion was richly paved and surrounded by small radiating enclosures. Archaeologists have recovered some foliatecapitals that included representations of theCross. The site would in time be re-occupied, this time by amosque.
In 2005 excavators found a well-preserved 6th-century panel covered in an exquisite mosaic made of glass gold and coloured opaque glasstesserae, used as a table, patterned with crosses and rosettes.[111][112] In 2018, a significant hoard of 24 gold coins and a gold earring was unearthed and tentatively dated to 1101.[113]
In 2025, archaeologists from theIsrael Antiquities Authority (IAA) and theCaesarea Development Corporation discovered aRoman‑periodmarblesarcophagus in Caesarea dating to approximately 1,700 years ago. The sarcophagus is depicting a drinking contest between the godsDionysus andHercules. In the relief,Hercules is depicted reclining and visibly intoxicated, whileDionysus appears triumphant, accompanied byMaenads,satyrs, and panthers.[114][115][116]
Caesarea Maritima, more commonly Caesarea Palaestinae in the ancient texts, was a foundation of Herod the Great. [Footnote: Also Caesarea Stratonis, etc.; see I. Benzinger, RE 4 (1894), s.v. Caesarea (10), 1291-92.]
The capital of Byzantine Palestine and of Palaestina Prima was Caesarea-Palaestina, 'Caesarea of Palestine' (von Suchem 1971: 7, 111; 2013; Gilman et al. 1905). This city was also called 'Caesarea by the Sea', or Caesarea Maritima. Since the creation of Israel in 1948 historians in the West have tended to avoid referring to the historic name of the Palestinian city, Caesarea-Palaestina, and use only the name Caesarea Maritima.
As the city was the capital first of all Palestine, then of Palaestina Prima, the άpxov and his officium resided there
…Caesarea, not Jerusalem, was the provincial administrative capital. Denying any further administrative status to Caesarea, the Muslims transferred the center of provincial administration first to Lod and then to Ramla…
i) Josephus, in his most formal reference to Caesarea Maritima, calls in "Caesarea Sebaste" (Ant. 16.136); i) Philo, in his only reference to Caesarea Maritima, calls it "Caesarea . . . surnamed Sebaste" (Leg. 305); and iii) both Josephus and the New Testament, as noted above (n. 9), frequently call Caesarea Maritima plain "Caesarea," which shows it is comparable to "Frankfurt" and not to "York."
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