Israel

CAESAREA FIELD REPORT PART 8

IV.8. The harbor (the Ralli-Museum)

3 pm we are back in the national park to visit the crusaders city. The city was walled in and protected with a moat that was filled with water.

Standing next to the Podium built by Herod, which he artificially raised  by constructing retaining walls on top of vaults built beneath, we have to imagine the temple he erected to Augustus.

The temple was surrounded by huge columns with marble from far away.

There were two statues inside, representing Augustus and Rome. Herod made those statues copying the famous statue of Zeus in Olympia, (only 500 years later), and copying the statue of Hera of Samos. He wanted to express his wish to connect himself to those ancient traditions, and make them part of the Roman tradition.

The Temple was knocked down and we can discern the remains of diagonal walls of a church from the 5^th century CE found inside the area of the temple. The church was destroyed upon arrival of the Moslem invaders who built on the same site a mosque.

The height of the original temple could be extrapolated through the number of pillars and the distance between them.

In the 13^th century at end of where the temple and church had stood, the Crusaders attempted to construct a huge church which eventually collapsed because it was built on the roman vaults and not on solid ground. A smaller chapel was subsequently built there later.

He called the harbor SEBASTOS (the Greek name for Augustus). In building and giving names to his buildings he wanted to give a message to the people and to Rome.

Avner Raban (who has just passed away 10 days ago) excavated the harbor. All dimensions are available now.

We turn towards the sea and face the biggest artificial harbor of the world. Not much can be seen today: the harbor was built on sandy grounds, and in spite all the precautions that Herod took it sank into the sand. Only what was built on rock (kurkar) survived.

However, divers would be able to see a great deal of the foundations of the harbor. Another option today would be by flying over the harbor, whose walls – shape and shade –  still can be made out in and under the water

Raban did in fact excavate also under water

The Crusader city was much smaller than the Byzantine city, about 800 Dunams.

The modern harbor is about 1/5 of the size of Herod’s harbor.

We are looking at the top of the harbor where there was the citadel.

The size of the harbor – 200 dunam – was much bigger than the temple mount in Jerusalem which took up 144 dunam.

Lighthouses:

At the entrance of the harbor stood 2 lighthouses. Other harbors with similar lighthouses at approximately the same time were Alexandria and Athens (both harbors were built in a natural bay.) The sandy beach – the sand had shifted north from the Nile-delta – may be great for tourism, but it certainly was and is no good for boats.

In the winter boats had to stay in the harbors since the stormy season would make it impossible for boats to sail. Therefore all boats and their crews arriving before the winter had to stay in Caesarea, needing shelter, which was also a source of income for the population.

Herod built the most beautiful harbor in history.

The harbor could host approx. 100 boats of 500 tons each.

As a result of this new harbor the Nabateans who had used until then the harbor of Ashquelon for shipping their goods, abandoned Ashquelon and used the harbor of Caesarea. This in turn meant that more people would stay during the winter in the city and would also spend more money.

In raising the standard of living but not asking for higher taxes Herod attracted many people to the city.

The harbor of Caesarea was one of the greatest investments of Herod and meant also a new gateway. Formerly only Egypt had such a gateway.

All rulers referred to it who kept its importance until the arrival of Israel who had no interest in the harbor. When the crusaders invaded the area the harbor was revived but on a much smaller scale. 

Baybars destroyed the city.

Moslems from Bosnia were brought here by….for shelter (Maagan Michael).

There were about 50 families who built a small town on the ruins of Caesarea.

One of the refugees, Akram Akrugal, became interested in archaeology. He later became head of the archaeological department of the University of Istanbul.

During WWI, a pigeon with message flew into the tower of the Minaret and was uncovered. This led to the discovery of the underground NILI spy ring which was centered in Zichron Yaacov.

BUILDING OF THE HARBOR

In order to achieve the goal of building this artificial harbor he invented something completely new: he was the first builder to use hydraulic concrete to be poured in cracks of bricks that hardened also in water. 

Wooden rafts of 15x3x5 m would pull the arriving ships into place.

Wooden double wall into which a mixture of concrete and rubble were poured in. The rafts sank slowly into the water and he also used melted lead for hardening.

Although the walls of the pier were huge 60x800m, Herod did not trust it and built another wall (around it)

The undertaking of building this harbor seems like an unbelievable task and seems almost like a miracle (but it was not included as one of the 7 ancient wonders of the world for the simple reason that it was built 500 years too late (after the accepted list was created).

Part of the concrete that was found is in the museum in Sdot Yam which houses many of the artifacts found in the excavations

The nearby kibbutz rends out boats with a glass bottom.

The obvious question to ask is why did Herod not use the natural port of Haifa? The answer is as simple as well: Haifa was not within his reach – already Dor, which is only  10km north of Caesarea, was not in Herod’s hands.

Most harbors are built on the basis of a natural bay.

We are resting on the lawn: this was the inner part of the port.

V CHRISTIANITY 

Christian Connections to Caesarea

Paul: was arrested, but then wanted to be tried as a Roman citizen. He spent time in Caesarea on his way to the trial and subsequent execution in Rome.

Peter, staying in Jaffa with Simon the Tanner had a vision of a white sail with all kinds of unclean (unkosher) animals descending from it. He was then given notice that a Roman officer from Caesarea was interested in conversion. From this vision, comes the concept that   Peter accepted Caesarea into Christianity, meaning a turn towards the conversion of pagans and not just working among the Jews.

Cornelius became chrstian and this became a  turning point that changed history. 

Antioch – disciples Abs. Chapter 10 concerning Caesarea

ORIGEN – originuns:

Bishop of underground Christian community, very knowledgeable, collected all, and translated into Greek = Hexapella, and collected all available translations incl. Septuagint.

Eusebius = Bishop, was arrested because he was Christian. After Constantine legalized Christianity, Eusebius became one of his advisors and one of the most important of the Bishops. He was a prolific writer who wrote some very important works including a Church history and the Onomasticon= book of holy country, geography – basically a gazetteer of the entire country. We have an understanding that the Medaba map was based on Eusebius’ Onomasticon.

During the First century, CE, the power of the Bishops was more or less equal. Susequently, Caesarea remained one of the more important Christian centers, together with Jerusalem.

Talmudic sources on Caesarea:

Rabbi Abu…part of the Jerusalem Talmud was written in Caesarea and 

Rabbanan de Caesarium wrote 5^th century.

Initially pagan city, Caesarea subsequently became a stronghold for Jews and Christians.

Source in English: Kenneth Hollum: Herod’s dream 

Article in National Geographic about lighthouses – copy of one in Alexandria.

CAESAREA FIELD REPORT PART 7

Remains from the Byzantine time

We are now leaving Herod’s Caesarea (will look for more remains of Herod later), and move 500 years forward. We are introduced to another important general rule regarding excavations: what is higher is later in history. Here it would be from the Byzantine time.

We are walking toward a heightened podium from the 6^th century CE, into the large bath-house and spa of the Byzantine city which was built or renovated from the Roman bath that had been built by Herod. While the walls are from the Byzantine time, the baths themselves are from Roman times.

In Jerusalem near Binjamei Ha’uma excavators found a Roman factory which produced small pillars and tubes of ceramics and other utensils needed to build bath houses. Parts of the factory can be visited today in the basement of the Binjanei Ha’uma.

We visit the large area that covers the bath-house and ancient “spa”.

Later the Ottomans adapted and adopted the idea of bathing (Turkish baths!)

IV.6. The Bath House 

The Bath House was an invention of the Roman culture and didn’t just serve the hygiene but was also an institution where one met and socialized and relaxed. Sand-like material and oil was used to wash the body and to soften the skin – very much like in a modern health-club. There were also bath-tubs to immerse oneself and hot rooms.

Still the main purpose was to socialize, to get together, walk around, do business. There was an entrance fee. (There were different bath-houses for the less fortunate (=less rich).

In the Talmud the Rabbis discussed whether Jews were allowed to go to the bath-house or not. The problem was the statues found there. The Rabbis ruled in favor: after all, the statue is there to please us, not for us to worship them …). The bath itself was constructed in a very sophisticated, complicated way.  It had a double floor that was kept apart with dozens of approx. 30 cm high pottery-pipes. (Imagine two boxes, a smaller one inside a bigger one, and the smaller kept “afloat” on small pillars). Hot air was produced outside in furnaces and then blown through a gap in the wall into the space between the two floors, thus heating the water above the second floor. Signs of the original pipes are still visible on the walls. There were also wet and dry saunas. In order to walk on the very hot floors cold water was poured on them.

Bathers did not immerse themselves immediately into the hot water but acclimatized slowly: first they traversed the frigidarium (cold), then the tepidarium (tepid), before entering the water of the cauldarium (hot). 

North of the baths we find what we could describe as an ancient “fitness club and the beauty center”. (Today, the Romans would surely add a cafeteria!)

IV.7. The Cardo and the Decamanos

Adjacent to those buildings was a private house, then we come to the “shopping arcade” of the Romans (cardo), crossed by another street. All Roman cities had a similar layout and street-system. They were built as “blocks”, comparable to Manhattan, the blocks were called “insula”.  Each block was dedicated to a particular function, be it bathing, living, shopping, or storage. The north-south-axis was the cardo, the east-west-axis was the decomanus. The pavement of the streets are from Byzantine times, but they were built on the same place where older, Roman streets were located. The excavators removed the pavement and discovered older (Roman) roads underneath. In some parts the original street was reconstructed. Herod’s layout of the streets was kept by later rulers; just the level was raised up. There are many more streets that are waiting to be excavated.

Below us we see the great imperial storage (porea) that was used to store wheat and barley, wine and other storable goods.

We are now approaching the center of the city, which was the financial center.

Caesarea was the first local financial center, and later the Byzantines built on the ruins of the Roman period their own financial center.

During the Roman period, those buildings had two barrel vaulted floors, on the ground level being the offices for the employees; the more important managers were located on the second level.

The buildings were very beautiful, with mosaic floors and great halls. 

On the sidewalks of the main road, we can imagine Romans discussing their tax issues, the hoarse-races, the latest gossip.…

We look down at the corridors of the vaults beneath us, the archives. The state of preservation is quite impressive, considering that they are 1800 years old. The whole area was used in the Roman era for the procurator and his entourage. The governor would be sitting in the palace. In Byzantine times, they would re-fortify the walls, build the moat, thus destroying several Roman buildings and walls, since the moat had to be dug pretty deep and the awareness of preservation had not been established until 1500 years later.

We can see the vaults that support the structures above them.

There were several synagogues in Herod’s time and throughout later times, but no remains were found in Caesarea (so far, anyway). The synagogue that was excavated in the north of the city is from the Talmudic period.

We continue through an un-excavated area of the Byzantine city, through which we can have a glimpse of the second hippodrome to the right (east) with its obelisk.

2 pm – 2.45 pm: Lunch-break at a mall of kibbutz Dor Akiva.

Afterword: I can highly recommend having a wonderful food break inside the national park. There are some excellent restaurants located close to the sea, with appropriate views. They include pasta for dairy food lovers, and a nearby meat restaurant. Both carry kosher certificates. In addition snacks are also available in the general harbor vicinity. If you want to keep the kids occupied some of the interactive attractions found in the park are guaranteed to not only keep them engaged but also provide a great educational experience! There are toilet facilities, mainly around the main entrance complex. I would strongly recommend taking advantage of them before deciding to stroll through the site, as it can be quite a distance. Being close to the water has the added benefit of a relaxing sea breeze, but please keep an eye on the local weather forecast as some parts of the year can endure brutal heat conditions. That brings me to a must remember: Always, get hydrated before getting dehydrated. It’s easy to get carried away with the delight of being in Israel and the excitement of visiting any famous site. However, this can also lead to forgetting basic safety concerns, and drinking plenty of water is high on the list! Sun hats, skin protection, sun glasses etc. are also important items to bring with you. But once you get into a sensible routine the golden rule is to have plenty of fun! So make sure you have any device that can take those family memories, and don’t forget to smile for the camera!

Our tour guide course will now take us to the next destination:

Ralli-museum of Art (for an excellent model and artifacts of Caesarea) –Winter only open Fri-Sat; From March – open every day from 10:30-15:30 except for Sunday and Wednesday (Tel: 04-636 05 88/04-626 1013)

CAESAREA FIELD REPORT PART 6

IV.4. The Promontory Palace.

The palace was built in two stages: We are looking down at the original Palace of Herod, which he had built into the sea, while we are standing in the upper palace of Pontius Pilate (his name was discovered on an inscription). There was some confusion about those two parts of the palace. The first excavators on this site were Netzer/Levine, while the upper part was excavated later by Sheffy, who thought the whole palace was built by Herod and not for the first Roman governor. The fact that coins from the governors period were found only under the floor of the upper part of the palace gives evidence – together with the mentioned inscription) that the upper part was built later, and not by Herod. 

In the now green area to the north are the less important structures, where all activities connected to the ruling system of the area, like administrational edifices, office for taxation, inner security etc. took place. These government offices were called “praetorium”. The size of the compound surprised excavators and serves as an indication that this country did have a special status for Rome, for being hard to deal with:

Jews never connected or mingled with the Romans, and were thus seen as troublemakers (a similar situation like in the time between the two world wars under British rule).

Another reason for the overlarge administrational compound might lie in the fact that the Jewish state served as a buffer zone for the Roman Empire and the mighty Parthians(as stated already under history).

There were other problems for Rome: While on the one hand the Jewish state served as a buffer-zone, on the other hand, the Jewish state was a troublemaker, not accepting Roman rule easily, and to have the Jewish state near the border, meant also problems, similar to today’s situation of Turkey having a common border with the former UDSSR, making the US very interested in Turkey, in air-bases there etc. 

Therefore, in eastern Turkey (which includes Haran and Ararat) one travels on great roads that have been built by the US. The same can be said of Ancient Israel, Rome and the Parthians with plenty of great roads with milestones. 

Judea was a country with special status all around the time of Roman history, and this shows in the size of the administration.

Before excavations took place, one could only read and fantasize about those buildings, which touch upon very important points of history. Now, when most of the buildings are excavated, it is much easier to envision how Roman life was in Caesarea, and also in the whole Roman Empire.

We continue our tour to the (earlier) section of Herod’s palace which he built on rocks, a very special and bold project in every time and age!

Herod built the palace with courtyards that were surrounded by buildings, thus giving

privacy to all rooms built around the central courtyard, as there were practically no openings toward the outside.

These measures were applied by Herod not only in his palaces but in building private houses as well.

(Classical Greek architecture – in palaces the light was coming from the open courtyards to the surrounding buildings.)

Herod built 8 different palaces, most came with similar concepts.

Herod personally would probably have preferred to build palaces like the one in the north of Masada, where a side door leads to an unbelievable hanging palace on three floors. This seems more what he really would have preferred to build everywhere, open pavilions, with great views, like the view of Ein Gedi from the palace in the north of Masada.

Josephus Flavius saw the palace on Masada from the outside and commented on the “transparency” of it, with its openness, while on his other palaces Herod had to “behave” and build in the modest closed-in mode.

Therefore is was not surprising to find in Caesarea at the further-most part of the palace, facing the sea, some rooms that were open towards the sea, similar to the open pavilions found in Masada. 

The palace had also two private bath-houses.

When looking down to the palace we can make out a large square area: this was a pool within the palace. It had in its middle an artificial isle with – most probably – a statue on it. It was a fresh-water pool (shells found at the sites indicated that the water was not salty sea water). The pool was surrounded by colonnades which held the roof. The palace was built probably on two floors.

The basic material used for building was limestone bedrock and kurkar.

The palace was not destroyed by any earth quakes but was clearly destroyed and looted: the closeness of the sea made it easy to steal and ship the loot off.

When looking down we can watch ongoing renovations of the beautiful mosaic that was found on the floor in the entrance to the main palace.

We walk towards the staircase leading to the lower floor of the palace. 

In the far end we can see the area where the small crusader city was. 

IV.5. The Hippodrome

In between is the huge space of the hippodrome.

 (Hippo=horse in Greek, drom=chariot)

Josephus Flavius tells us that this is the place where in the year 9 CE. Herod celebrated the inauguration of Caesarea with an Olympiad-like contest. He invited the best sportsmen of this time, a step that was opposed by his local sports heroes for fear of not being successful. He therefore introduced two new medals – silver and bronze – to the sport event to allow his local champions a chance to win a medal (until then, only the winners received a medal).

In this hippodrome, the audience is sitting facing the sea in the same way as in the theatre except that there is no surrounding wall to conceal the view to the water, giving the audience the great view to the sea. This inclusion of nature was part of the “local culture”, together with plenty of decoration, among them the pillars around the whole arena, that was applied mainly in the eastern countries ruled by Rome and that was more sophisticated than anything else in Rome.

When Pontius Pilate introduced statues into the hippodrome the Jews reacted with fury, since the Jewish tradition does not allow the depiction of persons. When he stood up on his terrace, the Jews started to disturb, he asked his solders to interfere. But the Jews were adamant and asked to be killed rather than to be exposed to those statues.

After the death of Herod, the governors ruling after him added another tribune in the far north side in order to double the number of spectators. The hippodrome served for all kinds of performances.

(The second hippodrome – like Josephus described – was built more to the west and lies outside of today’s national park. We shall see the red protruding obelisk in its middle later when driving out of the national park.)

The hippodrome is sometimes also called “theatre” or “arena”. 

To the original hippodrome, there were several amendments and additions and renovations, walls were erected to protect the audience from the wild beasts etc.

The hippodrome was changed and amended five times, before it was abandoned in the 2^nd century CE, because it was too close to the sea and was flooded. That was when the other hippodrome was built.

While we are sitting in the Hippodrome, Avi (Ben Hur) reads from the book “As a driven leaf” by Milton Steinberg, describing how the 10 sages were executed brutally, like the thin Simon, and how Chanina held the Torah scrolls to his body, an account which is read during the Mussaf-prayer of Yom Kippur.

The book gives an account which is fictional but also historical.

At the far end to the hippodrome (where there is a very nice and light monument of a chariot with a driver), are the boxes in which the chariots stood before the races began. In order to have all horses start at the same exact time, a rope was pulled and released. 

Also it is important to know of the many changes and renovations this hippodrome underwent during the course of the two centuries it was in use, before it was abandoned and filled with debris.

CAESAREA FIELD REPORT PART 5

IV. VISITING THE EXCAVATION IN CAESAREA

IV.1. The Roman theatre

As we enter the site through an opening in the wall that surrounds the theatre, we find ourselves in a tunnel with an arched roof: 

The barrel vault:

In this theatre Herod built a simple continuous vault in a typical semicircular arch with cross sections.

Already 2000 years prior to Herod the Canaanites used this kind of arch-building in Tel Dan or in Ashkelon. (Their vaults were made of mud bricks, only occasionally they used stone).

Barrel-vaults were an important part of Herod,s building. Its purpose was to build houses or other structures with more than one floor. Since wood was rare and long beams were not available, they resorted to barrel vaults.

Herod used mainly kurkar (a kind of local sandstone found along the coast of Israel) – and other lime-stones – a cheap and abundantly available stone found in the area. Since the stones were not very beautiful many structures were covered with plaster and then painted. (The plaster was also used to maintain the structural integrity of the walls).

The father of Alexander the Great built the first stone vault in Regina in northern Greece. We find barrel vaults also in Pergami in Turkey and Maresha (water caves).

The greatest example is the Temple mount in Jerusalem, where Herod used this method in order to achieve an elevated plateau on which he then built the superstructures.

The advantage of building barrel vaults is manifold: The room under the arches can be used as passage or storage-room, the area above the vault serves at the same time as base for another structure, or in the case of theatres, as ground for another sets of rows of seats for the public.

In this theatre there were two levels of barrel-vaults. This allowed spectators to look down on the stage, creating an artificial slope that carries the theatre.

This was an innovation in ancient times: the Romans were of the opinion: “We are the masters of the world – we can overcome nature if we have to!” And it is true: The Romans were the masters of urban and environmental building – comparable to today’s ideas about building and architecture.

Among the several novelties in the art of building at the time was the introduction of plastering stone that was not very beautiful in itself but cheap and easily available. 

For Herod presentation and looks was all: his buildings had to look impressive and big! He did not shy from a kind of early trompe l’oeil by using cheap stone or bricks, which he then plastered and painted to look like something much more beautiful, more expensive and exclusive, e.g like marble before marble was introduced to the area. (The actual building was done by local workmen.)

Only in the times of Hadrian (1/2^nd century CE) marble was imported from Marmara in Anatolia, Turkey, or from quaries in Egypt (only much later Italian marble was imported from Carrara). Hadrian renewed the theatre (a process that would be repeated again and again in later times) and converted it to other uses as well. At some time it was even flooded with water, and two boats were fighting with each other. The dentures in the stones who served for the wooden dam that kept the water within the arena are still visible.

This theatre has been heavily restored. It was excavated by Lee I. Levine and Ehud Netzer in the sixties, before a stricter code for excavations was established. Excavators felt at ease to reconstruct rather than to show the original structures, therefore only very few of the original stones are seen today. 

The upper gallery was re-built on concrete – instead of trying to rebuild the former barrel vault-arches, as was the original theatre was (and still is in the case of the lower gallery).

The theatre is a semi-circular structure. Facing the sea are the two sets caveas (the sitting circles of the Roman theatre are called “kavea” =elevations on which are the seats) arranged in the way of the typical Roman theatre, with two barrel vaults above each other (today one concrete and a barrel vault), each holding about 14 rows. 

Today, we can actually see the sea when sitting in the kavea. But 2000 years ago the theatre was walled in and even covered with cloths.

The fact that we know that the theatre had a roofing (the vellum/vallum) to protect the audience from sun and rain is due to the lucky finding of the architectural handbook of that time: ten scrolls from the architect Vitruvius were found, describing how to build a city and the harbor. (A fine example of how a Roman theatre looked like is seen in the film “the gladiator”).

A big part of the center is reserved for the (expensive) orchestra seats. 

The stage itself was built on a podium of ca. 1m, and had also trap doors for “special effects”.

From the stage, a modern metal stairs leads downstairs to the dressing rooms. Modern performances (operas, concerts etc.) are held to this day. In Herod’s time, in this theatre mostly there were performances with actors.

We climb up the high steps to the first gallery and exit the theatre from there, which is on the same level as the entrance.

IV. 2. The model of Caesarea

We view this model, which is built on ca. 1.5m x 1.5m in a covered area, very convenient for giving explanations to groups.

Models are excellent tools to explain sites to visitors in an overall and general way.

We can see all the important places of Caesarea like the harbor, the temple, the palace, bath-houses, which are all in the center, while less important sites are further away from the center.

We see the huge temple, and how the palace is built into the sea, making an understructure mandatory (like it was mandatory for the Jerusalem Temple to have an understructure).

We see the huge harbor with its wave-breakers. (The whole outer and inner harbor sunk into the sea, but is still visible from above). We see the pagan temple, which was built above the harbor and that was dedicated to Rome and to Augustus. We are pointed out the roofed theatre, where chamber performances took place. We see the bullae which was the seat of the senate of the city.

We are pointed out the aqueducts in the far north of the area (not in the model), which brought the water from the eastern slopes through small canals to the city. (The aqueducts will be subject of a separate field trip).

IV. 3. The area between the theatre and the sea

We continue towards the city’s south-furthest walls next to the theatre.

The city walls were first built by Herod during the Roman Period (under Pontius Pilate) and in the Byzantine period, as in the later Moslem-, Crusador- and modern period the walls remained “the Wall of Herod”, even if the original structure had collapsed.

Next to the wall, towards the sea, are remains of tombs of solders. Iin the middle are tombs of crusaders.

We continue towards the sea, in front of the theatre. As pointed out before, the Roman theatre was built near the sea, the seats facing west, which is the water, but the theatre was walled in: the performances were thought to be much too important to be disturbed by nature. 

Between the wall that surrounded the theatre, and the sea, we find a structure of a half circle – adjacent to the wall that blocked the view from the theatre to the sea, which was excavated. Similar structures were found also in other places. The answer to the riddle, what these structures could have served for, still has not been found.

In the space between this structure and the sea we see in the grass a lot of broken Dorian columns of plastered and painted stones or mud-bricks, giving the impression of stucco or marble.

In Byzantine times the wall in back of the theatre were used as city walls. We continue north toward Herod’s palace