Abstract:

Caesarea Maritima, a large port city built by Herod and named in honor of Augustus, boasts a long and rich history spanning the Hellenistic to the Crusader periods. This volume is the first detailed scientific excavation report to be published on stratigraphic excavations carried out within the city limits. The site was dug by the authors in three seasons. The main area excavated was in the Crusader fortress, near the coast; five strata, from the early Roman to the Arab periods, were exposed. A unique promontory west of the theater and jutting out into the sea was uncovered; it appears to be the site on which Herod built his palace at Caesarea. This volume presents an overview of the history of archaeological excavations at Caesarea, a detailed stratigraphic report, and analyses of the ceramic and numismatic finds, as well as a discussion of the contribution of the archaeological finds to our understanding of the history of the city. A study of the important corpus of tesserae found at Caesarea over the years appears as an appendix.