What New Archaeological Treasures Have Been Unearthed in the Ancient City of Caesarea?

Ancient Origins

Through the centuries, Caesarea’s populace comprised all the major Abrahamic faiths—Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Throw in the original religion at the site, paganism, and you will get an idea of the importance of Caesarea, where major restoration projects are underway.

Archaeologists working in Caesarea announced this week that they recently found an ancient mother-of-pearl tablet incised with a menorah. The menorah tablet dates to the 4th or 5th century AD, experts have estimated. Other recent activity at the site includes preservation of an ancient synagogue and aqueduct. They also found an altar used to worship Caesar Augustus.

Experts say the mother-of-pearl tablet with the menorah found in the ancient harbor town of Caesarea is evidence of a Jewish presence from the 4th or 5th centuries AD. (Clara Amit/ Israel Antiquities Authority )

Roman dictators fancied themselves deities and ordered their worship across the empire. Julius Caesar’s family said they were descended from Roman forefather Aeneas and the goddess of love and war, Venus. Augustus, Julius’ grand-nephew who became emperor, added Divi Filius, “ son of the divine,” to his name. Augustus ruled the Roman Empire from 27 BC to 14 AD.

 The Israel Antiquities Authority calls the excavations and conservation projects at Caesarea, underway for many years, some of the largest and most important ever done in Israel.

The ancient synagogue of Caesarea. (Assaf Peretz/ Israel Antiquities Authority )

 Phys.org said in a report about the recent finds: “The site, which contains ruins from later periods including the Byzantine, Muslim and Crusader eras, has been the focus of major excavation work over the decades but recent work has revealed new secrets.”

 Herod the Great, the king of Judea appointed by Rome, founded Caesarea. Herod has an interesting background. Herod’s father and mother were Arab but practiced Judaism. Herod’s father, Antipater, was a friend of Julius Caesar, who appointed him procurator (governor) of Judea in 47 BC.

 Antipater appointed Herod the governor of Galilee, a province of Judea. Mark Antony later appointed him tetrarch of Galilee. When the Parthians invaded Palestine in 40 BC, Herod fled to Rome, where the Senate nominated him king of Judea. They also gave him an army to secure his throne, which he did in 37 BC.

Aerial photo of Caesarea Maritima. (Meronim/ CC BY SA 3.0 )

 A book excerpt about Caesarea Maritima on the Cornell University website states :

“Caesarea Maritima, established by Herod the Great on the site of the Hellenistic city of Strato's Tower, has been known continuously from its founding through until the present day, and is the setting for numerous historically significant events and personages. The palace of the city is mentioned in only a few instances, although incidents in lives of the procurators, governors and other officials who dwelt there are more frequently described.”

Harbor Scene with St. Paul's Departure from Caesarea, by Jan Brueghel the Elder ( Public Domain )

An archaeologist who is part of the team working at the site, Peter Gendelman, led Phys.org on a tour of Caesarea and called the preservation work there the most complicated and interesting that he’s done in his 30 years as an archaeologist.

Dr. Gendelman told Phys.org that recent discoveries there are changing researchers’ “understanding of the dynamics of this area.”

Part of an ancient Greek inscription found during excavations at Caesarea in April 2017. (Ilan Ben Zion/ Times of Israel )

Phys.org also quoted Guy Swersky of the Rothschild Caesarea Foundation as saying, “This was by far the most important port city in this area of the Middle East.”

The Israeli government and the Rothschilds have allotted $27 million (25 million Euros) for the exploration and conservation of the site.

Archaeologists intend to continue excavating and preserving the site and open a visitor’s center that will explain the history of Caesarea.

The site already draws visitors to the ruins of an amphitheater that has been restored somewhat to play host to concerts. Israeli officials hope to draw 3 million visitors annually to the site and its beaches by 2030. Top image: Statue of a ram that was discovered next to the vaults at the front of the temple platform in Caesarea. The town was founded by Herod the Great, king of Judea under the Roman Empire. Source: Caesarea Development Corporation

 By Mark Miller

1600-Year-Old Cargo of a Roman Merchant Ship has been Discovered in Caesarea

Ancient Origins

An underwater survey in the ancient port of Caesarea has uncovered thousands of coins and bronze statues dating to the 5th century AD.

The Greatest Catch

Two sports divers likely made their greatest catch in life when they made a fortuitous discovery of two Late Roman bronze statues in the ancient port of Caesarea.
As soon as they had surfaced divers Ran Feinstein and Ofer Ra‘anan
reported the finds to the Israel Antiquities Authority. During a joint dive, Ran and Ofer, guided marine archaeologists from the IIA to the location.
The seabead had been cleared of sand and a maze of iron anchors, moorings chains and debris were left exposed, being the remains of a ship.

The ship’s anchor as it was discovered in the sea. Photographic credit: The Marine Archaeology Unit of the Israel Antiquities Authority.

During the next weeks the IIA conducted an underwater salvage survey and in a relatively short time, they had recovered beautiful bronze statues, thousands of coins and other finds on the seabed dating to 5th century AD.
The treasure throw belonged to a Late Roman Merchant ships that sank in the harbor some 1600 years ago.

Wrecked by a Storm

Many of the artifacts are bronze and in an extraordinary state of preservation: a bronze lamp depicting the image of the sun god Sol, a figurine of the moon goddess Luna, a lamp in the image of the head of an African slave, fragments of three life-size bronze cast statues, objects fashioned in the shape of animals such as a whale, a bronze faucet in the form of a wild boar with a swan on its head.

Fragment of a bronze lamp decorated with the image of the sun god Luna, as discovered on the seabed. Photo: Ran Feinstein.

A lamp in the image of the head of an African slave. Photographic credit: Clara Amit, courtesy of the Israel Antiquities Authority.

Fragment of a life-size head of a statue. Photographic credit: Clara Amit, courtesy of the Israel Antiquities Authority.

In addition, fragments of large jars were found that were used for carrying drinking water for the crew in the ship and for transportation at sea. One of the biggest surprises in particular was the discovery of two metallic lumps composed of thousands of coins weighing c. 20 kilograms which was in the form of the pottery vessel in which they were transported.
“These are extremely exciting finds, which apart from their extraordinary beauty, are of historical significance. The location and distribution of the ancient finds on the seabed indicate that a large merchant ship was carrying a cargo of metal slated recycling, which apparently encountered a storm at the entrance to the harbor and drifted until it smashed into the seawall and the rocks”, said Jacob Sharvit, director of the Marine Archaeology Unit of the IIA, and adds,
“A marine assemblage such as this has not been found in Israel in the past thirty years. Metal statues are rare archaeological finds because they were always melted down and recycled in antiquity. When we find bronze artifacts it usually occurs at sea. Because these statues were wrecked together with the ship, they sank in the water and were thus ‘saved’ from the recycling process”.

The rare bronze artifacts that were discovered in Caesarea. Photographic credit: Clara Amit, courtesy of the Israel Antiquities Authority.

Coins carrying the Image of Constantine

The coins that were discovered bear the image of the emperor Constantine who ruled the Western Roman Empire (312–324 AD) and was later known as Constantine the Great, ruler of the Roman Empire (324–337 AD), and of Licinius, an emperor who ruled the eastern part of the Roman Empire and was a rival of Constantine, until his downfall in a battle that was waged between the two rulers.

Lumps of coins that were discovered at sea, weighing a total of c. 20 kilograms. Photographic credit: Clara Amit, courtesy of the Israel Antiquities Authority.

The range of finds recovered from the sea reflects the large volume of trade and the status of Caesarea’s harbor during this time, which was known as period of economic and commercial stability in the wake of the stability of the Roman Empire- the period when Christianity was on its way to becoming the official religion of the Roman Empire.
It was at this time that Emperor Constantine put a halt to the policy of persecuting Christians, and the faithful in Caesarea, as well as elsewhere in the Roman Empire, were given the legitimacy to practice their belief through the famous Edict of Milan that proclaimed Christianity was no longer a banned religion. Later, Constantine recognized Christianity as the official state religion, and it was during his reign that the fundamentals of the religion were established. 

While the new finds are being studied by the IIA, a cache of gold coins that was discovered water off of Caesarea in the winter of 2015 are already being displayed to the visiting public in the Caesarea harbor.
By Sam Bostrom
Featured image: A figurine of the sun god Sol as discovered on the seabed. Photo: Ran Feinstein.