ICCROM Mora Samples Collection
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Caesarea Maritima: MRA-ISR-Ces001

Type Sample Item

Sample ID

MRA-ISR-Ces001

Sample Material Type

Mural painting

Sample Sub-type

fragment
micro-fragment

Geographic Location

Country
Israel
Place
Caesarea Maritima

Site/monument

Israel (ISR)
Cesarea
Caesarea Maritima

Historical note about the site/monument

Caesarea was a port city built under Herod the Great in the last decades BCE. It thrived in the late Roman and Byzantine periods and was captured by Muslim invaders in 640 CE. After a period of decline, it was refortified in the 11th century as the Crusades gathered steam, only to be captured by Baldwin I in 1101. It was held alternately by the Ayyubids and Crusader states throughout the 12th and 13th centuries. During the Mamluk and Ottoman period, the city lost its former importance and hosted only minor and intermittent habitation. Archaeological excavations commenced in the mid-20th centuries and are ongoing. The remains of a Roman and Byzantine administrative compound, a Roman amphitheater, a curious gold and glass mosaic table from the 6th century, and a Muslim hoard from the 12th century are among the finds at the ancient city.

Further reading:
Rabbān, A., & Holum, K. G. (Eds.). (1996). Caesarea Maritima: a retrospective after two millennia (Vol. 21). Brill.
Blakely, J. A. (1988). Ceramics and commerce: amphorae from Caesarea Maritima. Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research271(1), 31-50.

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