Caesarea Maritima: MRA-ISR-Ces002

Type Sample Item

Geographic Location

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 11^th 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 12^th and 13^th 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-20^th 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 6^th century, and a Muslim hoard from the 12^th 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 Research, 271(1), 31-50.

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