The archaeological zone of ancient Tiberias, a Roman city founded by Herod Antipas, son of Herod the Great, in 20 AD (after Hirschfeld 2004 b, Fig. 16, 1).

Contexts in source publication

Context 1

... of important archaeological indicators of historical landscape change were found in the archaeological zone of ancient Tiberias, a Roman city founded by Herod Antipas, son of Herod the Great, in 20 AD which became a flourishing urban centre between the Late Roman period and the Mameluke period (Fig. 3) 30 ...

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... during his 1989 -1998 excavations. Here a layer of almost 1 m of sterile colluvial soil separated the masonry structures of Stratum IV (3 rd -mid 5 th centuries AD) and Stratum III (6 th -7 th centuries AD), indicating a local interruption of settlement due to strong erosional activities in the 5 th century or early in the 6 th century AD (Fig. 13). In turn on top of Stratum III, a layer of another 3 m of colluvia had accumulated from the 7 th century AD until the time of Hirschfeld's excavations 44 . Evidence of similar Late Byzantine or Early Islamic alluvial layers was observed in recent rescue excavations in the modern city of Tiberias, for example, 2009, in the Ge'ulim ...

Context 3

... Zalmon is one of the major western tributaries to the Lake. The geoarchaeological survey of 2010 50 discovered, in the upper course of the wadi, a so-far unknown small Early Roman site on a spur (cf. article Dotterweich -Schneider -Kuhnen, Fig. 2, 3) which was badly eroded. Immediately below the present day surface a rubble floor and a deposit of Roman pottery of the 1 st century AD were observed in a section caused by modern construction work (Fig. 15. 16). In contrast, the Crusaders' mill and water installations on the lower slopes of the wadi (cf. article Dotterweich -Schneider ...

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... to the bottom of the Nahal showed an exposure of colluvium containing sherds of Roman-Byzantine Age, the deposition of which must have predated the building of the mill in the Crusader period. This is an indication of two phases of erosion/sedimentation, one before and one after the Crusader period (cf. article Dotterweich -Schneider -Kuhnen, Fig. 2, ...

Context 5

... crounds of Kefar Nahum where Tzaferis excavated settlement layers from the 7 th up to the 11 th /12 th centuries AD. The Franciscan excavations in the western half of the ancient settlement of Kefar Nahum, in contrast, can be consulted for the excellent stratigraphies from the Late Hellenistic to Byzantine periods, but the uppermost layers Fig. 23 Due to post-Roman silt accumulation of the nearby estuaries of the Jordan River and of Nahal Meshushim, the Hellenistic-Roman lake shore settlement of et-Tell, usually identified with New Testament Bethsaida, once was close to the sea shore (right) and today is situated in considerable distance from the lake (according to Shroder ...

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... the Kinneret basin 66 . The pre-Roman hilltop site of Tel Kinnerot 67 offers evidence of erosion; the Iron Age/ Hellenistic-Roman settlement et-Tell, usually identified with New Testament Bethsaida, seems to have gained considerable distance from the lake through silt accumulation of the nearby estuaries of the Jordan River and of Nahal Meshushim (Fig. 23) 68 . Research and rescue excavations that took place in the area, in particular the observations recorded during the construction of the Salt Water Carrier can be expected to yield additional evidence on topics of colluvia and sea level developments (Fig. ...

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... reached a height up to 4 m in the central courtyard of the palace (Fig. 30). Detailed evidence was gained when the sections of a trial trench of the excavations in 2005 76 were re-examined during the survey in 2010. They revealed a 4 m-high sequence of ten to twelve well-sorted horizontal layers of loamy sand and silt containing post-classical pottery sherds and separated at certain intervals by thin ...

Context 8

... layers accumulated in the central courtyard, protected on all sides by walls up to 4 m high. The excavators of the 1930 s considered them to be blown-in sand, with ashes coming from soap production 78 . A trial trench of the post-World War II excavations revealed, however, traces of a heating furnace for sugar production inside the courtyard (Fig. 31), belonging probably to the 12 th -13 th centuries occupation 79 . Neither wind erosion nor firing for soap or sugar production could however account for the wellsorted horizontal gravel beds dividing the sandy layers of the courtyard fill 80 . A possible explanation might be found in two peculiarities of the walls of the palace: first, ...

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... production could however account for the wellsorted horizontal gravel beds dividing the sandy layers of the courtyard fill 80 . A possible explanation might be found in two peculiarities of the walls of the palace: first, there is a shell-like pattern of erosion in the limestone blocks of the northern door frame of eastern gate of the mosque (Fig. 32. 33). Within a circle of about 1.5 m, the inner surface of the exterior wall is washed out 76 Cf. IEJ 2005. 77 Cf. Schneider -Dotterweich -Kuhnen, p. *** in the present volume. 78 Schneider -Puttrich-Reignard 1937. 79 Getty Conservation Institute et al. 2001;Stern 1999. 80 Cf. Schneider -Dotterweich -Kuhnen, p. *** of the present volume. ...

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... (Fig. 32. 33). Within a circle of about 1.5 m, the inner surface of the exterior wall is washed out 76 Cf. IEJ 2005. 77 Cf. Schneider -Dotterweich -Kuhnen, p. *** in the present volume. 78 Schneider -Puttrich-Reignard 1937. 79 Getty Conservation Institute et al. 2001;Stern 1999. 80 Cf. Schneider -Dotterweich -Kuhnen, p. *** of the present volume. Fig. 30 In the central courtyard of the palace of Khirbat al-Minya post-Umayyad accumulations reached a height up to 4 m re-examination of a trial evealed a 4 m-high sequence of ten to twelve well-sorted horizontal layers of loamy sand and silt containing Medieval pottery sherds and separated at certain intervals by thin horizontal layers of ...

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... is a U-shaped breach that was cut into the upper blocks of the interior all dividing rooms E 3 and 4 in the northwest corner of the palace. The upper row of blocks reached a height of 204.3 m below mean sea level. The U-shaped breach did not belong to the original building, but was cut in after the upper layers of the wall had been dismantled ( Fig. 34. 35). The regular shape of the cut looks like a section of a water channel. Given the difference of height between the U-shaped breach at 204.3 m below mean sea level in the northwest corner and the shell-shaped erosional pattern in the southeast corner, it might be postulated that the building, unfinished as a palace, served as a masonry ...

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... as similar installations at Bostra 81 , Hirbet al Meffjer 82 , or along the Tiberias aqueduct 83 , to store water either for an medieval agricultural settlement or for a water mill to the east of the palace. This hypothesis could be confirmed by the fact that Mader in his surveys observed a slightly-elevated ridge to the northeast of the palace (Fig. 36) between the Hellenistic and the Byzantine Age, probably due to wood consumption, metal melting and extensive forest clearing for agricultural land (Fig. 37). In contrast, during the Bronze and Iron Age and in the 'Arabian/Ottoman Period' oak is increasing up to 70 %, which seems to indicate a decrease in agriculture and a forest ...

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... or for a water mill to the east of the palace. This hypothesis could be confirmed by the fact that Mader in his surveys observed a slightly-elevated ridge to the northeast of the palace (Fig. 36) between the Hellenistic and the Byzantine Age, probably due to wood consumption, metal melting and extensive forest clearing for agricultural land (Fig. 37). In contrast, during the Bronze and Iron Age and in the 'Arabian/Ottoman Period' oak is increasing up to 70 %, which seems to indicate a decrease in agriculture and a forest regeneration. Between the Hellenistic-Roman Age the composition of the oak forests is changing, from summergreen oaks of the quercus ithaburiensis type to the ...