{"id":65994,"date":"2021-07-26T00:06:56","date_gmt":"2021-07-26T04:06:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biblicalarchaeology.org\/?p=65994"},"modified":"2022-01-19T05:48:53","modified_gmt":"2022-01-19T10:48:53","slug":"review-a-walk-to-caesarea-a-historical-archaeological-perspective","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biblicalarchaeology.org\/reviews\/review-a-walk-to-caesarea-a-historical-archaeological-perspective\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: A Walk to Caesarea: A Historical-Archaeological Perspective"},"content":{"rendered":"

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A Walk to Caesarea: A Historical-Archaeological Perspective<\/h4>\n

By Joseph Patrich
\n(Jerusalem: Israel Exploration Society and Yad Izhak Ben-Zvi, 2018), xii + 174 pp., 193 ill. (maps, plans, reconstructions, photos), $34 (hardcover)
\nReviewed by Joseph L. Rife<\/a><\/p>\n

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This book takes its title from the poignant words of Hannah Szenes, who lived in a kibbutz just south of the ancient coastal city of Caesarea Maritima<\/a> and was executed by the Nazis during a clandestine operation in Europe to save Hungarian Jews. The haunting poem, which remains so powerful in the collective consciousness of Israel, captures the numinous beauty of the place while evoking the memory of the poet\u2019s tragic end.<\/p>\n

One of the wealthiest administrative, commercial, and cultural centers on the eastern Mediterranean seaboard between Alexandria and Antioch, Caesarea was also a hotbed of religious ferment and scholarship: the headquarters of the Roman prefect over Judaea; the destination of the apostles Peter and Paul; a powder keg for the Jewish Revolt<\/a> against Roman rule in 66\u201370 C.E.; the home of Rabbi Abbahu and the place where Rabbi Akiva was executed; and the site of an ecclesiastical library where Origen, Eusebius, and Jerome conducted research. After its zenith during the Roman and Byzantine periods, the city was reborn as a booming port with opulent neighborhoods during the Islamic caliphates. Capitalizing on its location, the Crusaders rebuilt the urban core as a European castle (with a massive moat and Gothic architecture) and occupied it for one and a half centuries.<\/p>\n

The ruins of this great city are spectacular. Since the 1950s, archaeologists have slowly uncovered the vast ancient and medieval settlement, which had been largely abandoned to the sand dunes since the late 13th century. Investigation both on land and under water by Israeli and American teams accelerated during the 1980s to early 2000s. In 2017, an ambitious new phase of research was inaugurated: the Caesarea City and Port Exploration Project, a collaboration between the Israel Antiquities Authority and Vanderbilt University. Visitors today can see the ancient roads and sewers, harbor works, houses and places of worship, venues for entertainment, markets and warehouses, and fortifications. Managed by the Israel Nature and Parks Authority, Caesarea is popular as both an archaeological site and a relaxing getaway\u2014complete with a lavish new visitor center, which opened in 2019, in the ruins of the temple to Roma and Augustus.<\/p>\n\n\t\t

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FREE eBook: Life in the Ancient World<\/strong>. Craft centers in Jerusalem, family structure across Israel and ancient practices\u2014from dining to makeup\u2014through the Mediterranean world.<\/p>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t