A few months ago, I was honoured to receive a request from historian and writer Lindsay Powell to write a short blurb to appear on the back cover of his latest book on Bar Kokhba, the leader under whom the Jews united in their war against the Romans between AD 132 and 136. I sent… Continue reading “Bar Kokhba: The Jew Who Defied Hadrian and Challenged the Might of Rome” by Lindsay Powell
Caesarea Maritima is one of Israel's most famous archaeological sites. Its ruins are located by the seashore of Israel, about halfway between Tel Aviv and Haifa. It is the site of one of the most important cities of the Roman World, the capital of the province of Judaea. The city was founded between 22 and… Continue reading The Hadrianic aqueduct of Caesarea Maritima
A stunning mosaic floor referred to as the "Bird Mosaic" was uncovered by accident in 1955 on the outskirts of Caeserea in Israel, outside the walls of the ancient settlement. With no budget available for its preservation, it was covered over again until the Israel Antiquities Authority and the Director of the Caesarea Antiquities Preservation… Continue reading The Byzantine “Bird Mosaic” from Caesarea, Israel
With thousands of archaeological sites, Jerusalem is one of the most excavated cities on the planet and to walk its streets is to walk through a thousand years of history. This ancient city has been fought over more than any other place. It has been conquered, destroyed and rebuilt many times and Hadrian played a… Continue reading Exploring Aelia Capitolina, Hadrian’s Jerusalem
About a year and a half after the discovery of the bronze statue of Hadrian in 1977 (see previous post here), six fragments of a monumental Latin inscription – the largest ever found in Israel – were discovered near the camp of the Sixth Legion in Tel Shalem. The inscription, inscribed in three lines, had belonged… Continue reading The inscription dedicated to Hadrian from the Tel Shalem arch
A magnificent bronze cuirassed statue of Hadrian, now on display at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, was found by chance by an American tourist in Tel Shalem (Beth Shean Valley, Israel) on 25 July 1975 while searching for ancient coins with a metal detector. Tel Shalem was once occupied by a detachment of the Sixth… Continue reading Bronze statue of Hadrian from the legionary camp at Tel Shalem (Judaea), Israel Museum
