The city of Tiberias is located on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee in modern day Israel (32°46" N, 35°32" E). It was founded in 19 CE by King Herod Antipas, and was continuously occupied until the Crusader conquest in 1099 CE. The Hebrew University’s excavations directed by the late Prof. Yizhar Hirschfeld exposed remains from all periods, including a Roman palace, simple dwellings, a luxurious late antique mansion, urban infrastructure such as streets and sewage systems, and a commercial and administrative center from the Early Islamic period when the city was capital of Jund al-Urdunn. The wealth of architecture and finds enrich our knowledge of urban life in the Galilee and attest to the importance of Tiberias as an administrative and commercial center linking east and west. The finds also show that, despite repeated natural disasters and geo-political turmoil, Tiberias provides a rare example of continued urban resilience for over a millennium.
The project, Tiberias on the Sea of Galilee: The Publication of Yizhar Hirschfeld’s Excavations (1993, 2004–2006, 2008), will bring to light the stratigraphy and artifacts from Hirschfeld’s excavations, using the finds to evaluate the character of urban life throughout different periods, as well as social and cultural contexts.
The publication project is directed by Shulamit Miller.
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