Think we need a break from all that History & Archeology

Thought the family might like a change & a chance to see how much Zebadiah ( pronounced Zevadeeah in Hebrew we've been told ) has grown in a few weeks.

He has an expensive taste now folks since he's sampled the mangoes & pomegranates of the Med.

Jane & Zeb leave tonight on a jet plane and we know one aunty who is going to miss them both heaps. We've all had a lot of fun despite the heat, discovering Israel together.

Caesarea continued.

Whew ! After all those hot stone walls etc, we need a cool sea break. Sue & Jane checking out part of the ancient harbour & docks. Huge stone anchors lie on the dock.





Another section of the harbour. The actual sea walls were constructed on piles made by huge wooden crates filled with scoria which hardened into a sort of cement when the sea water worked on it. And for all you engineers...a lot of it is still there!!
Herod got an A from the local council for that effort.




Another view of the hippodrome from the other end. Dimensions 450mts by 90mts, & could seat 30,000 spectators. The races usually consisted of 4 pairs of horses pulling the chariot plus driver. Apparently many got killed if they fell off & got the chop from those following. At a later date many Christians & criminals & I guess any one who disagreed with the boss had to slug it out with various wild animals, in front of a blood thirsty crowd. Think I'll stick to watching the rugby...

Caesarea continued.

The Crusader gate constructed by that same group

Some of the store houses for Herods royal palace.

Hey guys just another little bit of biblical history confirmed here as well. Paul the apostle was imprisoned here before being sent on to Rome for his trial round AD.57 Hope he had a wardrobe of cool clothes because it would have been flaming hot in the prison.

More stone walls with the 19th century Bosnian minaret in the background.

Caesarea continued.

The Hippodrome, spectator stands on right sea on left.

Sue is waiting patiently for her favourite chariot driver.

Incredible mosaic work, in the houses of the wealthy, from a distance it looked like carpet.

A close up revealed that they are made with thousands of squares of marble stone chips ranging from about 1 cm sq.

The tile layers must have put in some overtime huh !

Caesarea Pics

Lets begin with the aquaduct that had to be constructed over a distance of many miles from a freshwater spring inland to provide running water to Caesarea which was done on a grandscale for the wealthy being piped underground once inside the city. The water also flushed the loos!!

A mighty engineering feat

A moslem family enjoying a picnic under one of the arches...shaded from the heat.

The beaut swimming beach on the Med is just a few metres away....

Shelley & Isaac, taking another opportunity to search for more artefacts.

Caesarea . Herod's Show Home (s) !! and Harbour

This is an amazing place & well worth a visit when you come to Israel. But be prepared to spend some hours as this archeological site covers a vast area & is still being uncovered

Herod put the place on the map 2000 odd years ago by building in 12 years an elaborate luxury city and port, along with a reef palace, amphiteatre, large hippodrome, theatre luxury houses, bath houses, temples etc. Archeology has uncovered elaborate mosaic 'carpets.'

The city has changed rule by each conquering nation from Roman, Byzantine, Arab, Turkish and Crusaders.

Whereafter it fell into ruin and was then used by Bosnian refugees in the late 1800's.

It is impossible to really do this area justice with a few pics and it was another blistering hot day....

More ruins ...Bet Shean

Bet Shean fresh water springs. One of three natural pools.

More excavations in the same area, ruins from the early Greek era then developed by Rome. This was apparently the largest of the decapolis cities in Israel, more than 2000 years back.

Now just a rather run down small town. The crew having a break in the shade of the arena walls. Apparently many people met a gruesome death in these arenas.... a bit chilling!!!

Shelley, our avid archeologist and treasure hunter loves fossicking in any ruins & has a great collection of old pottery shards, pieces of mosaic & a few Roman glass treasures....broken of course.