Panel 8.6 – Judaea/Palaestina and Arabia: Cities and Hinterlands in Roman and Byzantine Times


Organiser/Chair:

  • Achim Lichtenberger (Universität Münster)
  • Oren Tal (Tel Aviv University)
  • Zeev Weiss (Hebrew University of Jerusalem)

External Discussant:

  •   Moshe Fischer (Tel Aviv University)

Speakers:

Panel abstract

The proposed session dedicated to urban infrastructure aims to explore the relationships between the city and its periphery. It will focus on some southern Levantine major and secondary administrative centers of Judaea/Palaestina and Arabia under Roman and Byzantine rule (1st to the 7th century CE). Papers read in the session will present several test-cases in which the information on the periphery of a center is well-documented via excavations, surveys and other means of documentations (i.e. LIDAR, aerial photography and so forth), while others will address a wide range of issues connected with the Graeco-Roman city and its hinterland, among which networking and communication, city lands, citizenship and the definition of a city, etc. Road networks, dependent villages and estates, aqueducts and dams, rivers, streams and seafronts, necropoleis, industrial quarters and facilities, agricultural terrains and towers, dumps and fortifications will be considered as some of the means for defining the urban infrastructure not only in an economical perspective but also in a political and social perception. Given the scarcity of studies addressing this issue in a southern Levantine milieu, we intend to produce a collective study on the subject steaming from the papers and discussions of our intended session.

Paper abstracts

1. Shlomit Weksler-Bdolah (Israel Antiquities Authority)

Aelia Capitolina - The Roman Colony and its Periphery
Very few remains of the Roman period are known in the close periphery of Aelia Capitolina, including military posts, Roman villas, pottery workshops and tombs. Interestingly, most of the sites are located along the Imperial roads which led to the city.
The sparse settlement in the periphery of Aelia Capitolina is very different from the crowded settlement that characterized the periphery of Jerusalem before the year 70. This change is probably related to the abandonment of the Herodian settlements, the expulsion of the Jewish population and the confiscation of Jewish lands by the Romans following the Bar Kokhba Revolt ("Fifty of their most important outposts and nine hundred and eighty-five of their most famous villages were razed to the ground… Thus nearly the whole of Judaea was made desolate…" (Cassius Dio, Roman History, LXIX, 14).
However, the meager settlement of the hinterland of Aelia Capitolina probably reflects the size of the Roman city, which was based, among other things, on the supply of products from the periphery.
In the lecture –the nature of the city and its hinterland shall be discussed in light of archaeological finds.

"Aelia Capitolina: The Roman Colony and Its Periphery" (Fulltext)

 

2. Boaz Zissu (Bar Ilan University, Israel) / Eitan Klein

The Hinterland of Beth Guvrin–Eleutheropolis: Pagans, Jews and Christians during the Late Antiquity
During the Second Temple Period, and continuing through the Bar Kokhba Revolt, Judea was densely populated by Jewish farmers. After the failure of the revolt and elimination of the Jewish residents, the Roman authorities had the opportunity to remake the province and its people as they saw fit. They established four new cities based on the standard Hellenistic-Roman principles and assigned them jurisdiction over the adjacent rural districts. As part of this system, in 199–200 CE the emperor Septimius Severus granted the town of Beth Guvrin the status of a polis and it was renamed “Lucia Septimia Severa Eleutheropolis.” The city, located at a major road junction in the southern Judean Foothills, was allotted the largest territory of any polis in Judea, stretching from Ein Gedi in the east to the southern Hebron Hills on the south, the Coastal Plain in the west, and as far as the Elah Valley on the north.
A study of Roman-Byzantine era archaeological finds, from both in the city itself and in various locations in its rural hinterland, and an examination of relevant historical sources revealed that the population was a mixture of Pagans, Jews, and Christians. In the lecture and following paper we will sketch out the settlement limits of each group by examining its typical material culture, consider whether these boundaries resulted from advance planning by the authorities, and study the mutual relations among these three groups during the Late Antiquity.

"The Hinterland of Beth Guvrin–Eleutheropolis: Pagans, Jews and Christians during the Late Antiquity" (Fulltext)

 

3. Zeev Weiss (The Hebrew University of Jerusalem)

Sepphoris: The City and Its Hinterland (Khôra) in Roman Times
In the heart of the Lower Galilee, 5 km west of Nazareth, lie the remains of Sepphoris, capital of the Galilee for long periods in antiquity. As one of the major cities in the Galilee, it played an important role in reconstructing Jewish life after the destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem, yet remained unscathed by both the First and Second Revolts against Rome. Economically it had become a well-established city due to the fertile soil in the nearby valleys and the active trade with its immediate surroundings and distant markets. On the eve of the Great Revolt against Rome, in 66 CE, Sepphoris stretched across the hill and its slopes, having a rural appearance and lacking most of the typical Roman-style public buildings. Only years later, after the suppression of the Great Revolt, and probably owing to the city’s pro-Roman stance, was it transformed into a prominent Roman polis boasting monumental buildings.
Various excavations and surveys were conducted in Roman Sepphoris and its immediate surroundings. After a short presentation of the major finds inside the city, the paper will focus on the elements known to date in the city’s khôra—roads, farmhouses, burial places, agricultural installations, and quarries— and will explore Sepphoris’s urban infrastructure and the relationship between the city and it hinterland.

"Sepphoris: The City and Its Hinterland in Roman Times" (Fulltext)

 

4. Peter Gendelman (Israel Antiquity Authority) / Uzi 'Ad

Caesarea Maritima View from Outside: The Periphery of the Roman and Byzantine Metropolis.
The territory of Caesarea, the metropolis of the province Judaea, later Syria Palaestina and Palaestina Prima, had a large agricultural hinterland including the fertile Sharon Planes and the hill country of Western Samaria and South Carmel. The paper offers a view on the different activities which were taken place in the outskirts of Caesarea in about a radius of 10 km. from the city-walls. The immediate area around the city was extensively occupied by cemeteries of family burials—mausolea and caves/ hypogea. In addition the area was used for accumulating and recycling the city’s garbage. Several upper class suburban palaces and villas provided their owners and guests with the pleasures which the country side could offer within sight of Caesarea. All unoccupied areas in this range were used for agriculture; this is evinced from the various agricultural installations such as vineries and granaries. Extensive network of aqueducts crossed the outskirts of Caesarea and supplied the inhabitants with fresh water. A unique feature is the large artificial lake constructed north of Caesarea in Late Antiquity to supply water to the city by means of Low Level Aqueduct. This lake also supplied water for operating water mills which supplied the Caesareans with fresh milled flour daily. Last but not less important are the quarries of local sandstone kurkar, the main building material used by the Caesareans.

"Caesarea Maritima – A View from Outside: The Periphery of the Roman and Byzantine Metropolis" (Fulltext)

 

5. Oren Tal (Tel Aviv University)

Apollonia-Arsuf/Sozousa: Its Immediate Hinterland and Periphery in Byzantine Times
Apollonia-Arsuf is located in the northwestern part of the modern city of Herzliya (Israel) on a kurkar (fossilized dune sandstone) ridge overlooking the Mediterranean. Since 1977, 25 seasons of excavations have been conducted at the site. In 1996 and in 2012 and 2013 considerable salvage works have extended the excavations far beyond the inhabited settlement and focused on the Byzantine-period (5th-7th centuries CE) settlement's immediate hinterland, where an agricultural and industrial hinterland of the mother-site Apollonia (then named Sozousa) was unearthed. While the architectural remains in this area—winepresses, field towers, tombs and other installations—are few, they still offer an important test-case on the site infra-structure and the relationship between the town and its hinterland. Immediate lands were used for growing crops; while some installations were functional (guarding, storing, burying, disposing, and so forth) others were engaged in the production of secondary products (wine, flour, etc.); large refuse pits were utilized for the disposal of waste (organic and inorganic) from the settlement and their content served as fertilizer to enrich the soil in the nearby fields. Ongoing salvage excavation at the site periphery attesting to the size and the location of its necropolis and hamlets. Both type of evidence offer additional aspects on the site mode of functionality in Byzantine times.

"Apollonia/Sozousa: Its Immediate Hinterland in Byzantine Times" (Fulltext)

 

6. Achim Lichtenberger (Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität) / Rubina Raja (Aarhus University)

Gerasa: The City and the wadi
The paper examines the relationship between the city of Gerasa/Jerash and its hinterland during the Roman to Early Islamic periods. The Roman city of Gerasa defines itself very much through the river, the Chrysorrhoas (Wadi Jerash), at which it is situated. The river is integrated into the name of the city, the river deity is depicted on Roman coins and the topography of the river even structeres civic associations. Therefore we discuss the evidence for how the city relates to the river and how the city manages the resources of the river. New data is assembled regarding the land management in the wadi and on the geological perspectives about how the wadi can be investigated in a Joint archaeological-geological effort, to trace long-term development in this river environment and the relations between humans and river.

"The Chora of Gerasa/Jerash" (Fulltext)

 

 

7. Gabriel Mazor (Israel Antiquities Authority)

Nysa-Scythopolis capital of Palaestina Secunda and its Cultural, Religious and Ethnic Hinterland
Around the turn of the century (386–409 CE) a revised administrative tripartite division, conducted by Theodosius II, promoted Nysa-Scythopolis to the status capital of Provincia Palaestina Secunda. During the fifth century the polis, now an important administrative and economic center, flourished and its civic center was architecturally renovated and culturally reshaped. And yet Nysa-Scythopolis of the Byzantine era preserved its second century Roman imperial baroque architectural trend and its deeply rooted Hellenic culture. The geopolitical change of the region from a Roman province to the venerated Holy land, a remarkable peaceful era and the administrative division resulted, during the fifth to sixth centuries, in urban prosperity and immense increase in population both in urban entities and hinterland of the Decapolis.
The flourishing capital of Provincia Palaestina Secunda had a dynamic and heterogenic population composed of diverse ethnic and religious communities. Consisting of a diminishing in number pagan devotees, newly converted Christian, a constantly rising number of devoted members of the church and significantly large and influential communities of Jews and Samaritan that ethnic complexity of the polis and its cwra created a unique social arena.
Nysa-Scythopolis was a Christian monastic center. Churches revealed within the city were all part of flourishing monasteries, while its cwra was dotted with numerous monasteries. A considerable number of its bishops were appointed monks, while venerated leaders of the Judean monastic movement, as attested to by Cyril of Scythopolis, their main hagiographer, were involved in civil and religious affairs of a city that was rather deeply involved in the complex Christian dogma struggles.
The hinterland of Nysa-Scythopolis reflects its complex ethnic and religious heterogeneity as faithful mirror reflection of its central polis. It is prosperous and rich, it is Hellenic in nature and divers in its clearly separated religious communities. While most of the monasteries were established in the northern and western parts of its cwra the Samaritan and mainly numerous Jewish settlements occupied its southern and eastern parts with few exceptions dotting both quite separated regions that apart from the events of the Samaritan revolt of 529 CE successfully retained a peaceful coexistence both in the polis and its hinterland.

"Nysa-Scythopolis capital of Palaestina Secunda and its Cultural, Religious and Ethnic Hinterland" (Fulltext)

 

8. Michael Eisenberg and Mechael Osband (University of Haifa)

Antiochia Hippos and Its Territorium during the Roman Period
Antiochia Hippos (Sussita) of the Decapolis was the only urban settlement in the central and southern Golan during the Roman period. New research now aims to better understand the phenomena beyond the city walls – the settlement and regional relationships in its territorium.
Over the past four years the University of Haifa team has initiated excavations along the city’s saddle ridge, outside its walls. The excavations have revealed surprising finds concerning urban expansion during the Roman period and the remains of a Roman-period sanctuary.
The sanctuary stretches 170 m. along the western side of the saddle ridge. So far, the remains of a propylaeum, public bathhouse and a theatre were found, dated to the second century CE.
A Roman mausoleum built within the necropolis east of the saddle ridge has been almost fully excavated and nearby, a series of burial towers were identified along the main road.
Recent surveys east of Mount Sussita and in its proximity have identified new sites, necropoleis and springs, all previously unknown.
The Hippos region is a prime candidate for a case study elucidating the urbs–territorium–oppidium/vicus relationships. This new research (Eisenberg and Osband) is aimed at better understanding the territorium borders, determining the extent of the key role that Hippos played in the region and studying the socio-economic and ethnic relationships in the region.

"Antiochia Hippos and Its Territorium during the Roman Period" (Fulltext)

 

9. Claudia Bührig (DAI)

Gadara and its hinterland
Research in recent years at Gadara was characterised by clarifying the development of the Decapolis city. By observing the cityscape, the attention was directed towards the settlement history and to finding new insights into the transformation process of the ancient city Gadara and especially its surroundings hinterland.
The paper is dealing with the history of settlement and usage of Gadara’s surroundings from Roman to Byzantine Times. The initial aim is to investigate the surrounding landscape of the ancient city of Gadara, and to identify technical and agricultural installations or settlement structures but also the reconstruction of climate and agriculture.
At the same time, research is increasingly directed towards the surrounding region with the 'Umm Qays Hinterland-Survey', more concretely on investigating the interrelation between the city and the hinterland as well as between settlement and climate development from the Stone Age until today.
The research in the hinterland of the Decapolis city Gadara addresses and emphasizes essential questions that pertain to the generation and utilization of urban space and its natural and historical-political conditions. Thereby, particular attention is directed towards the spatial relations of sanctuary and settlement and natural space.

"Gadara and its hinterland" (Fulltext)

 

10. Christian Schöne and Michael Heinzelmann (Universität zu Köln) / Tali Erickson-Gini (Israel Antiquities Authority) / Diana Wozniok (Universität zu Köln)

Elusa (Haluza) – Urban Development and Economy of a City in the Desert
Elusa (Haluza) was the only proper city in the Negev region and formed its administrative and economic center. Founded as a stop-over on the Nabatean incense route it developed during the 1st/2nd c. CE into an actual city despite its difficult environmental conditions. It flourished especially from the 4th to 6th cent. CE and was abandoned after the Umayyad period. Since 2015 Elusa has been investigated by the Archaeological Institute of the University of Cologne and the Israel Antiquities Authority by a multi-disciplinary team. Meanwhile a complete geophysical survey of the city has been executed, complemented by an archaeological survey, and a digital terrain model, allowing the reconstruction of wide areas of the city’s layout. Additionally, various stratigraphical sondages have delivered new information both on the long-term development of the city, as well as on newly identified buildings (churches, tower houses, a huge peristyle building, a complex sewer system etc.). Finally, the systematic analysis of finds, especially the faunal remains and the pottery, allows interesting insights into the city’s economy. This paper is summarizing the results of the project and is further focusing on the question of Elusa’s economic role and development in the context of the Negev settlements.

"Elusa – Urban Development and Economy of a City in the Desert" (Fulltext)

 

11. Will Kennedy (Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin/ Excellence Cluster Topoi)

A Cultural Landscape Characterization of the Petraean Hinterland in Nabataean-Roman Times. An Overview.
The Nabataean capital of Petra (Jordan) has been extensively researched archaeologically and numerous excavations have revealed important insights into Petra’s cityscape.
In contrast, although various survey expeditions have been carried out in Petra’s surroundings documenting an impressive number of rural archaeological sites that date from the Iron Age to the Byzantine and Early Islamic Periods, Petra’s hinterland remains comparatively under-researched.
Although aspects of rural settlement and land use in the Petra region from the Nabataean-Roman to the Early Islamic Periods have recently been discussed, an overall, in-depth archaeological and historical contextualization of the various archaeological sites in the Petra area is yet missing.
Therefore, this paper presents the author’s doctoral research results which aimed at reassessing overall, military and non-military, strategies of spatial organization in the Petraean hinterland in Nabataean-Roman times. By adopting a landscape archaeological approach, it is attempted to investigate political, administrative, socio-economic as well as military aspects of Petra’s surroundings. Specifically, this paper focusses on discussing the available archaeological evidence for rural settlements, subsistence strategies, the communication infrastructure as well as the military disposition and possible religious structures – thus providing a cultural landscape characterization of the Petraean hinterland in Nabataean-Roman times.

"A Cultural Landscape Characterization of the Petraean Hinterland in Nabataean-Roman Times: An Overview" (Fulltext)

 

12. Nicolò Pini (University of Bonn)

Semi-urban or semi-rural settlements: a new definition of urban centres required?
The third century in the Eastern provinces of the Roman Empire saw the beginning of an astonishing development of settlements, which reached its peak in the Byzantine period in the V-VI century. This phenomenon involved not only the larger urban centres in the region – the former poleis organised according to more or less strict Hellenistic models, like in the Decapolis. It saw also, if not especially, a unseen development of the rural hinterland of these cities, more and more intensively settled by villages and other kind of settlements, which definition is nonetheless problematic and intriguing.
This kind of settlements underwent a diversified process: on the one side, some former villages developed into cities, being also officially recognised as such but not changing considerably their spatial organisation – like in the case of Esbus/Tall Hisban near Madaba (Jordan); on the other side, there is also the formation of renewed large settlements – referred to as towns in many scientific publications, like Umm el-Jimal in northern Jordan – that if potentially showing urban features, doesn’t appear as official cities or poleis.
The present paper aims to investigate this semi-urban or semi-rural dimension, focusing especially on the social triggers that might help explaining not only the phenomena mentioned above, but also some similarities in the spatial organisation visible also in the former poleis in the Late Antique periods.

"Semi-urban or Semi-rural Settlements: A New Definition of Urban Centres Required?" (Fulltext)

 

13. Joseph Patrich (Hebrew University in Jerusalem)

The City and its Territory – The Case of Caesarea Maritima
The ultimate goal of this project is to develop a digital application that will present each ancient city in the context of its rural territorium and will enable to get, on screen, tables and maps in GIS (Geographical Information System) technology, permitting to present geographical information as well as archaeological and historical data as superimposed cartographical layers. The objective is to present a synthesis between the archaeological finds and the soil and geo-physical features of the said territorium, in order to evaluate the potential agricultural yield of the region. The agricultural produce will be translated into calories, and given the amount of calories necessary for the livelihood of a human being, an estimated size of population living in the said territory can be evaluated. The first step in this direction is to mark the rural hinterland of a city, analyze its geomorphology, its soils and the archaeological features such as villages, farmsteads, dispersed agricultural installations, water sources, aqueducts, roads systems, military posts etc. The possible implementation of this approach on the rural hinterland of Caesarea Maritima and its territorium in the Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine periods will be examined.

"The City and Its Territory – A Digital Archaeological-Cartographical Approach: The Case of Caesarea Maritima" (Fulltext)