The Temple Area of Bethsaida. Polish Excavations on et-Tell in the Years 1998-2000
20,00 $
ISBN: 83-7171-963-9
Description: 194 pages 24x17 cm), illustrations
Condition: very good
Weight: 435g.
Ilona Skupinska-Lovset, The Temple Area of Bethsaida. Polish Excavations on et-Tell in the Years 1998-2000, Lodz University Press, 2006
The village of Bethsaida and the polls of Julias have both been attested to in the first century AD. The New Testament tells about Bethsaida on multiple occasions. According to Josephus Flavius Bethsaida was refounded as Julias and the territory of this new foundation was certainly enlarged as new settlers were added to the original population of the village of Bethsaida. Thus Julias must have contained both the fishing village of Bethsaida and the new settlement. Of how these two units were spatially related to each other the literary sources do not speak.
During the centuries various sites known under their modern names have been proposed as hiding the remains either of Bethsaida, of Bethsaida-Julias or of Julias. The controversy as to the placement of Bethsaida, however, was still unsolved in the twentieth century. Archaeological investigation of the most probable candidate to be named Bethsaida, et-Tell, an artificial hill dominating the area north of the modern shores of the Sea of Galilee, started in 1989. After a few seasons of field work the excavators indicated that the remains of the New Testament Bethsaida were indeed located at et-Tell. This identification was already acknowledged by the international society of scholars before the Polish mission joined the excavation. The year was 1998 and it was the first official Polish ar?chaeological mission in Israel.
The present report presents the results of field and library research of the years 1998-2000 relating principally to the squares containing the remains named the "The Temple of the Imperial Cult". It is leaning on the research predating our engagement, comments on them and disputes them, at the end presenting a new conception of the reconstruction of the sacral area...
Avant Propos
Bibliography with Abbreviations List of Illustrations
Introduction
Status of Research and Acknowledgments
Remarks on Un-excavated Surroundings of et-Tell
Et-Tell at the Beginning of the Excavation Works
History of the Excavation in Area A, "The Temple Area"
Excavation Prior to the Engagement of the Polish Mission
The Goal of the Excavations
Excavations in Area A. Interpretation
The Iron Age Remains
The Hellenistic and Roman Remains
Excavations in Areas B and C. An Overview
Excavations by the Polish Mission in the Years 1998-2000
Excavations of the Year 1998. The Space Away South-East of the Building
Excavations in July 1999 of the Socalled "Temple of the Imperial Cult"
Room A
Room B
Room C
Room D
Summing up
Excavations of the Year 2000. The Surroundings of the Temple
Excavations Inside the Sacral Building. Rooms B and C
Pavement and Wall South of Wall W 64
Pottery Found under the Pavement
Excavations in the Areas Adjacent to the Pavement
The Pavement North of the Northern Wall (W 62)
Interpretation of the Excavated Area
A Temple of the Imperial Cult
A Protosynagogue
An Andron
A Phoenician Type Temple. A Proposal for Reconstruction. The Cultural Context of the Building
Non-Hellenic Features in the Architecture of the Building in Area "A" of et-Tell
Tradition in Sacral Architecture of Phoenicia. An Overview
The Cult Sites on Mount Hermon
The Sanctuary at Mispe Yamin
The Apollo Sanctuary at Tyre
Carthage. The Temple at Koudiat el Hobsia and the Tophet
Common Features with the Temple of et-Tell
Non-architectural Evidence
The Temple of Dea Syria in Hierapolis
The Question of Ritual Dining
A Phoenician Type Temple. A Proposal for Reconstruction
The Temenos on the Terrace
The Building
The Area South from the Building
Summary with Conclusions
Appendix 1. Worked Stones found at et-Tell
Appendix 2. Terracottas
Appendix 3. Ancient Sources on Bethsaida-Julias
Index of Proper Names
Illustrations