CAESAREA

Located on the Mediterranean coastal plain between Haifa & Tel Aviv, Caesarea was initialy a Sidonian fishing village named Strato's Tower that was established in the 3rd century B.C.E. Captured by the Hasmoneans (167-63 B.C.E.) the town remained in Jewish hands until the Roman conquest in 63 B.C.E.The Roman Emperor Augustus Caesar gave the city to Herod who renamed it Caesarea Maritima in honour of Caesar. Herod developed Caesaria into an architectural jewel embuing it with magnificant structures which included an aquiduct, harbor, hippodrome, theatre & palace.( Recently, archaeologists & architects have reconstructed a Herodian multi-arched façade with corresponding internal barrel vaults which formed the base platform for a temple that once existed above). Caesaria is also home to the Pontious Pilate inscription, which to date is the only archaeological evidence of his existence.During the Roman occupation (63 B.C.E.- 324 C.E.), Caesaria became the largest city in the Holyland & the home address of both the Roman procurator & Roman army headquarters.

In 66 C.E.a conflict between Jewish & non-Jewish residents erupted due to a synagogue in Caesaria being desecrated.This event was the spark that ignited the first Jewish revolt (66-73 C.E) againts Roman occupation.The revolt, also known as the Great Revolt ended at Masada in 73 C.E. A second Jewish revolt (132-135 C.E.) against Rome led by Bar Kochba erupted and lasted for three years. Thousands of Jews were slaughtered throughout the land. Amongst those slaughtered in Caesaria where the 10 Jewish martyrs, one of whom was the famed Rabbi Akiva. Towards the end of the Roman & later Byzantine period, Jews returned to the city & a segment of this returning population included Ammoraim (codifyers of Jewish Law) & Tannaim (expounders of Jewish Oral Law).

It was during the Byzantine period (324 – 640 C.E.) that the city's Christian past emerged. Paul set off from it's shores on his quest to spread Christianity. Unfortunately it was also where he was imprisoned before being sent off to Rome for his trial.The Roman officer Cornelius converted to Christianity here, & Eusebius, the archbishop of Caesaria penned the Onomasticon – A gazetteer of places that existed in the Holyland at the time.

The Arab's, relative late comers to this part of the Middle East conquer & occupy the Holyland in what is known as the early Arab period (640 to 1099). In 1099 the Crusaders arrive on the scene and slaughter both the Jewish & Muslim populations with equal brutality. Their conquest & occupation lasts from (1099 to 1291). A large percentage of the present day ruins date from this latter period and include city walls, towers, glacis & moats. A Jew by the name of Benjamin of Tudela, also known as the Jewish Marco Polo, visited Caesaria in 1170 & recorded that there were 10 Jewish families and 200 Samaritan families that resided in the city.In 1187 Saladin (a Sunni Muslim of Kurdish descent) recaptured the city but it was again retaken by the Crusaders led by Richard the Lionheart in 1191. The city was once again renovated.

The Mamlukes (1291-1516) initialy slave soldiers who hailed from the Caucases, Balkans & Asia were forcibly converted to Islam and conscripted into the Arab armies. They evolved into the warrior class & eventualy siezed power. Under the leadership of the Sultan Baybars, the Mamlukes conquered & destroyed Caesaria in 1265. This policy of destroying sea ports was implemented throughout the land to prevent the Crusaders from returning.

The Ottomans, namely the Turks became the dominant power in the Middle East and their occupation lasted from (1516 to 1917). Caesaria remained desolate after the Mamluk destruction in 1265, but saw the arrival of Caucasian Muslims in 1882. These Muslims were Bosnian refugees within the Ottoman empire who established a small community in Caesaria. Today their descendants live in Israel in a village called Kfar Kama located in the Lower Galilee. In 1940, the Palestine Jewish Colonization Organization purchased land to the south of Caesaria and created Kibbutz Sdot Yam. The kibbutz played an active role in the "illegal immigration" of Jews during the British mandate period (1917-1948).

Ron Traub (Tour Guide & Architect) Website : rontraub-tours.com Photo's : Rimonah Traub