Image Details

Overlooking a horseshoe-shaped beach and, beyond it, the Mediterranean Sea, Tel Dor lies on a beautiful stretch of Israel’s northern coast. The city was once a thriving center of trade, hosting at least eight different cultures during its long history, including the Canaanite, Sikil (Sea Peoples), Israelite, Phoenician, Hellenistic and Roman cultures. Author Ephraim Stern led Hebrew University’s major excavation of Dor for 20 years. The dig ended with a surprise: Stern’s team found large fragments of the head of a Gorgon (a female monster from Greek mythology). The find provides strong evidence of Greek culture at Dor and raises the possibility that Dor was once home to a Greek temple as well as a Greek community.