Hippos (Sussita)
RENEWED EXCAVATIONS
Following an urban survey of the site in 1999, a large-scale archaeological project, planned to include at least ten seasons of excavation, was inaugurated at Hippos (Sussita). The project is directed by A. Segal, under the auspices of the Zinman Institute of Archaeology, University of Haifa. Assisting in the direction of the expedition during the seasons reported were J. Mlynarczyk of the Polish Academy of Sciences and M. Burdajewicz of the National Museum in Warsaw. In the summer of 2002, the third season of excavation, the expedition was joined by a group from Concordia University, St. Paul, Minnesota, headed by M. Schuler. The results of the first three seasons are presented below. Each season lasted one month.
EXCAVATION RESULTS
THE FORUM. A large section of what appears to have been Hippos’ forum (25 by 13 m) has been excavated so far. It was paved with rectangular basalt flagstones uniform in size (0.40 by 0.70 cm) and laid with great precision. Scores of these stones bear masons’ marks. In the southwestern part of the forum a stone staircase leading to a large subterranean reservoir was uncovered. The L-shaped staircase has seven stairs in its upper flight, descending from north to south; the lower flight of the staircase, leading into the reservoir, is oriented east–west. The two flights of stairs are connected by a landing, 2.5 by 1 m. The upper flight is preserved in its entirety; of the lower flight, only the bottom six stairs survive in situ. The reservoir is in an excellent state of preservation, having suffered little damage over the years. It is rectangular in shape, 20 by 6 m and up to 9 m deep. Its western boundary adjoins the eastern wall of the monumental ashlar building.
The northern boundary of the forum has not yet been exposed, but it can be assumed that its pavement extended to the southern wall of the Hellenistic compound. The southern boundary of the paved area is also yet to be uncovered; the topography undoubtedly dictated the extent of the forum on this side, where the steep incline marked the limit of the city. A bathhouse, not yet excavated, forms the eastern boundary of the forum. The remains of the bathhouse, which include an unroofed, well-plastered swimming pool (natatio), can be clearly distinguished on the surface of the site. On the western side, the forum is delimited by a monumental building of the Roman period constructed of basalt ashlar masonry.
The forum was probably founded in the first or the beginning of the second century CE, a date based mainly on typological-comparative data and the numismatic finds. The many repairs and additions evident in the paved square attest that the forum remained in continuous use until the eighth century CE.
THE MONUMENTAL BUILDING. A massive, well-preserved building from the Roman period still stands to a height of almost 3 m. Beautifully constructed of basalt ashlars with no bonding material, the building is rectangular, 18 by 9 m, and oriented on a north–south longitudinal axis. In the center of the eastern wall, facing the forum, is a semicircular niche, which, judging from the architectural fragments scattered along the base of the building, was roofed with a half dome. The floor of the niche is 1 m above the level of the forum; there are two stone courses beneath it. The niche’s maximum opening is 6.7 m. Three steps are built along its semicircular contour. In the center of the middle step is a small niche, less than 1 m wide.
In the northern part of the western wall of the building, 2 m from the northwestern corner, a doorway, 0.90 m wide, was uncovered leading to a stairwell, 3.5 m long and 1 m wide. Like the other parts of the building, the stairwell was meticulously constructed of basalt ashlars. Its entrance opens onto a landing paved with flagstones and a flight of seven stairs ascending on the eastern side. The stairs terminate at the landing and the next flight of stairs is farther to the north; nothing remains of these stairs, but like the lower staircase, they probably led to the west.
The building has been identified as a nymphaeum, based upon its location and plan. It is reminiscent of the nymphaea at Gerasa, Bosrah, and Beth-Shean. However, since no characteristic water installations have been uncovered in the building or in its immediate vicinity, this interpretation remains unconfirmed. In the opinion of the excavators, it was an open-air shrine dedicated to the cult of the emperors—a kalybe—similar to ones known at Bosrah and Philippopolis. On the basis of the typological analysis of the architectural fragments found in the vicinity of the building, it was apparently constructed at the end of the second or during the third century CE.
THE HELLENISTIC COMPOUND. The compound (or temenos) is situated in the center of Hippos, north of the forum and parallel to the city’s main colonnaded street, the decumanus maximus. Large sections of the southern and western walls and of the pavement of large rectangular flagstones of the compound have been uncovered. At this stage of the excavations, the location and course of the northern and eastern walls are still unknown. Also uncovered were sections of the stylobate enclosing the compound on the south and west, indicating that it was surrounded by a colonnade. Column bases and drums and other architectural elements in limestone found during the excavation probably belonged to the colonnade. Other limestone fragments found in secondary use in later buildings constructed within it confirm that a public building, perhaps a temple, stood in the Hellenistic compound.
The two portions of the walls of the compound uncovered are a 15 m segment of the western wall and a 40 m segment of the southern wall. The latter wall is in an excellent state of preservation, its courses meticulously laid in a continuous pattern of headers and stretchers. The masonry has drafted margins, and although not of outstanding workmanship, it conveys a sense of order and uniformity. The bosses are roughly dressed and not identically shaped. Of the southern wall, several courses based on two foundation courses have survived; the foundation courses are also arranged as headers and stretchers, but without drafting. Above the fourth course is a course of smooth limestone blocks laid as stretchers, somewhat taller than those below it. Above it is an unusual course of limestone headers. This topmost course has survived only in part and although in a very poor state of preservation, it too was evidently built of well-dressed stones of excellent workmanship.
Remains of a stepped podium, about 9 m long, and other building remains extending south of the northwest church demonstrate that the Hellenistic compound continued to function as a cultic center in the Roman period. The podium is built of beautifully dressed basalt masonry without bonding material. It consists of two steps, with traces of a third step at the eastern edge of the second. The continuation of the podium to the west has not yet been excavated. Its eastern end is delineated by a short wall (anta) oriented north–south. The southern end of this wall has the form of an engaged half column and its eastern face was molded into a beautiful cyma recta profile. It can be assumed that an enclosure wall similar to this one stood at the podium’s western end as well. This podium, combined with the discovery of basalt architectural elements, including Corinthian capitals of engaged half columns and cornices, indicates that in the Roman period a very large public edifice was erected in the compound with architectural elements (all of basalt) of outstanding quality. Many of these elements were found in secondary use in the northwest Byzantine church (see below) later erected in the compound. The continued sanctity of the site of the Hellenistic compound into the Byzantine period is attested to by the construction of that church.
On the basis of the typological and comparative study of the architectural remains, methods of construction and stone dressing, and ceramic and numismatic finds, it can be concluded that the compound was probably originally constructed in the second century BCE. It continued to serve as a cult center during the Roman period, when a new temple of basalt masonry replaced the limestone Hellenistic temple. It appears that the raised stepped podium found in the middle of the compound formed a part of that Roman temple, and that numerous architectural elements from it are incorporated into the Byzantine church that occupied the center of the Hellenistic compound, above the remains of the pagan temples.
THE NORTHWEST CHURCH. The northwest church is one of the four churches known at Hippos. It is situated in the center of the town, north of the forum, and inside the Hellenistic compound. The builders of the church appear to have intentionally constructed it above the remains of the pagan cult center. Its plan could be clearly discerned on surface level before the start of the excavations. The church was excavated by a team from the University of Warsaw, directed by J. Mlynarczyk and M. Burdajewicz.
The church is built of limestone and basalt blocks of different sizes, some of which were reused from earlier buildings. It is rectangular in plan (external measurements 46 by 23 m), its longitudinal axis oriented east–west. Its overall area measures 1,058 sq m. An unusual feature is that the area of the atrium is slightly larger than that of the church building.
The atrium, built entirely of basalt (internal measurements 21.5 by 21 m), is paved with variously sized rectangular basalt flagstones laid with great precision. Along the four walls of the atrium ran four colonnades, with six columns each. The column shafts, made of drums, were set on Ionic-Attic bases and crowned with Ionic capitals. The atrium could be approached from the west, through a doorway located in the middle of the western wall, on the axis of the main entrance to the prayer hall from the atrium. Another entrance was located in the southern wall of the atrium, adjoining its southwestern corner. This doorway was approached from a side street of the decumanus maximus paved in basalt flagstones.
The prayer hall (external measurements 22.3 by 21.5 m) was entered from the atrium by way of three doorways, the wider one leading to the nave and the two narrower ones to the aisles. The nave (6.5 m wide) is divided from the two aisles (each 3.3 m wide) by two rows of six columns, built in the same style as those in the atrium, also set on marble bases that were undoubtedly taken from an earlier Roman building. The apse (5.6 m in diameter), at the eastern end of the nave, is composed of small basalt ashlars laid in uniform courses of headers and stretchers. The synthronon, along the base of the apse’s rounded wall, is built of a combination of ashlars and fieldstones; two of its steps are preserved in situ. Both the synthronon and the apse are coated in plaster. Opposite the main apse is a square bema (6.7 by 5.9 m), enclosed on three sides by chancels.
Another apse is located at the eastern end of the northern aisle. It is c. 2 m in diameter and, unlike the main apse, very carelessly constructed. It apparently belonged to a later phase of the church, as it was built within a rectangular room whose roof was originally supported by two arches, the remains of which are clearly distinguishable behind the apse. To the east of the northern apse is a small rectangular room, approached by a short corridor entered from the northern part of the main apse. The southern aisle has no apse, but a rectangular room with two pilasters, probably arch bearing, at its entrance. This lack of symmetry in the church’s interior is due to alterations carried out in the area of the main apse: in its initial phase, the church had a single apse; in a later phase, it appears that it was decided to convert it into a triapsidal church, but this was only partially executed.
The entire church was paved with mosaics that have survived in their entirety in the northern and southern aisles; very little of the mosaic pavement was preserved in the nave. They are of good quality; the tesserae, measuring 1.2–1.4 cm, appear in four shades—white, red, black, and yellow, the last appearing only rarely. The designs consist mainly of geometric and stylized floral patterns. The pavement of the southern aisle includes two short, one-line inscriptions in Greek, commemorating donors—apparently members of the local community—and mentioning the amounts contributed by them. One of the inscriptions is located in the intercolumnar space between the fourth and fifth columns, faces south, and mentions a woman named Heliodora. The other is located at the eastern end of the southern aisle, appears within a tabula ansata, and mentions a man named Petros.
The analysis of the architecture of the several phases of the church building and the typological study of the mosaics indicate that the church was founded as a monoapsidal structure at the end of the fourth or beginning of the fifth century CE. The builders of the church made extensive use of building materials from the remains of the earlier Hellenistic and Roman buildings on site and paved the structure in a white mosaic. In a later phase, probably at the end of the sixth century CE, rectangular rooms were added along the long walls of the church on the northern and southern sides; nothing is known of these rooms, which have not yet been excavated. The main alterations of this phase were made inside the church: an apse was added to the northern aisle and a large bema was constructed opposite the main apse and separated from the nave and the aisles by marble chancel screen panels. The entire floor was repaved in a colorful mosaic bearing geometric and stylized floral patterns, donated by members of the local community. This mosaic closely resembles the mosaic pavement in the southeast church at Hippos (dated to 591 CE) and in the church at Kursi (dated to 585 CE). On the basis of these similarities, the second phase of the church should probably be dated to the end of the sixth century. It was destroyed in the earthquake of 749 CE.
THE INDUSTRIAL ZONE. An industrial complex including an oil press and a winepress was uncovered outside the southern wall of the northwest church. In the middle of the complex is a treading floor (5 by 4.25 m) paved with carefully laid basalt slabs. The floor and walls enclosing it were based on an earlier structure built of solid basalt masonry. The nature of this early structure has not yet been clarified, but it appears to have been a large building extending south and southeast of the industrial complex. Adjoining the treading floor from the west is a collecting vat (1.4 m deep, 4.5 m wide), only the western part of which has been fully excavated. The vat is coated in thick, well-preserved plaster. It was entered on its southern side by means of seven wide and easily manageable steps leading north.
THE NORTHEAST CHURCH. The northeast church was erected about 50 m east of the northwest church. Like its neighbor to the west, the remains of the northeast church could be clearly distinguished on surface level before excavation, and it, too, is oriented east–west. It was excavated by a team from Concordia University, St. Paul, Minnesota, from 2002, under the direction of M. Schuler.
The church is a long building consisting of a main hall on the east and a roofed atrium on the west. It is built of a combination of basalt ashlars and fieldstones. Some of the church furniture is of marble. The prayer hall is an almost perfect square (c. 12 by 12 m) divided into a 6 m-wide nave and two 3 m-wide aisles by two rows of four columns each, spaced at intervals of c. 2.5 m. The diameter of the column drums is 0.52 m. The nave is paved partly with flagstones and partly in opus sectile. The atrium, which has not yet been excavated, was apparently surrounded by porticos, similar to the atrium in the northwest church. In the middle of the hall’s eastern wall is an external apse (4 m in diameter), which is rare in Byzantine churches in this region. The other three churches at Hippos have interior apses, typical of churches in the Galilee and Golan. The northeast church also differs from the other churches at Hippos in its having a single apse.
The apsidal wall is of basalt ashlars not laid in uniform courses, and some in secondary use. Traces of plaster surviving in the apse confirm that it was plastered and painted. A low plastered wall—a remnant of the synthronon—runs along the foot of the apsidal wall; it is about 1 m wide and 0.3 m high. The apse was partitioned off by a chancel screen standing 3 m to its west, fragments of posts and panels of which were found scattered on the surface. The limestone chancel bases contain deep grooves into which the panels of the screen were inserted.
A burial was uncovered at the eastern end of the southern aisle. Carelessly built walls separate it from the rest of the church: on the northern side a wall was put up between the eastern column adjoining the apse and the eastern wall of the church; on the western, between the same column and the church’s southern wall. Since these two walls were built directly above the stones of the church’s pavement and above bases for the chancel screen panels, they probably belonged to a late phase of the church, although they could also have been added when the building no longer functioned as a church. The burial consists of a limestone sarcophagus (2 by 0.7 m), half of it sunk into the floor of the church. A trial trench dug alongside it revealed that the sarcophagus was laid on an earlier floor of the church—paved in opus sectile—about 50 cm beneath the later floor. The gabled lid of the sarcophagus is covered in a thick coat of plaster. Its two long sides (on the north and south) are revetted in variously sized marble panels. The eastern side of the sarcophagus abuts the eastern wall of the church and the western side abuts the later partition wall. On the marble panel in the middle of its northern side is an incised cross with two Greek letters between the arms of the cross, alpha on the left and omega on the right. The sanctity of the burial continued to be honored during the late phase of the church: when the floor of that phase was laid, the marble slabs covering the sarcophagus were carefully incorporated into it. The two later partition walls constructed around the sarcophagus further attest to the unique status of the burial.
THE EAST GATE. Two main gates were found at Hippos, one at the eastern end of the decumanus maximus and the other at the western. The west gate, which has not yet been excavated, was built opposite the Sea of Galilee and probably served those bound for the city’s agricultural area or port, situated south of Kibbutz ‘En Gev. The east gate was used by those traveling to the southern Golan Heights and Gadara.
The plans of the gate were prepared by H. Yaacobi in 1952. Since then, the gate has suffered considerable damage by both man and nature, particularly during the 1950s and 1960s, when Hippos was a fortified post opposite the Syrian border. It was excavated by a team from the University of Haifa, under the direction of M. Eisenberg.
The gate is incorporated into the city wall at the eastern end of the cliff, overlooking the saddle between the Hippos promontory and the southwestern foothills of the Golan Heights. It has a single passageway, 3.2 m wide, flanked by towers projecting eastward from the wall—a square tower to the north and a round tower to the south. The asymmetry of the two towers in relation to the passageway and their differing plans are two unique features of the gate. The former appears to have been a factor of topographical considerations. The round tower (external diameter 8 m; internal diameter 4.8 m), built on a steep incline sloping sharply to the east, protected the area opposite the gate and the saddle to which the road to the city ascended. The square tower, in contrast, situated at the edge of the cliff, above a deep abyss, controlled only the limited area next to the gate passageway.
The basalt stones used in constructing the gate are of considerably higher quality than those of the wall. Because the round tower was erected above a very steep slope, it was necessary to base its foundational courses in terrace layers on the west–east slope. It is built of relatively small, well-dressed ashlars in dry construction, laid in uniform courses of alternate rows of headers and stretchers everywhere but the three lowest courses. The lowest course is built of stretchers directly on bedrock leveled for this purpose, the second of headers, and the third of particularly well-crafted stones with rounded sides topped by a simple stepped profile. The walls of the entrance piers are made of basalt ashlars with fine marginal drafting and a smooth boss. The square tower, on the other hand, was found in a poor state of preservation. Its remains indicate that in some later phase it was repaired with cementing material. Little has also survived of the two doorjambs of the gate: of the southern, three courses were preserved in situ; and of the northern, only the remains of one course could be distinguished on surface level.
Although the excavation of the east gate has only begun, the date of its construction can be fixed to the end of the first century CE on the basis of a comparison of similar gates from Tiberias and Gadara, specifically the building methods and materials, and the types of stone dressing employed. Later repairs confirm that it remained in use for an extended period.
ARTHUR SEGAL
Color Plates
RENEWED EXCAVATIONS
Following an urban survey of the site in 1999, a large-scale archaeological project, planned to include at least ten seasons of excavation, was inaugurated at Hippos (Sussita). The project is directed by A. Segal, under the auspices of the Zinman Institute of Archaeology, University of Haifa. Assisting in the direction of the expedition during the seasons reported were J. Mlynarczyk of the Polish Academy of Sciences and M. Burdajewicz of the National Museum in Warsaw. In the summer of 2002, the third season of excavation, the expedition was joined by a group from Concordia University, St. Paul, Minnesota, headed by M. Schuler. The results of the first three seasons are presented below. Each season lasted one month.
EXCAVATION RESULTS
THE FORUM. A large section of what appears to have been Hippos’ forum (25 by 13 m) has been excavated so far. It was paved with rectangular basalt flagstones uniform in size (0.40 by 0.70 cm) and laid with great precision. Scores of these stones bear masons’ marks. In the southwestern part of the forum a stone staircase leading to a large subterranean reservoir was uncovered. The L-shaped staircase has seven stairs in its upper flight, descending from north to south; the lower flight of the staircase, leading into the reservoir, is oriented east–west. The two flights of stairs are connected by a landing, 2.5 by 1 m. The upper flight is preserved in its entirety; of the lower flight, only the bottom six stairs survive in situ. The reservoir is in an excellent state of preservation, having suffered little damage over the years. It is rectangular in shape, 20 by 6 m and up to 9 m deep. Its western boundary adjoins the eastern wall of the monumental ashlar building.