Image Details

The Forum is shown in a general view in the photo, while the photo shows the remains of several columns and a cracked column base; at lower right is a semi-circular base for a statue or a memorial plaque.

The forum was a grand public space; it was paved with basalt flagstones and was lined on at least two sides with colonnades. The columns were made of gray granite and supported a roof, thus providing a shaded walkway along the edges of the forum. The bases that supported the columns were round and made of white marble; they sat on square pedestals made of local limestone. The semi-circular statue base, which measures 6 feet in diameter, was also made of limestone. Such semi-circular bases are common in Greece and Asia Minor but have never before been found in ancient Israel. The decision to erect a statue or plaque in Sussita’s forum could only have been made by the city’s council and indicates a high level of local governance.