Image Details

Erich Lessing

ON THE MAP. Another source that allowed archaeologists to identify the site as Archelais was the sixth-century C.E. Madaba Map. The map shows Archelais (Greek inscription at lower left reads ΑΡΧΕΛΑΙς) as a walled, three-towered city near a palm tree. To the east of the towers is a large watch-tower built above an arch, with a ladder leaning against it. Between the three towers and the watchtower with the ladder appears to be a rectangular reservoir with vegetation around it. The map confirms the details of the excavation and the location of Archelais just north of Jericho (Greek: ΙΕΡΙΧω) in the desert plain between the hills of Samaria (marked by a wavy border at the bottom) and the Jordan River. Note the fish in the lower river that turned around after swimming into the salty water of the Dead Sea.