Page 11 - A Walk to Caesarea / Joseph Patrich

Preface

The initial steps toward this book were in the large-scale excavations carried out
in Caesarea form 1992 through 2002 by a number of archaeological expeditions:
an expedition of the Israel Antiquities Authority led by Dr. Yosef Porath, who
excavated different areas within the Crusader city and outside of it; an expedition
of Haifa University under the direction of the late Prof. Avner Raban (in the area
of the internal basin) and that of the author (to the south of the Crusader wall).
Additional expeditions that operated in the area were the Combined Caesarea
Expeditions headed by Prof. Kenneth Holum of the University of Maryland, which
united a number of American academic institutions and excavated in the sea
and on land; an expedition from the University of Pennsylvania, led by Barbara
Burrell and Kathryn Gleason, which excavated Herod’s palace; an expedition of
the Museum of London Archaeology Service (MoLAS), headed by Brian Yule,
which excavated the inner basin; and a French expedition led by Jean Mesqui,
which excavated over the past decade along the Crusader wall. These excavations
uncovered, parallel to the coast line, many structures in a strip a few dozens meters
wide between the Roman theater and the Crusader city, and within the bounds of
the Crusader city itself. The structures and findings discovered in these and earlier
excavations, and the reconstruction and development projects that came in their
wake, turned ancient Caesarea into a first-rate tourist attraction. Many inscriptions
that have been compiled and published in recent years were added to the historical
sources. All of the findings make it possible to write a new, more detailed history of
the city and to offer the visitor to the attractions of the site a more detailed guide.
That is the main purpose of this book.

Most of my publications have been academic ones, intended for professionals and
students – a rather limited group. Yet, alongside this professional writing, I consider
it my duty to disseminate among the general audience more up-to-date information
about my research topics, with Caesarea standing at the focal point of many of
them. Obviously, a different writing style must be applied, one accessible to a broad
readership, along with many illustrations and reconstructions. Selections from
source material as well as a variety of expansions on topics have therefore been
provided in separate insert “windows”, so that fluent reading of the main text is
possible without being hindered by them. The glossary at the back of the book is
also aimed at clarifying professional terms, which are not generally in common use.
Moreover, the book contains a chronological chart and a selected bibliography for
further reading.

The book consists of two parts: a historical review and an archaeological guide. The
historical survey covers the period from the time of Straton’s Tower – the Hellenistic
settlement that preceded Caesarea – to the settling of Kibbutz Sdot Yam in 1940.

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