Page 166 - A Walk to Caesarea / Joseph Patrich

152 Archaeological Review

and Samaritans. The Christian inscriptions are adorned with crosses. The sarcophagi
are among the most magnificent discovered in Israel. Two of them are on display
in the Rockefeller Museum, and three in the Israel Museum (Figs. 48a–h, above,
pp. 43–45). The lid of a sarcophagus in the form of a tiled roof with a Gorgon/Medusa
head in the gable on each side, stands on the port promenade in the Crusader city
(Fig. 171a). Nearby two other sarcophagi are displayed: one, with rough faces and
garlands whose sculpting is unfinished, bears a burial inscription in memory of a
woman of valor named Menophilia (Fig. 171b). A sarcophagus with a crude face of
a similar type is displayed in the area of the Theater Fortress (Fig. 171c).

The Oval Amphitheater (Fig. 172)

The structure was first identified in the northeast of the city in an aerial photo by
A. Reifenberg. In 1960, Negev opened a number of soundings there. In excavations
conducted in 2010 by Peter Gendelman on behalf of IAA, it turned out that the
structure, of which mainly the foundations as well as the underground tunnels
(hypogeum), in the form of a cross, and elevator shafts were preserved, was probably
built in the first half of the second century – perhaps in the time of Hadrian. Its
external dimensions are 101 x 128 m and those of the arena – 83 x 55.5 m. This
was a large-dimension amphitheater, among the largest in our region. The seating
array, which was 22.7 m wide, contained 36–39 rows of seats. It rose above the
foundation wall (podium) that was over 3 m high and enclosed the arena; it was
laid over a system of radial vaults with a circular corridor 3 m wide and 4 m high
at their front. This circular corridor was delineated by the podium wall, which was

Fig. 172

The oval amphitheater.
Remains of stairs and the
peripheral corridor