Strata: Digging up Ancient Tiberias

In March an international team of archaeologists launched a ten-year effort to excavate ancient Tiberias, on the southwest shores of the Sea of Galilee. Headed by Yizhar Hirschfeld, of the Hebrew University, and Katharina Galor, from Brown University, the excavation has already borne fruit, and given the city’s historical significance, much more can be expected.

Tiberias was an important cultural center during the Roman and Byzantine periods. In the third century A.D., Tiberias became the seat of Jewish political, religious and cultural activity in ancient Israel. The Palestinian Talmud was compiled and edited in Tiberias, and Jewish institutions there thrived until the tenth century. Though inhabited predominately by Jews, the city also hosted sizable Christian and Muslim communities.