This summer, help archaeologists excavate the Hellenistic and Roman site of Hippos (Aramaic Sussita) in northern Israel. Impressively situated on a high spur overlooking the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee, Hippos was founded shortly after 200 B.C. as one of the ten Decapolis cities of northeastern Palestine. In these cities, where the local population came to fully embrace Greek life and culture, Hellenistic values dominated nearly every aspect of civic and private life, including architecture, religion, literature and sport. Even after the Roman general Pompey established Roman control over the region in 63 B.C., the Decapolis cities retained their Hellenized traditions for several hundred years.

At Hippos, archaeologists have uncovered the extraordinary remains of a large, well-planned Greco-Roman city, complete with a massive monumental archway, a main colonnaded street (the decumanus maximus), a broad rectangular-shaped forum, luxurious public baths and major temples dating to both the Hellenistic and Roman periods. More recently, excavations have brought to light the remains of at least seven different churches built on the site during the Byzantine period, as well as a winery complex. During the upcoming 2010 season, dig director Arthur Segal intends to investigate the Odeion, Basilica, the Hellenistic Temenos and a Byzantine church as well as conduct conservation work.

Participants will stay at Kibbutz Ein-Gev, just on the shores of the Sea of Galilee with a private beach. Accommodations are 2-3 persons per room, all air-conditioned, and include full board (3 meals).

Dr. Arthur Segal, director of the Hippos-Sussita excavation since 1999, heads the Zinman Institute of Archaeology and is a professor of Classical Archaeology at the University of Haifa. He has excavated at many sites, including Megiddo, along the Southern Wall of the Temple Mount, Shivta and Kibbutz Sha’ar ha-Amakim, where he spent 14 seasons excavating the Hellenistic fortress.

He is the author of From Function to Monument: Urban Landscapes of Roman Palestine, Syria and Provincia Arabia (Oxbow Books, 1997) and The History and Architecture of the Theatres in Roman Palestine (Bialik Institute, 1999).