An amulet, a painting depicting the Greek goddess Tyche, and a figurine celebrating the alcohol-soaked processions devoted to the god of wine Dionysus are now on display telling the story of ancient Hippos during its transition from the pagan Roman period to the Christian-Byzantine era.
Situated to the east of the Sea of Galilee, Hippos was founded in the second century BCE and destroyed by the devastating earthquake of 749 CE, also known as the 749 Galilee Earthquake.
Over the past 18 years, the site which lies within the Nature and Parks Authority’s Sussita National Park has been excavated and explored by researchers led by Dr. Michael Eisenberg from the Institute of Archaeology at the University of Haifa.
Now, Eisenberg and researchers from the university are displaying many rare antiquities and relics unearthed at the site in an exhibition called “Before the Earth Shook: The Ancient City of Hippos-Sussita Emerges.”
“The excavations have yielded many impressive and unique findings over the years, both from the period when the city was still pagan and from the Byzantine and Umayyad periods, when Hippos had a clear Christian majority,” said Eisenberg on Monday.
