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Excavating Apollonia/Arsuf (Phoenicians to Crusaders and what's in between) my work for this month

Caladan

Agnostic Pantheist
I'm taking part in an excavation in this beautiful place, perhaps some of you have studied the battle of the minds between Saladin and Richard Lionheart, in which the battle of Arsuf was a highlight in this chess game between the two epic leaders.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Arsuf


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Arsuf (Hebrew: אַרְסוּף, ארשוף‎, Arabic: أرصف‎) also known as Arsur or Apollonia, was an ancient city and fortress located in Israel, about 15 kilometres north of modern Tel Aviv, on a cliff above the Mediterranean Sea. The city site, Tel Arsuf, was intensively excavated from 1994. In 2002 it became Apollonia National Park.
In 1995 a new village by the name of Arsuf was established to the north of the ancient city.
Town was settled by Phoenicians in the 6th or 5th century BC, and named Arshuf after Resheph, the Canaanite god of fertility and the underworld. It was then a part of the Persian Empire and governed from Sidon. Phoenicians of Arshuf produced precious purple dye, derived from murex mollusks, which they exported to the Aegean.
During the Hellenistic period it was an anchorage town, ruled by Seleucids and re-named Apollonia, as the Greeks identified Reshef with Apollo.
Under Roman rule, the size of the town increased. It was an important settlement between Jaffa and Caesarea along Via Maris, the coastal road. In 113 AD, Apollonia was destroyed partially by an earthquake, but recovered quickly. The harbor was built, and trade with Italy and North Africa developed.
During the Byzantine period, the town extended to cover an area of 70 acres (280,000 m2). In the 5th and 6th century AD it was the second largest city in Sharon valley, after Caesarea, populated by Christian and Samaritans, having an elaborate church and a prosperous glass industry.
In 640 AD, the town was captured by Muslims, and the Semitic name Arsuf was restored. The town's area decreased to about 22 acres (89,000 m2) and, for the first time, it was surrounded by a fortified wall with buttresses, to resist the constant attacks of Byzantine fleets from the sea. Large marketplaces appeared, and pottery production developed. In 809 AD, following the death of Harun al-Rashid, the local Samaritan community was destroyed and their synagogue ruined.
In 1101 Arsuf fell to a Crusader army led by Baldwin I of Jerusalem. The Crusaders, who called it Arsur, rebuilt the city's walls and created the Lordship of Arsur in the Kingdom of Jerusalem. In 1187 Arsuf was captured by the Muslims, but fell again to the Crusaders on September 7, 1191 after a battle between Richard I of England and Saladin.
John of Ibelin, Lord of Beirut (1177—1236) became Lord of Arsur in 1207 when he married Melisende of Arsur (born c.1170). Their son John of Arsur (c.1211—1258) inherited the title. The title then passed to John of Arsur's eldest son Balian (1239—1277). He built new walls, the big fortress and new harbor (1241). From 1261, the city was ruled by the Knights Hospitaller.
In 1265 sultan Baibars, ruler of the Mamluks, captured Arsur, after 40 days of siege. The Mamluks razed the city walls and the fortress to their foundations, fearing a return of the Crusaders. The destruction was so complete that the site has not been resettled since.

Arsuf - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 
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Caladan

Agnostic Pantheist
A scorched gate from the fire of the battle of the Crusaders and the Muslims:

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This one was taken during a former trip I made to the place during spring time:


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Caladan

Agnostic Pantheist
Pottery.. (Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine...)

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Catapult missiles...


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IAF Blackhawk over the beach..

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Caladan

Agnostic Pantheist
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Starting to unearth mosaics:

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a chunk of raw glass from an ancient furnace:

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Paragliding over Apollonia:

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Samaritan lamp, you can see the seven-branched candelabrum symbol imprinted on it:


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gnomon

Well-Known Member
Cool dig!

I don't want you to think less of me for this question but have you or any of the team run across any weaponry in the dig?

I've been fascinated by Saladin and Richards conflict by the posited respect the two men had for each other during their conflicts.

Also, is this your job or are you on a volunteer basis with this dig?

In any event I envy you right now.
 

Caladan

Agnostic Pantheist
Cool dig!

I don't want you to think less of me for this question but have you or any of the team run across any weaponry in the dig?

I've been fascinated by Saladin and Richards conflict by the posited respect the two men had for each other during their conflicts.

Also, is this your job or are you on a volunteer basis with this dig?

In any event I envy you right now.

Actually, we have only recently opened an area which is basically a Crusaders watch tower atop the trench, and we are expecting many finds of the battle, in previous excavations in the place, thousands of arrow heads and ancient grenades were found. I'm hoping that in a few days I could post some interesting artifacts in that regard, so stay tuned if you're interested!

about Saladin and Richard Lionheart, there is a big group of Brits who wish to relive the battle of Arsuf here, also there is a local group of Israelis who specialize in reliving historical battles and events, one of them came to our excavations today to get some impression.

As for volunteering...No, I actually get paid to do this! thats the beauty of it!! haha.


here are photos from today:

Clearing the mosaics of the ancient Samaritan synagogue:

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Floor of Samaritan synagogue:


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This guy who's dressed like he just came out of feudal Europe works for a place that specializes in historical fetishes so to speak, they are thinking of recreating the battles that took place on the site.:

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Checking out a Samaritan synagogue inscription dedicated to the 'One God':


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Myself and Lee, a friend from my department who's just about to finish her Master's:

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Crusaders trench:

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Lizzy climbing the trench:
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Beautiful early Arab lamp:

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Caladan

Agnostic Pantheist
A few more photos of the mosaics, although it is not as impressive as a fully colored mosaic, and in a way it looks as an 'industrial' mosaic, there is an interesting Samaritan inscription on it in Greek, dedicated to the 'One God'. although its hard to decipher the entire inscription, you can get a glimpse of part of it in the second photo.

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Caladan

Agnostic Pantheist
This is how we do it :cool:
myself and the guys chilling with some cold beer on an extra hot day of diggin' in the Crusaders area of the excavation.

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