Disir
Platinum Member
- Sep 30, 2011
- 28,003
- 9,607
- 910
The discovery of a Greek dedication to a church, or possibly a monastery, 1,500 years ago is leading archaeologists to think they may have found the long-lost ruins of Ashdod-Yam, a Byzantine city known in the classical sources as Azotos Paralios.
Azotos Paralios city was a later expansion of the ancient Roman city of Ashdod-Yam, which had been found on the Israeli coast just a few kilometers from the even older city of Ashdod, and which has been partially excavated. The location and extent of the Byzantine expansion had remained unknown, until now.
The almost perfectly preserved dedicatory inscription discovered during the 3rd excavation season belonged most probably to a Georgian church built at the site. Archaeologists believe the rest of the Byzantine city lies beneath the dunes by the modern Israeli city of Ashdod.
“We know from historical sources and a representation on the Madaba map (a contemporary mosaic map located in Jordan, from the 6th century C.E.) that the region´s center of gravity shifted from Ashdod to Ashdod-Yam during the Byzantine period," says Dr. Alexander Fantalkin of the Tel Aviv University institute of archaeology, head of the expedition with Prof. Angelika Berlejung of Leipzig University.
read more: Mysterious ancient city missing for over a millennium may have been finally found in Israel
That's a cool find.
Azotos Paralios city was a later expansion of the ancient Roman city of Ashdod-Yam, which had been found on the Israeli coast just a few kilometers from the even older city of Ashdod, and which has been partially excavated. The location and extent of the Byzantine expansion had remained unknown, until now.
The almost perfectly preserved dedicatory inscription discovered during the 3rd excavation season belonged most probably to a Georgian church built at the site. Archaeologists believe the rest of the Byzantine city lies beneath the dunes by the modern Israeli city of Ashdod.
“We know from historical sources and a representation on the Madaba map (a contemporary mosaic map located in Jordan, from the 6th century C.E.) that the region´s center of gravity shifted from Ashdod to Ashdod-Yam during the Byzantine period," says Dr. Alexander Fantalkin of the Tel Aviv University institute of archaeology, head of the expedition with Prof. Angelika Berlejung of Leipzig University.
read more: Mysterious ancient city missing for over a millennium may have been finally found in Israel
That's a cool find.
