University of Haifa archeologists recently discovered items which have shed light on an earthquake that occurred in 363 CE in the ancient city of Hippos that overlooks Lake Kinneret. 
 
 
 
 Hippos, near modern-day Kibbutz Ein Gev overlooking the lake (the Sea of Galilee), was the site of a Greco-Roman city-state. It is just on the Israeli side of the 1949 armistice line with Syria. Susita Mountain, on which Hippos was built, is between the Kinneret Valley and the southwestern Golan mountain range, about 2 kilometers east of the lake and rising 350 meters above it. Hippos was part of the Decapolis, Ten Cities that were culturally tied more closely to Greece and Rome than to the otherwise Semitic region. 
 
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 Archeologists digging at the excavation site, founded as Antioch of Hippos by Seleucid settlers and known as Susita in Hebrew, uncovered a woman’s skeleton and a gold dove-shaped pendant under the tiles of a collapsed roof. In addition, they found the marble leg of a statue and artillery from some 2,000 years ago.“Finally the findings are coming together to form a clear historical-archeological picture,” Dr. Michael Eisenberg, the head of the excavation, said on Monday.The excavation has been ongoing for 15 years. Hippos, which was founded in the second century BCE, was the site of two large, well-documented earthquakes. The first, in 363 CE, caused great damage but the city recovered. The second earthquake, in 749 CE, destroyed the city which was then abandoned, never to recover.Evidence of the 363 CE earthquake’s destruction was uncovered during digging last year, however none as significant as the new discoveries, according to archeologists.In the northern section of the basilica, the largest structure in the city, which served as its marketplace, the archeologists, led by Haim Skolnik, discovered the remains of a number of skeletons that were crushed under the roof that collapsed. Among the bones of one of the women killed in the collapse, they found the dove-shaped pendant.For the first time, evidence was uncovered that the 363 earthquake destroyed the Roman baths, which, like the basilica, were not rebuilt.According to Eisenberg, the findings show that the first earthquake was so powerful it completely destroyed the city, and rebuilding took some 20 years.The marble leg that was discovered was part of a sculpture at the Roman baths. “It is too early to determine who the man depicted in the sculpture was. It could be a god or athlete whose sculpture was over 2-meters tall. We hope to find further pieces of the sculpture in the coming seasons that will shed light on his identity,” Eisenberg said.At the bastion, the city’s main defense post during the Roman period, archeologists uncovered a fortified space for a catapult that appears to have been some 8-meters long. Archeologist have found a number of stone cannonballs that fit the massive catapult, as well as smaller stones for smaller launchers. The catapult was capable of firing cannonballs as far as 350 meters. ||||| An ancient ritual bath plastered in ancient graffiti from the Second Temple era has been found while ahead of digging the foundations for a new nursery school in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Arnona. 
 
 Ritual baths from that period are not rare in the Holy Land, but they don't usually feature time capsules in the form of writing and symbols. The space is highly unusual in featuring inscriptions in ancient Aramaic – albeit pretty much incomprehensible - on the plastered walls. 
 
 The writing and painting was done in mud and soot, and some carved into the soft stone. There are also dozens of images including a boat, palm trees and various plant species, and possibly even a menorah, says Re'em. 
 
 Examples of written Aramaic from the time of the Second Temple are very rare. The use of Aramaic on the walls suggess that it was the common language of the time, which could strengthen the argument that Jesus spoke Aramaic, as opposed to Hebrew. 
 
 By the way, there is certainly one other example of a Jerusalemite mikveh from the Second Temple age with graffiti all over it. That case however involved rather pedantic Australian soldiers from World War II, who carved their names and identity numbers into the ancient walls. 
 
 skip - 
 
 A stone falls 
 
 This latest discovery of the 2,000-year old bathing chamber, carved into the stone of a natural cave, was serendipitous. 
 
 Given that Israel is the birthplace of, it seems, not only the three great religions but modern mankind as well, it is a hotbed of archaeology. Every time any construction project starts, be it of a new nursery school or road, the Israel Antiquities Authority carries out a "salvage excavation" – it checks whether there are ruins there that need preservation. 
 
 Mikveh graffiti 
 
 This time, in the very last hour of the very last day of the salvage dig, a stone suddenly vanished – into a black hole. Thus the underground space was revealed, says IAA Jerusalem manager Amit Re'em. 
 
 But to the horror of the archaeologists, within hours of the momentous discovery, the writing started to fade. 
 
 Emergency archaeology conservation teams from the IAA were alerted. The plaster was removed for study at the IAA labs and the delicate finds have been sealed. 
 
 The underground bath was accessed by a stone staircase and an anteroom flanked by benches. A winepress was excavated alongside the ritual bath, the IAA says. 
 
 Just a month ago a family in another Jerusalem neighborhood admitted to having discovered a mikveh from the same time, roughly 2,000 years ago, below their living room. (The family had found the underground bath some years before, but had waited to report their discovery.) 
 
 Cohen woz 'ere? 
 
 Finding a decently-preserved concentration of inscriptions and symbols from the Second Temple period is rare, the IAA notes, while admitting in the same breath – see the pictures – that the writing is not legible any more. 
 
 Some of the inscriptions might indicate names. Or they might not. One word might be the name "Cohen," suggests Prof. Hagai Misgav of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Another word looks like it might be "avad" (as in "served" - e.g., served the Lord, not "worked"). 
 
 "The symbols we see are familiar to us from coins, sarcophagi and graves, but a concentration like this is certainly unusual," Re'em said. "It is possible that writing on mikveh walls was common, but was not usually preserved." 
 
 At this point the archaeologists have no theory as to who wrote and carved the words and images, or if there was a message the artist wanted to convey. 
 
 While the symbols that can be discerned are common elements in the visual arts of the Second Temple period, says the IAA – it adds that the drawing that might possibly be construed as a menorah is exceptional because back then, it was taboo to portray this sacred object located in the Temple.
– Archaeologists investigating the remains of an ancient city overlooking the Sea of Galilee say they've found the best evidence yet of a devastating earthquake—one of two that leveled the Greco-Roman municipality, the Jerusalem Post reports. The University of Haifa researchers, who have been excavating Hippos for 15 years, said today that they found a dove-shaped pendant and a woman's skeleton under the remains of a roof. They also dug up ancient artillery balls for a huge catapult and a statue's marble leg. "Finally the findings are coming together to form a clear historical-archaeological picture," says chief excavator Michael Eisenberg. They also found evidence that the first Hippos quake, in 363 AD, razed the city, which residents spent 20 years rebuilding. A second temblor in 749 AD destroyed the city for good. But not all the evidence is clear—like the marble leg from a sculpture in the Roman baths: "It could be a god or athlete whose sculpture was over two meters tall," says Eisenberg. Despite looking like "an old photograph come to life" with its volcanic, gray stone and main street still intact, Hippos draws few tourists these days, the Jewish Exponent reports. But Israel plans to spend $35 million to turn Hippos and other second-tier historic sites into area attractions "for interpretation, mostly from a Jewish point of view," says a government archaeologist.