Overview

Bibliography

Tiberias was founded by Herod Antipas around 19 CE as the capital of his tetrarchy. He named it after his patron, the emperor Tiberius. The city was prosperous during the Roman period, though the remains from that period are few. In the Byzantine period, the city became the center of the Jewish community. The Talmud records that the Sanhedrin was moved to Tiberias, and the Palestinian Talmud itself was written in Tiberias. After much of the city was destroyed in the eighth century by an earthquake, the city was quickly rebuilt and prospered during the early Islamic period. By the Crusader period, the city was moving to the north where the modern city is located.

Tiberias has been excavated by numerous teams since the early excavations by N. Makhouli (1934 and 1941) and P. Guy and B. Rabani (in the 1950s). The city center was excavated by Adam Druks between 1963 and 1978, though the results were never published. Yizhar Hirschfeld of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem began excavations in the same area and on Mt. Berenice in 1989 and continued until his untimely death in 2006. His students and colleagues have continued to bring his excavations to a conclusion and will publish the results. The southern gate was excavated in 1973-1974 by G. Foerster for the Israel Department of Antiquities and Museums. After the excavation, the gate was covered over for preservation. It has only recently been uncovered as part of the city of Tiberias' attempt to showcase its archaeological heritage.

The archaeological strata uncovered at the site, as illustrated in the site plan, date to the following periods:

	Tenth–Eleventh Centuries CE
	Eighth–Ninth Centuries CE
	Sixth–Eighth Centuries CE
	Third–Fifth Centuries CE
	Second Century CE
	First Century CE