Saturday, April 29, 2023

Recently discovered Roman basilica in Ashkelon

This morning I thought I was attending a live walking tour of Ashdod from World Virtual Tours, but had a very pleasant surprise: due to construction, the tour guide took us instead to Tel Ashkelon National Park. 

The tour started next to an old well from Ottoman times. 

From there, our guide (Anna), walked the site of the recently discovered Roman basilica. While restoration has only just begun (the discovery was just announced in 2021), it was truly fascinating. 








Jorge Novominsky credit

This last photo captures my favourite part, which was the neat restoration they are doing of the statues: they are placing them on pillars, with metal cutouts of the missing parts, so you can visualize how they appeared in ancient times.


All of these articles have excellent pictures (including from the time of discovery):

Israeli Archaeologists Unearth Magnificent Roman Basilica - SciNews







Also interesting:



Ashkelon - Wikipedia 

Tel Ashkelon - Wikipedia (this is what I will be exploring more, so fascinated by archaeology!)







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