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‘Atiqot 55 (2007)
ISBN 2948-040X
Burials from the Roman and Byzantine Periods at Caesarea
(Hebrew, pp. 45–56; English summary, pp. 56–57)
Yosef Porath
Keywords: burial goods, ethnicity, mythology, iconography
Excavations in the cemetery area outside the city walls of Caesarea exposed three types of burials, representing the mixed population of the city during the Roman and Byzantine periods. The first burial type is a
kokh
(loculi) cave, characteristic of the Jewish community during the first century CE. The second type is represented by cist tombs; one of them yielded a large, double-nozzled Imperial oil lamp, its disc decorated with the ‘three
fata’
—probably indicating that the tomb belonged to a pagan family. The third type is represented by an arcosolium cave, in which more than 40 oil lamps were found, most of them with a sealed filling hole. The oil lamps are decorated with geometrical and floral designs, as well as amphoras and seven-branched menorahs. This burial cave was ascribed to the Samaritans.