(Hippos was part of the "Decapolis", a group of ten cities in Roman Palestine that were maintained as Greco-Roman cultural islands in the Near East. Perched atop Sussita Mountain near the eastern bank of the Sea of Galilee, the city's ruins afford a commanding view of this ancient lake. One of the ten cities of the Decapolis, it was a Roman/Hellenistic enclave in ancient Palestine during the height of the Roman Empire. Known then as Antiochia Hippos, its ruins are now being explored and excavated by teams of archaeologists, students and volunteers. To date, they have unearthed a wealth of artifacts and an array of Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine, and Ummayad structures spanning a period of a thousand yearsfrom the 2nd century BCE to the 8th century CE. Among the excavated remains are toppled columns and damaged structures, evidence of a violent earthquake that destroyed the city in 749 CE. It was the end of Antiochia Hippos. Its citizens abandoned it, never to return. But excavators have recently uncovered evidence of another, earlier earthquake at Hippos. This one, occurring in 363 CE, left the city seriously damaged, but recoverable. During the last season of excavations the team uncovered a number of crushed human skeletal remains beneath a collapsed roof of the city Basilica, considered the largest structure of the city and the main public building and market center. Among the skeletal remains were those of a woman with a golden, dove-shaped pendant. The skeletons were dated to the earlier, 363 earthquake because of coins found between the Basilica floor and other architectural elements. At another location, they discovered evidence of the same earthquake destruction within a Roman bath complex. Under the debris of the 363 earthquake we found part of a Roman statue. Superb Roman craftsmanship in marble, but just the right leg of a muscular man leaning on a trunk was found, Eisenberg told Discovery News. Examination of the statue remains suggested a height of over 6 feet, but there were no indications related to the identity of the subject. Continued with photos. http://popular-archaeology.com/issu...ist-excavate-earthquake-devastated-roman-city
Oh, this infamous earthquake foiled the restoration of Temple, ordered by the Emperor Julian the Philosopher. And a few months later the Emperor himself was killed-or assassinated.
Those earthquakes occourd long after the destruction of the 2nd Temple which was in 70 CE after the revolt that lest 4 years (66-70 CE). And after 3 years, in 73 CE, Mesada was eliminated. So those earthquakes didnt a "bump for history" or contradict what happened in the 2nd Temple period.
As a consolation... Archeological find sheds New Light on Life of King David Recent archaeological discoveries provide further details on King David’s life in the Land of Israel. (Not that we were doubting it… A slab of stone featured at a New York Metropolitan Museum of Art exhibit – titled “Assyria to Iberia at the Dawn of the Classical Age” – sheds new light on the existence of King David. The Times of Israel reports that the 13-by-16 inch rock, dating back to approximately 830 BCE, is unique for its outstanding inscription, which is categorized as “the earliest extra-biblical reference to the House of David.” The rock, which was uncovered at the Tel Dan nature reserve in northern Israel, has 13 lines of text inscribed on it, much of it unreadable due to its ancient age. After translation and reconstruction, one can read of the bragging of Hazael, King of Aram-Damascus, who claimed to have slain 70 kings, including those of Israel and the “House of David.” http://unitedwithisrael.org/archaeologi ... ing-david/
