Caesarea in Transition from the Byzantine to the Muslim Regime: The Archaeological Evidence from the Southwestern Zone (Areas CC, KK, NN), and the Literary Sources

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Note: The article focuses on the fate of two large Late Roman/Byzantine architectural complexes located in the northern end of the southwest zone, immediately to the south of the Crusader wall: the public wing of the praetorium of the Byzantine governor, and a Late Roman/Byzantine complex of six warehouses associated with an adjacent urban villa. Their fate is indicative of that of the local administration and of the urban elite. The archaeological record indicates desertion and an abrupt end to urban life, by conversion of the area into an agricultural zone — terraced plots of gardens irrigated by newly dug wells and stone-built channels. This was a result of the seven-year-long Arab siege, and the final conquest in 640 or 641. This archaeological picture is well elucidated by the literary sources — Samaritan, Christian, and Muslim — detailed in the article. Caesarea was not set on fire after the conquest, nor was it systematically demolished; much of it was evacuated during the siege by its population, which emigrated overseas. Others were killed or taken captive and exiled. But there were still Christians who remained, tilling the terraced gardens. These were finally deserted prior to 700, and the area was later converted into a Muslim cemetery. The cemetery points to the transformation of the local population from Christian to Muslim as a result of the new regime's settlement policy, the stationing there of a garrison, and perhaps also forced conversion to Islam.