The transformation of cities in the Byzantine and early Islamic Near East was discussed by a number of scholars in the last century. Many of them adopted a traditional approach, claiming that the Islamic conquest caused the total collapse of large classical cities, turning them into small medieval towns. The urban landscape was changed dramatically, with the large colonnaded streets of the classical Polis transformed into the narrow allies of the Islamic Madina.Footnote ¹

The main argument in all these works was the linkage between urban change and the coming of Islam, claiming that this major political and religious transformation had a direct impact on the cities of the Near East. Urban infrastructures were decayed, major public buildings were damaged and not repaired, and the administrative and organisational structure of the city was dramatically altered as a consequence of political changes. The outcome of the conquest was the disappearance of a millennium-long Hellenistic and Roman influence on this region, and the beginning of another millennium-long ‘Dark Age’.

A radical new perspective for the urban transformation in the Near East was provided by Hugh Kennedy, in his influential and much quoted 1985 article, “From Polis to Madina – Urban Change in Late Antique and Early Islamic Syria”. Footnote ² Based on examples from cities in Syria and Jordan, Kennedy suggested that urban change started as early as the sixth century, was not triggered by the Islamic conquest and was not connected with the religious change from Christianity to Islam, as previously believed. He concluded that by the coming of Islam changes in many cities were already formalised, both in their physical aspects – the contraction of main colonnaded streets and the privatisation of public spaces, but also in the political and social structures within cities – including the decline of the local authorities and their replacement by a direct rule of the central government.Footnote ³ Kennedy's ideas were widely circulated and debated, and his article, reshaping the views on the process of transformation from the classical city to the so-called “Islamic City”, became a standard reference for archaeological and historical studies on the Near East in this transitional period.

Kennedy based his arguments on the archaeological evidence from few excavated sites in Syria and Jordan: the cities of Antioch, Apamea, and Jarash, and the towns and villages in the limestone massif of northern Syria and in northern Jordan.

This was a fresh contribution to the discussion on the evolution of early Islamic cities, which has previously been based mainly on architectural observations, historical descriptions and legal documents.Footnote ⁴ However, the archaeological information on the northern Syrian massif was based mainly on the surveys from the first half of the twentieth century, when chronological observations were inadequate,Footnote ⁵ and the data from Jordan included the early excavations at Jarash–Gerasa, from which no clear stratigraphic sequences were published.Footnote ⁶ Kennedy's chronological conclusions, dating the beginning of decline in cities to the second half of the sixth century, were based mainly on this limited archaeological data. The vast archaeological research conducted from northern Syria to the southern Negev from the 1980s provided abundant new finds which opened the road for a much wider view on the complicated process of change and decline in cities between the sixth and eleventh centuries. The large-scale excavations at Beth Shean, Tiberias, Hippos-Sussita, Jarash, Pella, Caesarea, Jerusalem, Ramla, Ashqelon and other major sites, together with the extensive research in rural and nomadic hinterlands, provides an opportunity to revisit Kennedy's thesis.

This article is aimed towards reviewing the process of transformation of cities in Palestine in light of this new archaeological research.Footnote ⁷ I will evaluate the archaeological findings from a number of major excavated cities, in which a continuous sequence of settlement between the sixth and eleventh centuries has been found, looking at patterns of urban change, and considering the relationship between change and decline: How can changes in the physical shape of cities be measured and evaluated, and does change inevitably lead to decline and deterioration? What were the effects of natural and man-made calamities on cities and urban populations in this turbulent period, and are these events notable in the archaeological record? How were changes in architectural values and urban design reflected in the archaeological record?

The Evidence of Recent Excavations

A number of large-scale excavations conducted in Byzantine and early Islamic cities shed new light, but also raise some questions, on Kennedy's paradigm.

Especially notable were the excavations in Beth Shean, Tiberias, Jarash, Caesarea and Jerusalem. These provide clear settlement sequences in which the process of urban transformation between the sixth and eleventh centuries could be evaluated in detail.

Beth Shean – Scythopolis

The Late Antique city of Scythopolis is probably the best case-study that correlates to the model proposed by Kennedy. The city developed in Hellenistic and Roman times to become the major urban centre of northern Palestine. Excavations conducted in Beth Shean between 1986 and 2002 revealed the splendour of the city centre, lying in the large valley southwest of Tel Beth Shean.Footnote ⁸ Shaped in the Roman imperial style of the second and third centuries ce, the city centre of Beth Shean consisted of monumental colonnaded streets that connected the large theatre, two spacious baths, a number of temples, a nympheum and other public monuments, with the monumental city gates (Fig. 1).

Fig. 1.

Beth Shean – map of the Byzantine city and its main monuments; the shaded area marks the limit of the early Islamic town. (Source Mazor and Najjar, Nyssa – Scythopolis; drawing B. Arubas)

A colonnaded street “Palladius Street” was laid between the theatre and the central crossroad of the city at the bottom of Tel Beth Shean. To the west of this street was the spacious Western Bath, in between a semi circular piazza (the Sigma), with a small attached Roman Odeon. A large colonnaded enclosure and basilica (perhaps the Ceasareum) was located to the west of the Northern Street. The Agora and the Eastern Bath, with adjacent public latrine, were located east of Palladius Street. At the southern part of this street were a Roman temple, the Nymphaeum, and a monumental entrance leading to the Agora. Two additional colonnaded streets extended from this point to the northeast (“The Valley Street”) and to the south east (“Silvanus Street”). At the top of Tel Beth Shean a round church was constructed in the Byzantine period, and additional churches and monasteries were established in Tel Iztabba, along the northern city wall.Footnote ⁹

It should be noticed though that excavations have been concentrated on the site of the city centre and have revealed the remains of public monumental architecture, the residential areas of the Roman and Byzantine city, which lay on the hills to the south and west of the central valley, have only been partially excavated, and are known from small-scale rescue excavations conducted under the modern town of Beth Shean.Footnote ¹⁰

The city centre of Beth Shean was heavily damaged by an earthquake in 363 ce, but gradually recovered. With the new administrative division of Palestine, Scythopolis became the capital of Palestina Secunda. In the fifth century the city was surrounded with wall and in the early sixth century the civic centre was richly renovated and Beth Shean reached its zenith, expanding beyond its walls.Footnote ¹¹

Urban change in Beth Shean started around the middle of the sixth century. Monumental construction ceased, existing buildings were not maintained properly, major colonnaded streets were encroached, and private shops were introduced into the spacious colonnaded walkways.Footnote ¹² The city's prosperity appears to have come to an end by this period.Footnote ¹³

Nevertheless, the Persian invasion of 614 ce and the Islamic conquest of 636 ce, left no direct trace in the archaeological record of Beth Shean, and it seems that city life continued uninterruptedly in the first half of the seventh century. It was suggested that the gradual process of decline that started in the second half of the sixth century was much intensified following the 659/660 earthquake. Urban infrastructures were severely damaged by the earthquake, when large parts of the civic centre were destroyed and deserted. The Byzantine agora, Palladius Street and the Sigma were abandoned.Footnote ¹⁴ This space was used in the second half of the seventh century as a large cemetery with c. 350 simple cist graves.Footnote ¹⁵ Other public buildings were left to decay and some were replaced by humble private dwellings, which filled also the porticos of the colonnaded streets. Some sections of the streets were covered with alluvium.Footnote ¹⁶

Several areas of the civic centre were gradually restored following the earthquake, but organised in a different pattern and concept. The major change was a massive introduction of small industries and commerce into the former public areas. Pottery production workshops were constructed in the agora, at the edge of the theatre and the Eastern Bath, on top of Palladius Street and into the arena of the amphitheatre.Footnote ¹⁷ The penetration of industrial installations into the urban area was evident throughout the city. A large pottery workshop was constructed on top of the Eastern Bath following the 659/660 earthquake, extending into the edge of the theatre.Footnote ¹⁸ Another industrial area, probably connected to the linen industry, was found at the western bathhouse, and nearby (at the adjacent frigidarium), a luxurious residence was constructed, perhaps to accommodate the workshop owners.Footnote ¹⁹

New commercial activities were developed along the main streets, and were probably divided according to the different commodities. Most notable is the monumental construction of a market complex in 738, in the time of caliph Hisham (724–743 ce). This new elaborated market was built on the ruins of the basilica of Silvanus. It contained rows of shops in two levels, and a monumental entrance gate decorated by a wall mosaic with two framed Arabic inscriptions.Footnote ²⁰ This monumental building was in use for no more than one decade, and it was completely destroyed in the devastating earthquake of January 749 ce.Footnote ²¹

The transformation of urban space in Beth Shean, between the sixth and eighth centuries, included a conceptual change in the civic centre from the monumental ‘clean’ construction, a legacy of the Roman architecture, to the lively crowded area, with mixed functions of commerce, small industries, public and private constructions.Footnote ²² These large-scale constructions of industrial installations and commercial buildings within the former civic centre of Byzantine Beth Shean supports Kennedy's suggestion that urban change included the abandonment of the practice of creating a strict separation between the monumental and functional, public and private zones, and brought large-scale commercial and industrial activities into the city. In their assessment of Byzantine and Early Islamic Beth Shean, Tsafrir and Foerster follow Kennedy's paradigm, suggesting that urban change in this city had already started in the middle of the sixth century and was not connected to the early Islamic conquest. It is argued that between the second half of the sixth century and the 749 earthquake the city had witnessed a constant decline in its urban infrastructures. The short period of prosperity under caliph Hisham saw the last phase of the splendour, and Beth Shean declined permanently following its devastating destruction by the earthquake.Footnote ²³

Recent rescue excavations, however, showed that Early Islamic Baisān continued to flourish as a medium-sized town following the 749 earthquake. The former city centre in the valley was now inhabited with residential buildings constructed over the ruins of the former city, and the remains of two small mosques were found here in between the buildings.Footnote ²⁴ Additional large scale constructions were conducted to the south of the central valley. A congregational mosque was established on the top of the southern ridge, containing a dedication inscription dated to 794–795.Footnote ²⁵ Excavations conducted recently in the areas to the south and east of the mosque, revealed the remains of large-scale private buildings, and it seems that these areas were extensively inhabited between the eighth and the eleventh centuries.Footnote ²⁶ It seems that the civic and religious centre of Baisān shifted from the valley to the southern hills following the 749 earthquake (Fig. 1).

Careful observation on the 1923–1933 excavations at the upper levels of Tel Beth Shean reveals evidence for a crowded residential quarter that continued uninterruptedly from the Byzantine to the Early Islamic period.Footnote ²⁷ A unique round-shaped church was excavated at the centre of the Tel.Footnote ²⁸ It was suggested that this church was destroyed in the 559/660 earthquake,Footnote ²⁹ but no clear archaeological evidence was found for this dating. The church might have continued to function after the 749 earthquake as it contains Islamic inscriptions scratched on its floor and columns.Footnote ³⁰ A well planned Early Islamic residential quarter was built at the Tel.Footnote ³¹ This new quarter did not use the earlier Byzantine buildings and it was designed following a new town plan.Footnote ³² It included two intersecting streets that created a large insula in which several central court houses were built.Footnote ³³

A painstaking collection of the existing evidence from previous excavations, together with the data from the recent rescue excavations, show that following the 749 earthquake the new town of Baisān was centred in the southern part of the former Byzantine city and at the top of the Tel. Baisān continued to flourish as a medium-sized town until the tenth or eleventh century. Thus, it seems that previous model of Abbasid and Fatimid Baisān, i.e. of it being small town or village, with a concentration of humble residential dwellings that replaced a thriving Byzantine city, should be altered.

The evaluation of the archaeological evidence from Beth Shean points towards a complicated process of urban change that indeed started in the middle of the sixth century. Change was expressed in the introduction of commercial and industrial installations into the former civic centre. Colonnaded streets were encroached upon and public buildings were not properly maintained. It seems that this was not a mere indication of decline, but rather a manifestation of a more profound shift in local urban life, which included the weakening of the municipal authorities.Footnote ³⁴ Nevertheless, the picture of a long and constant decline between the sixth and eighth centuries should be re-considered. The long-term significance of erecting commercial and industrial installations within the civic centre, and especially the establishment of a monumental market by caliph Hisham, should not be underestimated. It seems that during this period Beth Shean had witnessed a conceptual change in its urban landscape. Early Islamic Baisān was a lively town that contained many commercial values. The devastating effects of the 749 earthquake had only a short time impact on the city, and it was reconstructed immediately after the earthquake with the relocation of the civic centre to the southern plateau. Baisān continued to prosper until the tenth century, when al-Muquaddsī described it as a lively middle-sized town and a regional centre of rice growing and commerce.Footnote ³⁵

Urban change in Beth Shean should be also viewed in its regional context. The city's erosion of status in the Byzantine period was much influenced by the increasing prosperity of Tiberias as the capital of Jund al-Urdun. While in Byzantine times Tiberias remained over-shadowed by Beth Shean, the balance shifted in early Islamic times, when Tiberias became the major city of northern Palestine and Beth Shean became a medium-sized town.

Tiberias

Tiberias was founded c. 20 ce by Herod Antipas and developed during Late Antiquity into a major regional centre with a mixed Jewish and Christian population. The Byzantine city contained colonnaded streets, a number of churches and synagogues, and a civic centre with a basilica and a bathhouse. In the sixth century the city was surrounded by a long city wall, which included within it a new church and an adjacent monastery on top on Mt. Berenice.Footnote ³⁶ Tiberias was taken peacefully by the Arabs in 635, and, with the establishment of the new Islamic administration, it became the capital of Jund al-Urdunn. Early Islamic Tiberias flourished between the eighth and the eleventh centuries, expanding further to the south beyond its former city wall, and reaching a zenith in area and population. Al- Muqaddasī described it as a large city, c. farsakh long (about two miles), but it lacked width due to the local steep topography. It was surrounded by a wall with two main gates to the north and south, while the eastern side of the city lay open to the Sea of Galilee. A congregational mosque was established in the city centre, and the city's markets extended all the way from the northern to the southern gate.Footnote ³⁷

The prosperity of Early Islamic Tiberias was the outcome of its administrative position as the capital of Jund al-Urdunn and its central location as centre of industrial production (pottery, metal and cottons), and as a consumer city to the rural areas of the Galilee. Thus, in the tenth century Tiberias was a much larger city in area and population compared with the Byzantine period.

Archaeological exploration in Tiberias began in 1921 with the discovery of the synagogue at Hammat Tiberias, south of the walled city. Large-scale excavations were conducted in the civic centre of ancient Tiberias between 1954 and 1968, but unfortunately these remain unpublished.Footnote ³⁸ Further excavations were undertaken at the southern part of the city, revealing the monumental southern gate,Footnote ³⁹ and a number of small rescue excavations were conducted in different sections of the modern city.Footnote ⁴⁰

The exploration of ancient Tiberias was intensified between 1994 and 2009. A number of major excavations exposed further sections of the civic centre, a residential quarter, the Roman theatre and an early Islamic residential quarter that was built on top of its ruins, further early Islamic residential quarters outside the city wall to the south, and a large church and monastery from Byzantine and early Islamic times on top of Mt Berenice.Footnote ⁴¹ (Fig. 2)

Fig. 2.

Tiberias – map of the early Islamic city (courtesy of the Israel Antiquities Authority).

A major contribution to the recent excavations in Tiberias is in delineating the layout of both the Byzantine and the early Islamic city. The urban core of Tiberias was located between the cliffs of Mt. Berenice in the west and the shores of the Sea of Galilee in the east. It consisted of a long north-south collonaded street with public buildings and residential quarters extended mainly to its eastern side.Footnote ⁴² A number of public buildings were constructed in the city centre, among them a bath-house and large basilica. A large structure supported by columns was first identified as a covered market (macellum),Footnote ⁴³ but it was recently proved to be the main congregational mosque of early Islamic Tabāriyya.Footnote ⁴⁴

The Islamic conquest of Tiberias left no evidence in the archaeological record. It seems that after a short period of stagnation the city flourished again and expanded beyond its limits of the Byzantine period. Especially significant is the urban expansion beyond the southern city-walls. Recent excavations conducted in this area revealed a well-planned residential quarter with several long north-south streets, and a network of large buildings constructed along these arteries.Footnote ⁴⁵

The Roman theatre, lying on the slopes of Mt Berenice to the west of the civic centre, was deserted by the end of the Byzantine period. This area was extensively rebuilt in the early Islamic period when a crowded residential quarter was established here, and inhabited until the eleventh century.Footnote ⁴⁶ Another residential area was excavated to the north of the theatre, revealing a network of buildings with central courtyards, flanking a narrow street. The upper phase of the buildings was dated to the tenth and eleventh centuries. In an inner room of one of these buildings a large hoard of bronze vessels from the ninth–eleventh centuries was found hidden in three storage jars.Footnote ⁴⁷

The northern section of early Islamic Tiberias was recently defined by large-scale rescue excavations conducted at the heart of the modern town centre. Another residential quarter was discovered here, divided into several insulae and dated to the ninth and tenth centuries. The houses were relatively small and of poor quality, consisting of simple rooms facing a courtyard.Footnote ⁴⁸ This area was not inhabited before the ninth century, and it was partially destroyed by floods in the tenth century. The northern residential quarter was abandoned by the beginning of the eleventh century. To the north of this area there is a sharp decline in architectural remains, and it seems that the areas further north were not inhabited, and they were part of an urban cemeteries complex.

Tiberias presents a different process of urban change to that of Beth Shean. Like Beth Shean, its main north-south colonnaded street was encroached upon and shops were installed on its pavements, but the date of this change is not clear and it could post-date the sixth century. A new modest main street was constructed in the civic centre during the eighth or ninth century, with shops and small workshops along it.Footnote ⁴⁹ At the southern end of this street, close to the city gate, several stages of construction were defined along the former collonaded street. The Byzantine street was encroached upon during the Umayyad period, and was further narrowed in the ninth and tenth centuries.Footnote ⁵⁰ The previous monumental southern gate was narrowed and a new gate was introduced, apparently during the early tenth century. It seems that the expansion of Tiberias to the south was accelerated after the eighth century. At this time the city wall lost most of its function, and new residential quarters for the wealthy were constructed to the south of it. A new bridge was constructed immediately to the south of the city-gate, above a small stream coming down from Mt Berenice.Footnote ⁵¹

The presence of buildings, constructed on top of burials containing early Islamic coins, suggests that the main expansion of the urban area south of the Byzantine wall occurred only during the ninth century.Footnote ⁵² Another building, also overlaying a few graves, was related to the late tenth or early eleventh centuries.Footnote ⁵³

Recent archaeological excavations in the southern part of the city show that Tiberias reached its maximal area in the tenth and eleventh centuries, becoming the largest city of northern Palestine and extending its urban limits far beyond those of the Byzantine town. This process contradicts the model presented at Beth Shean which evidenced decline from its major position in Byzantine Palestine. It seems that at both sites the process of change was triggered by external influences. Beth Shean shrank due to the administrative changes introduced by the new Islamic regime, and was further weakened following the devastating earthquakes of 659/660 and 749. Tiberias was probably affected by these earthquakes, but the fact that it became the district's capital increased its economic prosperity. The finds of churches and synagogues, together with the recently identified large congregational mosque, point to the multicultural character of the local urban society, and to the fact that both Jewish and Christian communities of Tiberias thrived during the early Islamic period.

The end of this prosperous city was abrupt, and by the second half of the eleventh century it was almost completely deserted. It seems that the combined effects of the 1033 earthquake, political instability and the deteriorating economical conditions put an end to the flourishing early Islamic capital of Jund al-Urdunn.

Jarash (Gerasa)

The extensive excavations at Jarash–Gerasa, the main city of Jordan during the Roman and Byzantine periods, show similar patterns of urban continuity in early Islamic times. This large Roman city with an area of c. 85 hectacres, encircled by walls, contained wide colonnaded streets lined with public buildings, a large agora, a main pagan temple, a theatre, an odeon, a nympheon, and a large hippodrome constructed south of the city walls. Gerasa's urban landscape further developed during the Byzantine period, when no less than 15 churches were constructed within its walled area. The city was conquered by the Muslims in 635, but continued to prosper in early Islamic times, preserving its Christian character. A large congregational mosque recently discovered and excavated points to a penetration of Islam into the local societyFootnote ⁵⁴ (Fig. 3).

Fig. 3.

Gerasa / Jarash - map of the Byzantine and early Islamic city (courtesy of A. Walmsley).

Gerasa was explored in the beginning of the twentieth century, and thoroughly excavated in the 1930s.Footnote ⁵⁵ These excavations focused on the monumental remains of Roman temples and Byzantine churches, and ignored the early Islamic remains. Only the second wave of excavations at Jarash, starting in the 1980s, revealed that the city continued to flourish also during early Islamic times.Footnote ⁵⁶ For example, a careful examination of the churches of the city shows that none of them was damaged or went out of use in the course of the early Islamic conquest, and most churches continued to function at least into the eighth century and perhaps even later.Footnote ⁵⁷

The new construction of the large congregational mosque and its adjacent buildings, probably in the beginning of the eighth century, show that urban change in Jarash continued beyond the end of the Byzantine period. It is interesting to note that the new mosque was accommodated within the existing city centre and adjusted to the main arteries of Byzantine Gerasa. Located right near the junction of the cardo and decumanos, the alignment of the qibla wall of the mosque (slight east of the precise south) necessitated an adaptation of the new building to the existing urban grid system. The location of the mosque at the very heart of the city and its connection to the existing urban thoroughfares points to the prosperity of Jarash in the eighth century. This economic prosperity encompassed the introduction of commercial and industrial facilities both into the wide-colonnaded streets and to the mosque surroundings. Additional new structures were built along the southern part of the cardo, at the southern decumanos and on the oval plaza, carefully accommodated into the existing urban framework.Footnote ⁵⁸

The expansion of markets into the public areas of Jarash was probably related to the growth of economic activities in the city and its hinterland during the seventh and eighth centuries. The construction of churches was intensified in the seventh century in at least two large villages near Jarash. Rihab, a large village to the east of the city, contained no less than eight Byzantine churches. Two of the churches were dedicated in 635 ce, the same year as the major battles between the invading Arabs and the Byzantine army took place nearby. Two other churches were established shortly before the conquest, at the time of Persian Sassanian rule.Footnote ⁵⁹ Khirbet es-Samra, a nearby village, revealed similar finds. It contained at least eight churches, and in two of them new mosaic floors were laid in 635–640 ce.Footnote ⁶⁰ It seems that major construction at this site was undertaken in the first half of the seventh century, and settlement continued at least into the eighth century.Footnote ⁶¹

The overall picture of change in Jarash and its hinterland between the sixth and ninth centuries thus seems to be more complicated than the one presented by Kennedy and followed by other scholars, suggesting a constant decline of urban structures starting in the second half of the sixth century.Footnote ⁶² Changes in monumental construction within the city indeed began in the second half of the sixth century and, as in Beth Shean, were expressed in the contraction of the wide colonnaded streets, additions to existing monuments, and a more liberal attitude towards private constructions in public spaces. But these were not an indication of decline but rather of changing attitudes to the urban landscape. The private constructions and the expansion of industrial and commercial facilities into the city centre indicated an urban vitality and increased prosperity of the local population rather than constant decline. It seems that this process continued into the eighth century, when Jarash and its hinterland experienced a period of economic prosperity. Several public buildings in Jarash were indeed abandoned by the middle of the seventh century (for example the areas around the Temple of Artemis), but in other areas of the city construction was intensified.Footnote ⁶³

The growing evidence for expansion of commerce within the city and its hinterland show that early Islamic Jarash experienced economic prosperity during the eighth and ninth centuries.Footnote ⁶⁴ The prosperity of the city was probably endowed and supported by the local civic authorities, who made public spaces available for light industry and commerce. The decline of several large public buildings in the city should not indicate an overall decline in the urban landscape, but rather a conceptual change in the focus of activities and the increase of lively local commercial networks.

It seems that these changes in the urban framework of Jarash were instituted already in the late sixth and early seventh centuries, and were formalised in the eighth and ninth centuries with the installation of the new mosque.

Caesarea Maritima

Caesarea developed in the Roman and Byzantine periods as a major administrative and commercial centre of the eastern Mediterranean and capital of Palestina Prima. In the fifth and sixth centuries the city was much affected by the Samaritan revolts but resumed its leading position when emperor Justinian promoted it and gave it jurisdiction over the three provinces of Palestine.Footnote ⁶⁵ It was a thriving city with a major sea port serving as the main gateway to Palestine, covering an area of c. 120 hectacres and encircled by walls erected in the end of fourth or beginning of fifth century.Footnote ⁶⁶ The major landmark of Caesarea was the monumental octagonal church constructed over the former pagan temple at the elevated platform facing the harbour. This elaborated church, constructed in the first half of the sixth century, continued to function until the middle of the eighth century.Footnote ⁶⁷ In the southern part of the city the Roman praetorium became the residence of the Byzantine governor, containing vast courtyards and elaborate bathhouses. Other palatial mansions were constructed in this area, which was the most applauded quarter of Byzantine Caesarea.Footnote ⁶⁸

In the sixth century the city further expanded beyond its walls, creating extra-mural quarters with large residencies.Footnote ⁶⁹ A large and wealthy agricultural hinterland stretched beyond the urban limits of Caesarea.Footnote ⁷⁰ This urban expansion reflects the constant growth of the urban population, which made Caesarea the largest city in PalestineFootnote ⁷¹ (Fig. 4).

Fig. 4.

Caesarea – map of the city and its main monuments; the shaded areas mark the limits of the early Islamic town (courtesy of the Israel Antiquities Authority).

It was suggested that, similar to Beth Shean, urban change in Caesarea commenced in the second half of the sixth century, when the wealthy residential southern quarter of the city suffered from neglect, and the urban thoroughfares were narrowed.Footnote ⁷² Patrich pointed at a number of features that indicated urban decay: the deterioration of the public water system and the replacement of the major aqueducts of Caesarea with small cisterns installed in the courtyards of the buildings; the covering of decorated mosaic floors at the Praetorium with crude stone pavements; and the introduction of industrial installations into the city.Footnote ⁷³ Holum and Magness, on the other hand, pointed to an increased prosperity of Caesarea in the second half of the sixth century, which was expressed in the intensification of commerce and the increasing evidence for private construction all over the city.Footnote ⁷⁴ They suggest that the city continued to prosper until the second half of the seventh century.

The impact of the Persian and Islamic conquests on Caesarea is also debated. While several scholars have suggested that these military raids severely affected the city and its population causing the migration of large segments of the Christian and Samaritan population,Footnote ⁷⁵ others think that they had a minimal effect on the city's infrastructures and the local population.Footnote ⁷⁶

The Islamic conquest of Caesarea was described in detail by various Muslim, Christian and Samaritan sources. The city was besieged of seven years between 634 and 640, and then violently stormed.Footnote ⁷⁷ However, no indications for a violent conquest exist in the archaeological record.Footnote ⁷⁸ The Octagonal church, for example, was not affected by the conquest, and was probably destroyed only by the 749 earthquake.Footnote ⁷⁹

The large scale excavations at Caesarea bear clear indications for major decline in its area and population in the course of the seventh century, but this was evident mainly in the second half of this century, and was not the immediate consequence of the Islamic conquest. The decline of Caesarea was connected mainly to the administrative changes introduced by the new Islamic regime, and to the transfer of the political and administrative power to other places. These changes, together with the abandonment of significant part of its Christian and Samaritan populations, triggered the process of decline. The establishment of Ramla in c. 715 as the new capital of Jund Filastin further affected Caesarea, and following the 749 earthquake the transformation was completed. In the ninth and tenth century the prosperous Byzantine city became a medium-sized town concentrated in the areas around the inner harbour and surrounded by a modest city wall.

Excavations around the inner harbour present the process of urban transformation of Caesarea in detail.Footnote ⁸⁰ The southern area (Area I) had witnessed in the second half of the sixth century and the early seventh century an apparent process of “privatisation” of urban development. Throughout the seventh century this area functioned as a mixture of workshops, dwellings, and a market place, with no evidence for abandonment or decline. Towards the end of this century the inner harbour went out of use, and a paved street was laid on top of the eastern part of the silted harbour basin.

An entire new urban layout, consisting of a well-planned insulae and a grid of streets was established by the beginning of the ninth century, with only minimal adaptations to accommodate the former street pattern. Some of the residential units were enlarged in the tenth century and the streets were repaved. At least part of the built area was protected by a fortification wall with three gates to the east, south and north. A considerable increase of imported ceramics (mainly from Egypt) was observed.

The last decades of the tenth century were prosperous for Caesarea, expressed in the expansion and improvement of the residential quarters. A water supply from cisterns and local pipes predominated, together with subterranean storage bins probably designed to store large quantities of goods. But decline soon followed with the troubled years of the first half of the eleventh century. Several hoards found in the excavations attest to these years as being characterised by public disorder and political unrest, which led to deterioration of urban life.

Other areas of Caesarea show similar sequence of development and decay, although more fragmentary in nature. The southern part of the Byzantine city was completely abandoned in the second half of the seventh century. A large cemetery was installed here, containing tombs dating from the ninth to the eleventh century.Footnote ⁸¹

The overall area of early Islamic Caesarea is unknown, but it is obvious that it was only a pale shadow of the former large Byzantine city. The town limits are well defined to the south and to the east, where it was bordered by a modest city wall. Footnote ⁸² Its northern limit is unknown, as no proper excavations were conducted in this area.

The detailed excavations in Caesarea provide a fairly good picture of the settlement process between the late sixth and the eleventh century. While the decline of the city in the second half of the sixth century is still disputed, it seems that, as in Beth Shean and Jarash, the archaeological evidence points towards continuous prosperity of the city together with a change in the concept of urbanism. There is no question about the decline of Caesarea following the Islamic conquest, but this process is not necessarily connected with the model suggested by Kennedy. It is more likely that the decline of Caesarea was an outcome of local circumstances: the change in the administrative status of the city and the abandonment of large sections of its Christian and Samaritan population. It seems that different patterns of development and change could be observed in various areas of Caesarea in the early Islamic period. While the southeastern areas were deserted and remained outside the urban limits, the inner harbour and its surroundings were developed as a prosperous residential quarters of a medium sized town.

Jerusalem

Observations on urban change in Jerusalem highlight a different process from those presented above. The special status of the city as a major Christian and Muslim religious centre and its attractiveness to a large number of pilgrims affected development and changes in its urban structures. It could have been expected that the Islamic conquest and the religious change it triggered would have had a direct impact on the city's layout, but apparently no significant change is evident in most parts of the city, except for the large scale construction on the Temple Mount – Haram el-Sharīf and its surroundings.

Byzantine Jerusalem is well known from numerous archaeological findings, historical sources, and visual representations. The Madaba map, probably from the second half of the sixth century, shows the city's urban layout and its major monuments emphasising the central position of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre within the urban landscape.Footnote ⁸³ All sources point toward an ongoing construction and urban expansion in and around Jerusalem between the fourth and the seventh centuries.Footnote ⁸⁴ During the sixth century construction expanded beyond the city walls, especially to the north and east. Its main characteristic was a network of churches and monasteries established north of the Damascus Gate,Footnote ⁸⁵ and on the slopes of the Mount of Olives.Footnote ⁸⁶ Several monastic compounds were also constructed to the west, southwest and south of the city limits.Footnote ⁸⁷ (Fig. 5).

Fig. 5.

Jerusalem – map of the early Islamic city (courtesy of the Israel Antiquities Authority)

This major expansion continued well into early Islamic times, and most of the Christian religious institutes functioned at least until the eighth and ninth centuries.

Unlike in Beth Shean, the second half of the sixth century was a period of relative prosperity in Jerusalem, and no changes were observed in the major religious buildings and main public arteries of the city. The archaeological finds show that the city was not physically affected by the Persian and Islamic conquests, contrary to previous evaluations that claimed massive damages.Footnote ⁸⁸

Early Islamic Jerusalem was traditionally identified with the monumental constructions at the Temple Mount / Haram el-Sharīf and its surroundings, conducted mainly in the seventh and eighth centuries. The construction of the Dome of the Rock and al-Aqsa mosque mark a major urban change in this area, creating a new religious focus in Jerusalem, along with the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.Footnote ⁸⁹ The large scale excavations conducted south and west of the Temple Mount revealed the hitherto unknown remains of four large monumental buildings which were founded during the Umayyad rule in Jerusalem.Footnote ⁹⁰ This massive construction represented a dramatic change in the function of the south eastern section of Jerusalem, with the newly erected monuments dominating the city's skyline.Footnote ⁹¹

It should be noted though that the Temple Mount and its surroundings is the only part of Jerusalem in which a significant urban change was identified during the seventh and eighth centuries. In other parts of the city no changes were observed and the continuity of the Byzantine period city is evident. Archaeological evidence for continuity both in private urban dwellings and in churches and monasteries was found almost in every excavation, showing that early Islamic Jerusalem preserved most of its Byzantine urban characteristics. Several components in the urban layout of Jerusalem between the sixth and tenth centuries deserve special attention:

The city wall, reconstructed at the end of the third or the beginning of the fourth century, continued to delimit the core of the urban area up to the tenth or eleventh centuries.Footnote ⁹² During the Early Islamic period the wall went through several stages of changes and reconstructions, and its northern section was probably renovated and partly rebuilt in the eighth century.Footnote ⁹³ Large renovations and reconstructions were also conducted at the Temple Mount walls and at the southern wall of Jerusalem.Footnote ⁹⁴ In spite of these changes, the archaeological evidence shows that the city limits of the Byzantine period were maintained throughout most of the early Islamic period, and only at the end of the tenth or beginning of the eleventh century the southern section of the city wall was abandoned, and the urban area was reduced to its present day city wall limits.Footnote ⁹⁵

The basic urban street grid plan did not change significantly from Byzantine to early Islamic times. Although the wide colonnaded streets were narrowed, as in Beth Shean, Jarash and Palmyra,Footnote ⁹⁶ the late Roman streets were in continuous use during early Islamic and later medieval times, and they still marks the present day layout of alleys in the Old city.Footnote ⁹⁷ This continuity was evident by a number of probes conducted in the main alleys of the Old City, in which the large stone pavement of late Roman and Byzantine streets were unearthed directly underneath the present day streets.Footnote ⁹⁸

The division of the urban area into quarters was established already in Byzantine times. During the Early Islamic period the city quarters were rearranged according to the religious and ethnic affiliation of the population.Footnote ⁹⁹ The Christian quarter was located approximately in the same area as the present day Christian quarter, in the northwestern part of the Old City and around the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.Footnote ¹⁰⁰ Significant renovations were conducted here in the ninth centuryFootnote ¹⁰¹ and again in the eleventh century, when several public buildings were constructed in the Muristan area, to the south of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.Footnote ¹⁰²

The construction of new Christian institutions in this part of the city during early Islamic times shows that the local Christian community maintained its leading position in Jerusalem. The most outstanding example is the Church of the Holy Sepulchre itself, which remained physically unchanged in the early Islamic period.Footnote ¹⁰³ The Church did not suffer any significant damage during the 614 Persian invasion and the 638 Muslim conquest. During the early Islamic period considerable construction and renovations were conducted in the areas around the Church.Footnote ¹⁰⁴ Although most sources claim that the Church was totally destroyed in 1009 by the order of the zealous caliph al-Hakim,Footnote ¹⁰⁵ recent investigations conducted at the site show that this destruction left significant parts of the original fourth century church intact.Footnote ¹⁰⁶

Clear evidence for settlement continuity is evident from excavations in the southern urban area of Jerusalem, along the Tyropoeon Valley. The 1920s excavations revealed the remains of several houses which were dated to the Byzantine period,Footnote ¹⁰⁷ but the evaluation of finds from these excavations shows a continuous sequence of use into the early Islamic period, and perhaps even later.Footnote ¹⁰⁸ Although private houses in this area follow the Byzantine construction tradition, the urban layout was more spread out. Open spaces were identified between the dwellings, and it seems that these were used for small agricultural plots. Industrial installations were constructed within and between the houses.Footnote ¹⁰⁹

The distinction between the city and its hinterland during the Byzantine and Early Islamic period became less clear with the massive expansion of the urban areas beyond the city walls.Footnote ¹¹⁰ A number of excavations conducted to the north of Damascus Gate revealed an extensive network of monasteries and other Christian institutions, which were established in the Byzantine period and continued to flourish in early Islamic times, with considerable construction done between the sixth and eighth centuries.Footnote ¹¹¹ The denomination of the Christian inhabitants was evident from a number of inscriptions found. Along with the common Greek inscriptions discovered in several complexes, a clear Armenian presence was defined in one of the excavated monastic complexes.Footnote ¹¹²

Excavations in other sites outside the city walls show similar continuity during the early Islamic period.Footnote ¹¹³ For example, a large monastic compound excavated on the eastern slopes of Mount Scopus revealed continuous use between the fifth and ninth centuries;Footnote ¹¹⁴ several farmsteads, monasteries and churches to the northeast and northwest of Jerusalem evinced the same pattern of continuity;Footnote ¹¹⁵ a number of monastic complexes excavated to the south of the city, in the area between Jerusalem and Bethlehem were used also in early Islamic times.Footnote ¹¹⁶ Especially notable was the discovery of a Byzantine monumental octagonal church near the Jerusalem–Bethlehem Road, identified with the Paleo-Kathisma. The installation of a small mosque within the Byzantine church indicates that the site was used by both Christians and Muslims.Footnote ¹¹⁷

The archaeological evidence does not support claims for constant decline in Jerusalem during the early Islamic period. It rather points to a clear pattern of continuity between the Byzantine and the early Islamic period, with a very slow and gradual process of change. The city walls maintained their former layout at least until the tenth century, and domestic architecture was only gradually altered following the Byzantine period. This process is evident in many excavated sites, from the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in the heart of Jerusalem to the large network of monasteries, churches, and farms in the outskirts of the city.Footnote ¹¹⁸

The only urban area in which a dramatic change occurred was the Temple Mount–Haram el-Sharīf and its surroundings. Other parts of the city remained practically unchanged, with Christian institutions still dominating the urban landscape. It seems that Christian religious institutions still flourished for few centuries following the Islamic conquest.Footnote ¹¹⁹