South Tiberias Harbor Project

The south Tiberias harbor project is headed by Dr. Emmanuel Nantet, head of the Laboratory for Nautical History and Archaeology. It is a a four-year project funded by the Israel Science Foundation which aims to uncover the city’s harbor.

The first excavation season excavation took place on the shore of the Kinneret (Sea of Galilee), in the southern part of the modern municipality of Tiberias, from February 2nd to 20th, 2020. The northern part of the site includes the southern end of the city wall that surrounded the ancient city of Tiberias. The rampart was built on a cement jetty built with wooden caissons. Perpendicular to the rampart, a long wall, lying southwards, has been identified either with a quay wall or another rampart. This site was excavated for the first time.

As the lake level was particularly high in February, it was decided to conduct probes in the upper parts of the site. The main probe was located at the step of the two sections of the rampart in order to provide a better understanding of their junction. The four smaller probes, carried out along the long wall, gave the opportunity to emphasize the complexity of the structure, obviously rebuilt many times. The rank vegetation has been cleared from the main parts of the site in order to allow a drone, operated by Hagai Nativ, to take global pictures of the site.

The excavation relied on a team of nearly twenty people, mainly students from the University of Perpignan Via Domitia, France.

South Tiberias Harbor Project
The rampart being excavated. Photo by E. Nantet