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Hippos-Susita is located on the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee, ca. 2 km from the lake. The remains of the city are situated on the top of a flat diamond-shaped hill, Qal'at el-Husn (fortress of the horse), rising ca. 350m above the water level. The city, founded at the beginning of the Hellenistic period under the name of Hippos, during the Seleucid rule was known as Antiochia Hippos. After the Roman conquest of the area in 64/63 BC, Hippos became one of the cities belonging to the Decapolis group (the ten Cities). These cities were important cultural and political centers of the Greco-Roman world in the East. Petros, a bishop of Hippos, participated in the council of Seleucia in 359, what means that at least from the middle of the fourth century the city was an episcopal see. The city flourished during the Byzantine period and at that time was also known as Susita (Aramaic version of Greek Hippos) or Susiya (Arabic version). The city was destroyed during the catastrophic earthquake in 749 and never rebuilt.
German traveler G. Schumacher, who visited Qal'at el-Husn in 1885, made the first sketch plan of the site marking on it visible ruins. He also reported various surface finds and architectural elements, among others, bases of columns and capitals [The Jaulân: Surveyed for the German Society for the Exploration of the Holy Land, London 1888]. First archaeological excavations under direction of C. Epstein, M. Avi-Yonah and E. Anati were conducted in 1950 and 1955. A church and adjacent baptistery, dated by a dedicatory inscription on mosaic to 591, were partially exposed. In the nineties of the 20th century the Israeli-German teem headed by Dr. T. Tsuk investigated a water system of Susita. In 2000, a new international archaeological project was launched at Hippos under direction of Prof. Arthur Segal, professor in classical archaeology at the University of Haifa. The project participants were: the Polish team, the Israeli team from the Zinman Institute of Archaeology, University of Haifa, headed by Prof. Arthur Segal, and the American team from the Concordia University (St. Paul, Minneasota) headed by Dr. Mark Schuler. The Polish team was directed by Prof. Jolanta Mlynarczyk (on behalf of the Research Centre of the Mediterranean Archaeology, Polish Academy of Sciences, and the Institute of Archaeology, University of Warsaw) and by Dr. Mariusz Burdajewicz (on behalf of the National Museum in Warsaw). The many students who participated in the Polish dig represented: University of Warsaw; the Faculty of Conservation and Restoration of Works of Art, the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw; the University of Stefan Wyszynski in Warsaw; the Catholic University of Lublin; the Jagiellonian University in Kraków; and the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań. Among the institutions and individuals who provided financial and logistic support to our project, there were the former Ambassadors of the Republic of Poland to Israel, Dr. Maciej Kozłowski and Dr. Agnieszka Miszewska, and Pastor Kazimierz Barczuk, the President of the Chewra Foundation (Fundacja Pomocy Humanitarnej Chewra), to whom we express our deepest and wholehearted gratitude. The fieldwork would not be possible without the sponsorship of various institutions: the Israeli Academy of Sciences represented by Dr. Bob Lapidot; Institute of Archaeology, University of Warsaw; BRE Bank S.A., Poland; PGE Górnictwo i Energetyka Konwencjonalna S.A. Oddział Elektrownia Turów; Egbud S.A. Bogatynia; Przedsiębiorstwo Dróg i Mostów in Warsaw; POL-MOT Holding S.A. Warsaw; "Remak" S.A. Opole; Dr Irena Eris, S.A. The research on glass in general and on glass finds from Hippos in particular, initiated and conducted at the W.F. Albright Institute of Archaeological Research (AIAR) in Jerusalem in December 2006 and January-March 2010, was possible thanks to the generous support granted to Dr. Mariusz Burdajewicz by the F. Mellon Foundation and Glassman Foundation respectively. Our research on one of the aspects of the North-West Church, specifically, its liturgical functioning, was supported during the years 2005-2007 by KBN Grant No. 1H01/B009/29 from the Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education granted to Prof. Jolanta Młynarczyk from the Center of Mediterranean Archaeology PAN (presently IMOC PAN). The final research concerning various aspects of the North West Church has been possible thanks to the financial support from the Polish National Science Centre (Grant DEC-ODW/1/2012/07/B/HS3/02378) granted to Dr. Mariusz Burdajewicz and conducted between 2014-2015 in the Institute of Mediterranean and Oriental Cultures, Polish Academy of Sciences (IKSiO PAN). The Polish Team is much indebted for unfailing hospitality to the community of the kibbutz En Gev, our daily working and resting base. A mention should be made of many individuals and families, among others Gesya Nun and the late Mendel Nun, Michal Robins, Tiki and Yosi Naveh, Efrat and Elldad Ben-Yosef, Yoel Ben-Josef and his late wife Liorah, who continuously provided the excellent atmosphere during all our stays at the kibbutz. Their attitude and efforts to make Ein Gev our second home are very much appreciated. Toda raba! Jolanta Młynarczyk Mariusz Burdajewicz
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