The Hippos Excavations

The excavations at Hippos of the Decapolis are under the auspices of the Zinman Institute of Archaeology at the University of Haifa.  Prof. Arthur Segal is the director of the excavation and has a ten-year permit from the Israel Antiquities Authority to excavate at the site through 2009.  He is assisted by Michael Eisenberg.

Seven previous seasons of work have been done at Hippos.  Brief summaries of some of those seasons season are available online:

• First season in 2000
• Second season in 2001
• Third season in 2002 (Concordia joined the project)
• Fourth season in 2003

Formal reports are also available (large file size!):

• 2001
• 2002
• 2003
• 2004
• 2005

Three different teams are involved in the work at Hippos:

• The Israeli team: Primary work at the site is directed by Prof. Segal.  His students, students from other Israeli universities, and volunteers from Israel and elsewhere are excavating the Roman center of the city, its surrounding temples and public buildings, along with wall and gate structures.  With workers from the National Parks Authority, preservation efforts are undertaken at the site, along with uncovering some work dones in the 1950s on the cathedral of the city.  The web site for the Hippos Excavations at the University of Haifa is at http://hippos.haifa.ac.il/.
   
• The Polish team: Co-directing the excavation with Prof Segal are Dr. Jolanta Mlynarczyk of the Polish Academy of Science, Warsaw and Dr. Mariusz Burdajewicz, of the National Museum, Warsaw.  Together with their students Drs. Mlynarczyk and Burdajewicz are responsible for work on the Northwest Church, a large basilical structure still in use when the city was destroyed in 749.  The web site documenting the work of the Polish team is at http://susyam.webpark.pl/.
   
• The American team from Concordia: In the third season of excavation, a team from Concordia University in Saint Paul began work on the Northeast Church, a project to excavate a small structure containing at least two tombs.  The project is coordinated by Prof. Mark Schuler and is the focus of this virtual dig. Reports of previous work are at http://hippos.archaeology.csp.edu.

You can meet members of the American team from Concordia University along with leaders of the other teams on the Team Page.