Archaeological Evidence for the Fall of Byzantine Caesarea

Abstract

In 1978 Lawrence E. Toombs published a phasing system for the Joint Expedition to Caesarea Maritima that assumed site-wide destruction at Caesarea during both the Persian invasion of 614 C. E. and the Muslim conquest of 641-642 C. E. It is time to abandon this prevailing notion of the end of Classical Caesarea. The literary sources do not support the hypothesis of massive destruction. Without literary evidence, there is no reason to interpret so-called "destruction" layers as the consequence of hostile attack. It is preferable to adduce other explanations for the city's fall, including the flight of the Christian aristocracy and more gradual economic change.