Israeli authorities began archaeological work on Monday toward the restoration and development of Sebastia, a major archaeological site that served as the capital of the Kingdom of Israel nearly three millennia ago.
The dig in the biblical heartland comes two years after a nearly $9 million Israeli government investment in the compound following decades of neglect, damage and disrepair.
“There is no other nation that is more connected to its homeland than the People of Israel to the Land of Israel,” said Yossi Dagan, chairman of the Samaria Regional Council, who long championed the move. “When you dig here you touch the Bible with your own hands.”
The development of the site, which is located a few miles northwest of Nablus, is intended to put the biblical heartland squarely on the tourist map.
“The policy of my office is to cultivate the history of the Jewish people, which is rooted in Judea and Samaria, and to realize the tourist potential in the Land of the Bible,” said Israeli Tourism Minister Haim Katz of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ruling Likud Party.
The city of Shomron (Samaria in English) was the capital of the Kingdom of Israel during the 9th and 8th centuries B.C.E. Herod the Great renamed it “Sebastia” in honor of Emperor Augustus, translating the Latin epithet augustus to the Greek sebastos, “venerable,” according to Josephus.
Since the Oslo Accords, the archaeological site has been in Area C of Judea and Samaria, under full Israeli control, while the adjacent present-day Arab village of Sebastia has been in Area B, under Israeli security control and Palestinian Authority civilian jurisdiction.
Alexander the Great, King Herod and medieval Islamic rulers all left their marks on the site. According to tradition, the town is the burial place of John the Baptist, revered by Christians and Muslims.
The remains from 10 periods extend from the present-day village and up a nearby hill to the site of the ancient capital, around a square kilometer that includes a Crusader cathedral, a Roman city complete with forum, a colonnaded street and a temple to Augustus, and the remains of the palace of Omri, the 9th-century monarch of the Kingdom of Israel.
The site has barely been excavated over the last century.
The last archaeological dig took place in 1967, when the area was still under Jordanian occupation. Since then, only salvage excavations have taken place. The state-run Israel Antiquities Authority is not involved in digs beyond the Green Line; the excavation is being carried out by an archaeologist with Israel’s Civil Administration.
Like many archaeological sites in Judea and Samaria, tourist visits to Sebastia are restricted due to security concerns.
“Today historical justice is being done … after years when they tried to erase our connection to this place, to deny our identity, and to obscure the obvious,” said Israeli Environmental Protection Minister Idit Silman.
The nearly $9 million budget for the site will go toward establishing a visitors’ center and a new access road, as well as increasing law enforcement to prevent vandalism.