Discovering Hippos Sussita: A Journey Through Time
- Albert Benhamou
- Nov 23
- 9 min read
Updated: 5 days ago
The Name and Its Origins
The site is perched on a narrow, steep plateau, which, with a little imagination, resembles a horse's saddle. This unique characteristic inspired its name in Greek: Hippos, meaning "horse." In Aramaic, it retains the same name, Sussita. The Romans referred to it as Antiocheia ad Hippum in Latin, translating to "Antioch of the Horse." Meanwhile, the Arabs called it Qal'at al-Hisn, meaning "Fortress of the Horse."
Ancient History: A Biblical Connection
According to the Jerusalem Talmud, Hippos Sussita was the settlement of Jephthah (Yiftah), a future biblical judge. He gathered a band of raiders in this region:
“There was then a valiant warrior, Jephthah the Gileadite; he was the son of a prostitute, and Gilad was his father. But Gilad's wife also bore him sons. When these sons grew up, they drove Jephthah out, saying to him, ‘You have no right to our father's inheritance, for you are the son of a foreign woman.’ Jephthah had to leave his brothers and went to settle in the land of Tov (אֶרֶץ טוֹב). There he became the center of a band of adventurers, who raided with him.” (Judges 11:1-3)
The Talmudic text states:
“Jephthah settled in the land of Tov, which is Sussita. And why was it called Tov? Because it was exempt from tithing.” (Jerusalem Talmud, Tractate Shevi'it, 6:16)
Sussita is located just outside and to the north of the ancient biblical territory of Gad/Gilead, where Jephthah's family lived. It also borders the pagan kingdom of Geshur to the north.
The steep hill on which Sussita is situated was ideal for establishing a fortified camp, defensible on all sides. The challenge was finding a reliable water source. However, this was not a significant issue for a band of horsemen who could easily descend the hill to fill their water skins at the spring below.
The Hellenistic Period: A Strategic Location
Sussita's strategic location allowed for monitoring the road from the Golan Heights along the eastern bank of Lake Kinneret. During the Hellenistic period, under the Ptolemies' rule in the 3rd century BCE, Sussita served as a garrison. The Hellenistic Seleucid kingdom, located north of the Golan Heights, had a hostile attitude toward the Ptolemies and eventually conquered the land of Israel in 200 BCE. Following their conquest, the Seleucids established a city (a polis in Greek) on the site of Sussita, naming it Antioch of Hippos after their capital in modern-day Syria. The city struggled to expand due to its water supply issues, which were addressed by digging cisterns to collect rainwater during the rainy season.
The Hasmonean Period: A Time of Expansion
In 142 BCE, the Jewish Hasmonean dynasty began following the Maccabean Revolt. This kingdom expanded under the reign of Alexander Jannaeus, who conquered territories east of the Jordan River, including Sussita. Despite this expansion, the settlement remained pagan.
The Roman Period: A New Era
In 63 BCE, Pompey added the eastern territories, including Israel, to the Roman realm. He employed a "divide and rule" strategy, extracting ten cities and their territories from the Hasmonean kingdom to create the Decapolis, meaning "Ten Cities." These were primarily pagan cities. The capital of the Decapolis was Scythopolis, founded by Alexander the Great's Scythian mercenaries at the foot of the biblical city of Beth-Shean, which included Hippos-Sussita. The other eight cities of the Decapolis were located in present-day Jordan, including Amman, which was then called Philadelphia (previously the biblical city of Rabbath-Ammon).
Hippos-Sussita gained independence, minting its own coins featuring a horse, the symbol of Hippos. The city counted its years from Pompey's conquest in 63 BCE.
In 37 BCE, Herod, appointed King of the Jews by the Roman Senate, was granted the territory of Sussita. Upon his death in 4 BCE, his kingdom was divided among his sons, and the territory, along with the entire Golan Heights, including Hippos, was ceded to the Roman administration of Syria. The city, located on the eastern shore of Lake Kinneret, faced a new Jewish city, Tiberias, founded in 20 CE by King Antipas, one of Herod's sons, on the western shore and named in honor of Emperor Tiberius.
Jesus: A Significant Connection
A near-reference to Hippos-Sussita is found in the New Testament:
“Jesus left the region of Tyre and returned by way of Sidon to the Sea of Galilee [Lake Kinneret], passing through the coasts of the Decapolis. A man who was deaf and could hardly speak was brought to him, and they begged Jesus to lay his hands on him.” (Mark 7:31-32)
Jesus healed the deaf man in a city of the Decapolis, likely Hippos Sussita, near the Sea of Galilee. This event marked a significant moment in the history of Christianity, as it was the first instance of Jesus converting Gentiles.
Another text states:
“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden.” (Matthew 5:14)
Commentators suggest that this parable refers to Hippos-Sussita.
Roman City: Urban Development
Emperor Hadrian faced the last Jewish revolt against Rome, led by Bar Kokhba. Although the revolt was quelled by several Roman legions, it resulted in heavy losses on both sides. Hadrian decided to romanize the province of Judea, renaming it "Palestina." He established cities with Roman urban architecture, including Jerusalem, which was renamed Aelia Capitolina. To learn more, click here.
Hippos was also rebuilt according to Roman urban planning, featuring a decumanus that bisected the city along an east-west axis.
To adorn the city, granite columns were imported from Egypt, and marble was brought from other Roman provinces. Later, Emperor Marcus Aurelius authorized Hippos to mint its own coins featuring a horse and the image of the goddess Tyche. Although Greek, Tyche was considered the guarantor of a city's prosperity.
How did they solve the water supply issue? Water is plentiful in the area around Hippos, with the Golan Heights filled with springs and waterfalls. However, it was necessary to channel it to the desired location. Urban planners arranged for water transport using gravity-fed canals, and to cross deep valleys, they used stone conduits (visible at the Hippos site) to create an inverted siphon system. This innovation resolved the water problem, allowing the city to grow to several thousand inhabitants.
Christianity: A New Era
By the Edict of Milan in 313, Emperor Constantine authorized Christianity in the Roman Empire. Given Hippos' significance as the region where Jesus first converted pagans, the city was elevated to the status of a bishopric in 359. Over the years, Hippos became increasingly Christianized, especially under Emperor Theodosius, who, in 395, made Christianity the only permitted religion in the Roman Empire. This change necessitated baptizing entire populations and allowing for the celebration of Mass for large numbers of worshippers. The city's "basilica" served this purpose. Originally a large Roman public building, covered and surrounded by columns, it functioned as a place of justice, commerce, and assembly. When a city became Christian, these large halls were repurposed as churches. Today, these buildings, of Roman origin, are still referred to as basilicas but have taken on a Christian context.
The remains of a "cathedral" can also be found in Hippos. The term comes from the Latin cathedralis, meaning "seat." It refers to a church that serves as the seat of a bishopric, where the bishop governs his diocese. Adjacent to it is a hall with a baptistery dating from 591 CE, according to an inscription.
Over the years, no fewer than seven churches were built in Hippos. A distinctive feature of the city is its two distinct construction periods: early Christianity saw churches built according to a T-shaped plan with a single apse, while from the 4th century onward, a plan with three naves and three apses became the norm. This design was later adopted as the model for all new churches at the Council of Chalcedon in 451.
The End of Hippos Sussita: A Tragic Decline
Around 640 CE, the Arabs conquered the land of Israel, which Hadrian had renamed Palestine. During the first caliphate, that of the Umayyads, monotheistic religions were tolerated. However, the end of this caliphate was marked in 749 by a massive earthquake that destroyed most of the cities of Galilee, including Hippos-Sussita. The last Byzantine Christians left the city, which never recovered from this destruction.
Archaeological Excavations: Uncovering the Past
The site had been known since the late 19th century, but actual excavations did not begin until 1999 under the direction of Prof. Michael Eisenberg of the University of Haifa.
What to See at Hippos Sussita?
The site has been developed and opened to the public under the management of the National Parks Authority. Visitors enter from the east and follow the decumanus, which stretches for 500 meters. The paving stones are basalt, as the Golan Heights were formed by volcanic eruptions. In keeping with Roman city design, the stones are laid diagonally to prevent the wheels of carriages and carts from breaking between the slabs.
Continuing along the path, you'll find the visitor center and shop on the left, and a projection room on the right featuring a 3-minute film that provides a good overview of the city's history and what it has to offer.
On the left, you will see the cathedral and the baptistery. Note the columns that fell to the ground due to the 749 CE earthquake. They are all aligned in the same direction, along a northeast-southwest axis. This alignment indicates that the tectonic plate has undergone longitudinal movement in a northeasterly direction. It shows that the Hippos-Sussita site is located on the Asian Plate, which continues to move in this direction today, causing earthquakes further north in Syria, Turkey, and Armenia. The geographical separation between the Asian Plate and the Levant Plate (which includes only Israel, southern Lebanon, and the Sinai Peninsula) is the great valley of the so-called Syro-African Fault, which extends from southern Syria to Ethiopia. It is on this fault that the Jordan Valley, Lake Kinneret, the Dead Sea, and the Red Sea were formed.
To the right was a residential area where the layout of Roman-era houses can be seen. These houses were called insula in Latin. Some of these houses had an upper floor, where the beginnings of staircases can still be seen. A church is also located in this area.
A little further on, still to the right, are the remains of the vast basilica, measuring 56 by 30 meters, surrounded by columns topped with beautiful Corinthian capitals.
Returning to the decumanus, you arrive at the ancient city forum, a vast open space that, unlike the basilica, was not covered. The forum is surrounded by 5-meter-high granite columns. At the far end of the forum, on its western side, lie the remains of a rectangular kalybe, measuring 8 by 9 meters and 3 meters high. This monument was erected in a public space to glorify the emperor. This structure was quite typical of the Eastern Roman Empire and is the only kalybe found in Israel.
On the forum is the entrance to a large reservoir for storing rainwater, which was then potable. It is 9 meters deep and accessed by an L-shaped staircase. Rainwater drainage pipes are visible next to the reservoir's opening.
To the right (north) side of the forum lies the former residential quarter from the Hellenistic period, along with its religious center dating from the 2nd century BCE. This area was later incorporated into the construction of churches during the Byzantine era.
Beyond the forum, on the right (north) side, is an odeon: a small theater dating from the Roman period that could accommodate 600 people. Its presence indicates that the city's population, or its elite, was quite literate and appreciated classical plays.
On the south side of the town, the remains of an ancient Roman bastion can be seen below. This was where war machines (ballistae, catapults, projectiles) were stored for the town's defense. It likely dates back to the 1st century CE, when the region was still experiencing unrest. However, in the 2nd century, finding this purpose obsolete, the structure was converted into public baths because the slope on this side made it easy to bring water to it.
More to Come? Ongoing Excavations
Archaeological excavations continue at Hippos Sussita, particularly in an area outside the town where burial caves and a cemetery have been discovered. To follow the news from the excavation team and see what is being unearthed, click here.
I hope this article inspires you to visit this remarkable site in Israel. Depending on the season, don't forget to bring sun protection (hat, sunscreen) as there is very little shade. And, of course, bring a bottle of water with you. If you need a guide to drive you there and show you the site, feel free to contact me or one of my colleagues with a car.
Albert Benhamou
Private tour guide in Israel
Kislev 5785, November 2025
