[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/www.qc.cuny.edu\/academics\/art\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/71\/2025\/01\/Omrit2010-footer.jpg” title_text=”Omrit2010-footer” force_fullwidth=”on” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=”1_3,1_3,1_3″ _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”1_3″ _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_button button_url=”https:\/\/www.qc.cuny.edu\/academics\/art\/michael-nelson\/” button_text=”Home” button_alignment=”left” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_button=”on” button_text_size=”14px” button_text_color=”#FFFFFF” button_bg_color=”#000000″ button_border_width=”2px” button_border_radius=”0px” button_letter_spacing=”0px” button_font=”–et_global_body_font|600|||||||” button_use_icon=”off” custom_margin=”0px|-138px|1px||false|false” custom_padding=”0px|73px|||false|false” hover_enabled=”0″ button_text_size_tablet=”14px” button_text_size_phone=”14px” button_text_size_last_edited=”on|desktop” custom_css_main_element=”text-decoration: none;||width: 60%;” global_colors_info=”{}” button_text_size__hover_enabled=”on|hover” button_border_color__hover_enabled=”on|hover” button_border_color__hover=”#A9A9A9″ button_text_size__hover=”14px” sticky_enabled=”0″][\/et_pb_button][et_pb_button button_url=”https:\/\/www.qc.cuny.edu\/academics\/art\/excavations-at-omrit-israel\/” button_text=”Excavations at Omrit ” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_button=”on” button_text_size=”14px” button_text_color=”#FFFFFF” button_bg_color=”#000000″ button_border_width=”2px” button_border_radius=”0px” button_letter_spacing=”0px” button_font=”–et_global_body_font|600|||||||” button_use_icon=”off” custom_margin=”0px|-141px|1px||false|false” custom_padding=”0px|59px|0px||false|false” hover_enabled=”0″ button_text_size_tablet=”14px” button_text_size_phone=”14px” button_text_size_last_edited=”on|desktop” custom_css_main_element=”text-decoration: none;||width: 60%;” global_colors_info=”{}” button_text_size__hover_enabled=”on|desktop” button_text_size__hover=”14px” sticky_enabled=”0″][\/et_pb_button][et_pb_button button_url=”https:\/\/www.qc.cuny.edu\/academics\/art\/leukos-survey-project\/” button_text=” Leukos Survey Project” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_button=”on” button_text_size=”14px” button_text_color=”#FFFFFF” button_bg_color=”#000000″ button_border_width=”2px” button_border_radius=”0px” button_letter_spacing=”0px” button_font=”–et_global_body_font|600|||||||” button_use_icon=”off” custom_margin=”0px|-141px|1px||false|false” custom_padding=”0px|60px|0px||false|false” hover_enabled=”0″ button_text_size_tablet=”14px” button_text_size_phone=”14px” button_text_size_last_edited=”on|desktop” custom_css_main_element=”text-decoration: none;||width: 60%;” global_colors_info=”{}” button_text_size__hover_enabled=”on|desktop” button_text_size__hover=”14px” sticky_enabled=”0″][\/et_pb_button][et_pb_button button_url=”https:\/\/www.qc.cuny.edu\/academics\/art\/qc-students-in-the-field\/” button_text=”QC Students in the Field” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_button=”on” button_text_size=”14px” button_text_color=”#FFFFFF” button_bg_color=”#000000″ button_border_width=”2px” button_border_radius=”0px” button_letter_spacing=”0px” button_font=”–et_global_body_font|600|||||||” button_use_icon=”off” custom_margin=”0px|-139px|1px||false|false” custom_padding=”0px|60px|0px||false|false” hover_enabled=”0″ button_text_size_tablet=”14px” button_text_size_phone=”14px” button_text_size_last_edited=”on|desktop” custom_css_main_element=”text-decoration: none;||width: 60%;” global_colors_info=”{}” button_text_size__hover_enabled=”on|desktop” button_text_size__hover=”14px” sticky_enabled=”0″][\/et_pb_button][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_3″ _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”–et_global_body_font||||||||” text_text_color=”#E71939″ text_font_size=”29px” text_line_height=”1.2em” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n
Excavations at Omrit, Israel<\/strong><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_3″ _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/www.qc.cuny.edu\/academics\/art\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/71\/2025\/01\/400px-A0208.jpg” alt=”Excavations at Omrit” title_text=”michael-c-nelson_faculty-chair” align=”center” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.17.0″ _module_preset=”default” min_height=”1375px” custom_padding=”8px|||||” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.17.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”Open Sans||||||||” text_font_size=”16px” header_4_font=”Open Sans|600|||on||||” header_4_text_color=”#E71939″ global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n The Site<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Omrit, the name of a low hill among the western foothills of the Golan Heights and below Mt. Hermon in northern Israel, had a long history of\u00a0<\/span>human occupation and building activity. In the Late Hellenistic and Roman periods, Omrit was home to a sanctuary\u00a0<\/span>consisting of a Corinthian temple standing within a walled temenos. Over the next 100 years, the sanctuary was enlarged in two successive stages with new temple replacing the old<\/span>. Today, much of each temples’ podia stand intact<\/span>. In the 4th to 6th centuries, Omrit became a large industrial town, with tightly-packed shops, agricultural\u00a0<\/span>installations and houses filling in and re-using the older Roman period colonnaded street. The site continued to grow at this time and expanded\u00a0<\/span>towards the east. In the 13th century, after a long period of abandonment, the former temple precinct and portion of the town to the north became a small 13th century cemetery<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The Project<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n The mission of the archaeological fieldwork at Omrit is twofold:\u00a0<\/span>to provide\u00a0students\u00a0<\/a>an educational experience of a lifetime and to excavate scientifically and professionally the archaeological remains.\u00a0<\/span>Digging began in 1999\u00a0<\/span>and every summer since, a group of 20-30 students take to the field led by an international team of scholars and researchers for a five week season to excavate different portions\u00a0<\/span>of the site. From 1999 to 2011, excavations concentrated on the temple precinct. Beginning in 2012, the project has started a 5-year research program focusing on the settlement portion of site with excavations to the north and east of the temple precinct.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Results<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n The excavations of the temple precinct area of the site came to completion in 2011. A preliminary report of these excavations was published also in 2011. The final report is in preparation and under contract with Brill, Leiden with the first of three volumes expected in 2014.<\/p>\n The next stage of research began in 2012 with the exploration and excavation of the settlement portions of Omrit. A preliminary report of the first two seasons, 2012 and 2013, was delivered at the 115th Annual Meeting of the Archaeological Institute of America in Chicago, January 2-5, 2014.<\/p>\n The Temple Complex: Publications and Presentations<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n Nelson, M.C. Volume 1: The Architecture. In J.A. Overman, D.N. Schowalter and M.C. Nelson (eds),\u00a0<\/span>The Temple Complex at Horvat Omrit<\/strong>. Boston, Leiden: E.J. Brill (forthcoming).<\/p>\n Overman, J.A., D.N. Schowalter and M.C. Nelson. 2013. \u201cBuilding on the Border: The Early Shrine Complex at Omrit.\u201d 2013 Annual Meeting of the American Schools of Oriental Research, Baltimore. November 20-23.<\/p>\n Overman, J.A., D.N. Schowalter and M.C. Nelson. 2011.\u00a0<\/span>Horbat \u2018Omrit \u2013 2009, Preliminary Report<\/a>.\u00a0<\/span>Hadashot Arkheologiyot \u2013 Excavations and Surveys in Israel<\/em>, Vol. 123.<\/p>\n Overman, J.A., D.N. Schowalter and M.C. Nelson. 2010. \u201cPlacing the Temple Complex at Omrit: Ancillary Architecture, Decorative and Epigraphic Evidence, and Regional Identity.\u201d 2010 Annual Meeting of the American Schools of Oriental Research, Atlanta, Nov. 17-20, 2010.<\/p>\n Overman, J.A., D.N. Schowalter and M.C. Nelson. 2009. \u201cExcavations at Omrit, 2007-2008: Investigating a Roman Temple in Northern Israel.\u201d Annual Meeting of the American Schools of Oriental Research, New Orleans, November 18-21, 2009.<\/p>\n Nelson, M.C. 2009. \u201cOmrit: From Roadside Shrine to City?\u201d Greco-Roman Galilee Symposium at Kinneret College and Tel Hai College, Israel, June 21-23.<\/p>\n Nelson, M.C. and J. Thole. 2009. \u201cStucco Fluting the Columns of the Roman Temple at Omrit, Israel.\u201d\u00a0<\/span>JRA<\/em>\u00a0<\/span>22, 349-354.<\/p>\n Overman, J.A., D.N. Schowalter and M.C. Nelson. 2007.\u00a0<\/span>Horbat \u2018Omrit 2007<\/a>.\u00a0<\/span>Hadashot Arkheologiyot \u2013 Excavations and Surveys in Israel<\/em>, Vol. 119.<\/p>\n Overman, J.A., J. Olive and M.C. Nelson. 2007. \u201cA Newly Discovered Herodian Temple at Khirbet Omrit in Northern Israel.\u201d In N. Kokkinos (ed.),\u00a0<\/span>The World of Herods and Nabataeans<\/strong>. Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag GmbH, 2007, 177-195.<\/p>\n Nelson, M.C. 2007. \u201cRecent Developments in the Excavations at Omrit,\u201d Roman Conference on Galilee, June 25-26. Tel Hai College, Israel.<\/p>\n Schowalter, D.N. and M.C. Nelson. 2007. \u201cArchitecture and Power in Northern Roman Palestine.\u201d\u00a0 Seventeenth Theoretical Roman Archaeology Conference, University College, London, March 29.<\/p>\n Overman, J.A., D.N. Schowalter and M.C. Nelson. 2007. \u201cMacalester College Excavations at Omrit: The 2004-2006 Field Seasons,\u201d 108th Annual Meeting of the Archaeological Institute of America, San Diego, Jan. 4-7.<\/p>\n Overman, J.A. and M.C. Nelson. 2004. \u201cA Recently Discovered Roman Imperial Site on the Road to Damascus: The Corinthian Temple,\u201d 105th Annual Meeting of the Archaeological Institute of America, San Francisco, Jan. 2-5.<\/p>\n Overman, J.A., J. Olive and M.C. Nelson. 2003. \u201cDiscovering Herod\u2019s Shrine to Augustus: Mystery Temple Found at Omrit.\u201d\u00a0<\/span>BAR<\/em>\u00a0<\/span>March\/April 29:2, 40-67.<\/p>\n The Settlement Areas: Publications, Presentations, and Popular Media Ancient Roman House and Phallic Amulets Discovered in Israel<\/a><\/p>\n
<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n