ABSTRACT
Salvage excavations during the months of May–September 2003 in Tiberias, Israel, have recently revealed monumental and excellently preserved remains of the twelfth-century crusader castle of Tiberias, located on the town's Sea of Galilee shorefront. The main discovery is a 3.5 m wide and 7 m long section of a fortification wall, most probably the northern wall of the citadel, embodying a 3 m wide gateway. A part of the northern façade of the wall, composed of large basalt ashlars and Roman-period architectural elements in secondary use, has so far been exposed intact to a height of 4 m, more than 5 m below current ground level without, as yet, reaching its foundations. A water filled moat connected to the lake probably existed in front of the wall, protecting the citadel on its northern side (as was found in the past on its southern side).
