Tell Abu Shusha

Tell Abu Shusha is a medium-sized tell in the Jezreel Valley, about 25 miles southeast of Haifa. Never before has the tell itself been excavated. Sporadic digs around the site indicate that Tell Abu Shusha should be identified with the Roman polis called Gaba, which was founded in 60 BCE by the Roman governor Lucius Marcius Philippus of Syria. Gaba is best known as the site where Herod the Great settled his cavalry veterans. In the Byzantine period, the bishops of Gaba appear in the acts of ecumenical councils. The 2020 season offers an exciting opportunity to explore this important yet poorly understood Roman city in the north of Israel.