Archaeologists have uncovered two lost settlements of ancient Rome, suggesting the empire’s control stretched wider than previously believed.
They found an ancient slab of volcanic rock fashioned into a rectangular artifact, which was used to mark land borders in Galilee, between northern Israel and southern Lebanon.
Carved in Ancient Greek lettering, the stone proclaims that the previously unknown towns of Tirathas and Golgol were under the control of the Roman Empire, and featured the name of four governors in charge of managing the empire’s territories abroad.
The etchings date back 1,720 years ago during the reign of Caesar Marcus Aurelius Alexander, the ruler featured in the original 2000 Gladiator movie.
The location showed that people living within the boundary were under imperial rule, being taxed by the Roman Empire located 2,500 miles away in Italy.
But it also has religious significance. The stone was found in Upper Galilee believed to be where Jesus preached, walked on water and was baptized.
The team, from the Hebrew University, emphasized that ‘such discoveries provide a unique glimpse into the lives of ancient inhabitants, the pressures they faced and the enduring traces of their communities in the archaeological record.’
Professor Uzi Leibner said: ‘Finding a boundary stone like this not only sheds light on ancient land ownership and taxation but also provides a tangible connection to the lives of individuals who navigated these complex systems nearly two millennia ago.’
Archaeologists uncovered a stone (left shows the inscription highlighted) in the region where
The ancient Romans controlled a large portion of the Middle East, including Anatolia, the Levant, parts of Mesopotamia, and Arabia. They also had power over Israel from 63 BC until 135 AD.
The stone was found at the site of Abel Beth Maacah, an ancient city in the Upper Galilee region of Israel.
‘The names Tirthas and Golgol are not known from any other boundary stones found in the area, nor from any ancient source,’ the team shared in the study, saying that these are two new settlements of the vast Roman Empire.
Archaeologists speculated that a large ruin found in the area in the late 19th century could have resided in Tirthas. The previous excavation recorded the site as Kh. Turritha.
‘The resemblance of the names Turritha – Tirthas, located in the same vicinity, can hardly be coincidental and it is likely that the former preserves the ancient name,’ researchers wrote.
‘The surveyors did not provide any description besides ‘large heaps of basalt stones’, and we could find no archaeological information on this site, located today on the Lebanese side of the border.’
However, the border stone was made of basalt which is a dark-colored, igneous rock that forms when lava cools quickly at the Earth’s surface.
‘If the suggestion to identify Tirthas with Kh. Turritha is correct, then the field(s) of Golgol/m could have been located anywhere to the west, south, or north of the original spot of the boundary stone,’ reads the study.
Archaeologists unearthed a boundary stone in Galilee that featured ancient Greek inscriptions of previously unknown territories, revealing the Roman Empire’s control extended further and for longer than previously believed The stone was found at the site of Abel Beth Maacah
Galilee, located in northern Israel and southern Lebanon, is mentioned in the Bible as the venue for most of Jesus’ ministry and where he walked on water and was baptized
Archaeologists speculated that a large ruin found in the area in the late 19th century could have resided in Tirthas. The previous excavation recorded the site as Kh. Turritha
There are some sites with Roman-period remains west of tell Abel Beth Maacah, but none bear a name resembling Golgol.
‘However, there is a low, round hill, standing less than a kilometer from the eastern slopes of Abel Beth Maacah that may be identified with it,’ said the researchers.
They linked Golgol with Gilgal and Golgotha because of the linguistic, topographical and cultural similarities between the names.
Gilgal, mentioned in the Book of Joshua, was the eastern border of Jericho where the Israelites camped after crossing the Jordan River following their exodus from Egypt.
And Golgotha is the name of the hill in Jerusalem where Jesus was crucified, as described in the Bible’s four Gospels. The name translates to ‘place of the skull’.
This discovery adds to a unique corpus of over 20 boundary stones concentrated in the northern Hula Valley and surrounding areas.
The stones mark a period of heightened administrative control aimed at standardizing taxation and clarifying land ownership.
This specific find highlights the interconnectedness of historical geography, economic policies and local settlement patterns.
