Histor^y of Dor. 13 



walls of Caesarea, probably belongs to the twelfth or thirteenth 

 century. 



The causeway^, lying east of the town and running north and 

 south, is traceable here for about a quarter of a mile. This was 

 the great coast highroad to Egypt; here and there, as for example 

 at 'Ayun Heiderah, the ruts of the light chariot wheels are still 

 visible on the rock. At the time when this road was in general 

 use this region was doubtless covered with villages and as prosper- 

 ous as any other part of Palestine. On one side of the causeway, 

 just south of El-Hannaneh, there were nine'' granite columns; three 

 were planted perpendicularly touching one another; south of these 

 were three more, also touching; the remaining three were fallen and 

 scattered about. Their diameter was one foot six inches; they 

 were without base or capital, having only a simple fillet at the 

 upper end of the shaft ; they were partly sunk in rubbish. Inas- 

 much as the arrangement of these shafts is similar to that of some 

 of the milestones on Roman roads, it is quite likely that they had 

 been taken from an older building and used to mark the ninth 

 Roman mile from Caesarea*. 



East of this coast road and parallel to the sea stretches a rocky 

 ridge, forty to fifty feet high and some three hundred yards broad'. 

 This ridge, commencing in sand dunes about three miles southwest 

 of Mt. Carmel, gradually increases in regularity and hardness of 

 rock, until, between 'Athlit and Tantura, it is about fifty feet 

 high. Its southern limit is a few miles south of Caesarea. It 

 serves to separate the narrow coast plain, about a mile wide, in 

 which Dor is situated, from the inland plain to the east. The 

 ridge seems to have formed a protection against hostile incursions, 

 for the stone has been quarried in such manner as to leave a nar- 

 row crest on the summit, which makes a protecting wall of living 

 stone. In at least four places passages have been cut through the 

 ridge, and show traces of having been closed by gates. Numerous 

 tombs, dating probably from the early Christian centuries, have 

 been cut in the ridge. 



' S.W.P. Mem. 11, p. 9; P.E.F.Q., 1874, p. 12. 



^ Whether all these columns are still in place is questionable. Probably 

 part or all have been carried away. 



3 O.S., 142:13-15; 283:3. 



' S.W.P. Mem. II, p. 1; P.E.F.Q., 1873, p. 99; Guer., Sam. 2:308; van de 

 Velde, Narrat. 1:333; Buhl, Oeog. des alt. Pal., p. 32. 



