JERUSALEM, Dec. 1 (Xinhua) -- Israeli archaeologists have uncovered a section of an ancient Roman road dating back to about 1,800 years ago, the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) said Thursday.
The section, 25 meters long and eight meters wide, with large fieldstones marking its sides, was uncovered about 25 kilometers west of the Mediterranean coastal city of Tiberias.
"It was considered a main road, built in the typical Roman method of layers including compacting the soil and using large and small stones," Daniel Weinberger, co-head of the IAA excavation, told Xinhua.
"The roads paved by the Romans during their rule in the ancient land of Israel were intended for the rapid passage of military forces, mail, and goods," he noted.
The road construction began during the rule of Emperor Hadrian and was completed by his successors, and then was renovated in the Byzantine period, according to the IAA.
During the excavation, fragments of pottery from the Roman and Byzantine periods were also found, alongside Roman metal vessels and coins.
The excavation is part of paving a 70 km trail, planned to pass between sites related to the 71 elder members of the ancient Jewish Sanhedrin assembly, which served as a supreme court of Jewish law. ■
