Susita (Hippos)
Susita is an archaeological site in Israel, located on a hill overlooking the Sea of Galilee. Susita also known as Hippos is on a flat-topped foothill 2 kilometres east of and 350 metres above the Sea of Galilee, 144 metres above sea level, near Ein Gev Kibbutz.
Between the 3rd century BC and the 7th century AD, Hippos as it was then called was the site of a Greco-Roman city, which then declined under Muslim rule and was abandoned after an earthquake in 749. Besides the fortified city itself, Hippos controlled two port facilities on the lake and an area of the surrounding countryside. Hippos was part of the Decapolis, or Ten Cities, a region in Roman Jordan, Syria and Israel that were culturally tied more closely to Greece and Rome than to the Semitic ethnoi around.
Established as Antioch of Hippos by Seleucid settlers, the city is named after the Greek language word for horse, Hippos, and a common name of Seleucid monarchs, Antiochus. The Aramaic name, Sussita (Hebrew: ), was also adopted into Hebrew and also means horse, while the Arabic name, Qal’at al-Hisn, means “Fortress of the Horse/Stallion”. Other names include the alternate spelling Hippus and the Latinized version of the Greek name: Hippum.