Street Gems by Jordan Amit
Street Gems is a channel that creates documentaries about history, travel, archaeology, art, and architecture. The channel focuses on the ancient Mediterranean world, but also other historical periods and geographical regions.
The Death of a Great Roman City
The story of Ephesus is a fascinating one. Originally a Greek city, it became a large Roman metropolis after it was gifted to Rome in a will. Just like Caesarea, it had a large man made port that became a large trading hub in the Roman world. But unlike Caesarea, the port was not in the open sea, but reclaimed from silted up land, as the coastline kept moving farther and farther from the city. If this is confusing, then you must watch this episode, which explains in detail the process by which Ephesus developed the port, and how the city died.
Israel’s Most Impressive Roman City
The sunken harbor of Caesarea is one of the most wonderous sites of the ancient world. It was a feat of ancient engineering that rivaled the harbor of Alexandria and the 7 wonders. But it was built by a non Roman, the king of Judea, Herod the Great. In this video, I speak about the history of Caesarea and how he built this magnificent harbor, and how the harbor served the bigger events of history that took place in this region.
The Greco-Roman City that Built the Largest Temple Ever
This documentary is about Ephesus, an important Greek city which built the largest temple in the ancient world. It’s the 1st in a 4-part series about Ephesus, each episode focusing on a different historical period of the city. This introductory episode discusses the Greek origins of the city in the Dark Ages, its development during the Archaic period, and how it built this monumental temple that was the pride of the city for 1000 years.