Hippos ( , " horse " ) is an archaeological site in Israel , located on a hill overlooking the Sea of Galilee . Between the 3rd century BC and the 7th century CE , Hippos was the site of a Greco-Roman city , which 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
earthquake in 749
749 Galilee earthquake
Hippos