The first (recorded) battle and where armies will gather for the last (Armageddon!)

The first time I went to Megiddo, it was rainy, cold, and rainbows soared over the green Jezreel Valley. I was alone with my friend and my trusty brochure.

This time, even though it was May and the rainy season was over, storm clouds were rolling in—and I was with a tour guide. Both times were pretty epic. 

This time I also went down to the water system!

Because Megiddo sits at a strategic place on the ancient Via Maris, Megiddo has been a place for people to live dating as far back as the Neolithic period (7th and 6th centuries BC). That's a really long time! 

And, it is actually the place for the 1st recorded battle in history. In the 15th century BC, Egyptian Pharaoh Thutmose III fought at the foot of Megiddo, which at that point was part of an alliance of Canaanite cities that rebelled against Egypt.

Fast forward several centuries, and it is mentioned in Joshua 12:21 in a list of kings defeated by Joshua, however Manasseh was unable to take it over in Joshua 17:11-13 and Judges 1:27). It's also mentioned in 1 Kings 9:15  as a place built up by Solomon, alongside Hazor and Gezer.

Last time, I also didn't get to go out to the main overlook, so I missed something very important:

the raised platform where the idols were worshiped and sacrifices were made.

Also, on this trip I went down into the water system. It was so cool! Literally—the temperature lowered drastically, haha. And it was amazing to see how they protected their water and made it accessible for the residents. It will be interesting to compare this to the system at Tel Hazor when I got back, and also to Hezekiah's Tunnel one day. 

That's it for Megiddo visit #2! I'm sure it will not be the last! What an amazing place!

Weapons, armor, coins, and more from Gamla! (Part 3 of 3)

A few months after hiking Gamla, I got to go to the museum in Katzrin with the artifacts from the seige. To say I was freaking out was an understatement!

The Katzrin Archeological Museum has an excellent display (and air conditioning, haha) of more than just Gamla. It's too much for me to tell about in this blog, so I'm just going to focus on what I consider the crown jewel: the telling of Gamla's story.

In addition to the telling of this incredible discovery (a pristine site after 1900 years... other than natural damage, haha), we were able to see artifacts from the dig. Here's just a few:

spears and arrowheads!

a piece of a scabbard

part of Roman armor

coins

coins

oil lamps, weapons, and more

WOW! I still would love to see the suit of armor that was stuck in a ceiling, but I think that's in a museum in either Tel Aviv or Jerusalem. So maybe one day!

I love being in Israel... you can enter into the story like no where else!

Into the Breach! (Part 2 of 3)

After its destruction in AD 67, the city of Gamla, once capital of the Golan, lay in ruin for 1,900 years.

Then, in 1968, it was rediscovered in a study of nature reserves (inside the park is an incredible reserve where you can observe birds, a waterfall, etc). So much here confirms that this is the real Gamla—the description of the city matches that of Josephus', plus the discovery of Roman weapons, armor, arrowheads, ballista balls, iron nails, and even coins.

Wow!

In the last blog, I only gave you the overview of Gamla. So now we're going on an up-close-and-personal tour! Are you ready?

Into the breach!

This is it—the literal breach of the wall. This is where the Romans first tried to get in and the soldiers got stuck in the switchback design of the city! WOW!

The ancient synagogue, built early in the first century AD, during the time of the 2nd Temple. It's actually one of the oldest synagogues ever discovered in Israel!

The mikveh

Remains from the structures dating to the 1st century BC (Hasmonean period):

The view from the partially rebuilt tower (because its collapsed is what facilitated the entrance into an destruction of the city, it was rebuilt to give visitors an idea of what it was like). 

The cliff where everyone jumped:

One thing that is interesting though... this is definitely Gamla. But no piles of bones or remains of the 9,000 Jewish people who died have been found. So... what happened to them? Did the Romans care enough to bury them in a mass grave? Did the birds (so well-known in this preserve) carry them off? 

Their remains remain yet to be found.

What do you think about the story and site of Gamla? Please let me know in the comments below!

Gamla: Northern Israel's "Little Masada" (Part 1 of 3)

When I first heard I was going to Gamla Nature Reserve, I kind of shrugged and was like, "I have no idea what that is."

Literally, I. Had. No. Idea. 

As in, this was one of the places that came to me as a great surprise, and I love it when that happens!

First of all, the views were insane. But the history is what took my breath away even more than the hike did (and it was a doozy!).

Located in the Golan, on the eastern side of the Sea of Galilee, Gamla is a small, camel-backed mountain surrounded by taller ones, nestled between two ridges and ravines. Originally built up in the early bronze age. It's believed the city walls existed before Israel's conquest of Canaan under Joshua. The area was known then as Geshur, and is mentioned in Joshua 13:11-13).

It was eventually resettled by returning exiles from Babylon, and Herod the Great re-settled peoples here in order to populate border cities. For about 150 years, this was the capital of the Golan, known for producing high-quality olive oil.

Streams flow on either side, and you can hear the water as you climb up. There's only 1 way in, and there was a 6 meter thick wall barricading anyone who wanted to enter. The mountain itself has a steep ridge ending in a sharp cliff. The people of Gamla lived on a slope on the eastern side. 

And that cliff is where they died. 

But I'm getting ahead of myself. The reason why Gamla is called "Little Masada" is because its story is very similar. But that doesn't make its heroism and heartbreak any less powerful. 

Gamla was built in such a way that they were able to thwart a 7-month siege of King Agrippa II and a Roman invasion in 66AD. Led by Vespasian, 3 legions of soldiers (each one between 4,000 - 6,000) laid seige and a month later, attacked. They entered the city and began to fight, but the pathways were switchbacks, and soon there was a giant bottleneck. Soldiers tried to climb on top of the buildings, and they collapsed, killing all of them.

2,000 years later, excavations revealed some incredible things, like a skeleton with armor stuck in the collapsed roof, with arrowheads and other weapons all around—literally just stuck in time.

This shook the Romans. NO ONE had been able to thwart them yet.

So they tried again.

One night 3 Roman soldiers dug under the tower, removed some stones, and the tower collapsed. Suddenly, they had access into the city.

According to Jewish historian Josephus, the people of the town knew this was it. It was over and they would be taken into slavery (or worse). So they climbed as high as they could behind the city, up to the cliff’s edge- then started jumping off. Once again, it was a choice between death or

slavery. Over 9,000 Jews died.

(the cliff they jumped off)

As we climbed entered Gamla and started exploring, looking at the mountains and ravines all around, a friend said to me, “Can you imagine waking up and you are surrounded by 3 legions of Roman soldiers, hearing the thumping of their weapons and armor?”

She imitated the sounds of the Orcs in Lord of the Rings marching on Helm's Deep, and suddenly I could see it—legions of Roman solders, covered in armor, swords and shields glinting in the sun, horses neighing: all proclaiming to the citizens of Gamla to surrender.

They stood to the very end.

Come back next week for part 2 of this series!

One of my top favorite sites in Israel

If I had to make of list of "Coolest places in Israel"... well, it would be REALLY long—and Masada would be in the top 10. 

Its story is incredible—heartbreaking, full of heroism, and even more stunning when you actually go and see it for yourself. If you don't know the story, please stop now and go read it.

The first time I went there, it was late March 2017 and a high 80 degrees. I thought it was hot, haha. Then I went back in May 2022, and it was over 100 degrees in full sun! It was an incredible day, though very, very hot in full sun (shout out to Mike'n'Ikes for keeping us going). Because the yearly hamsin (the dust from the Sahara that fills the air between Passover and Shavuot) was in the air, it was actually hard to see very far, even from that high. You can barely see the Dead Sea in the picture above!

Still, the views were breathtaking:

This time I got to see some new places, as well as some I'd visited before.

Like, this public immersion pool!

These original floors in the Western Palace:

The Byzantine Era church (of course there's one!)

Then it was back to some old favorites:

the dove cote!

the synagogue

views of the Roman camps

and the Northern Palace (you can barely see the Dead Sea!!!)

Still, there's a whole section I haven't been to, at the southern end of the site. And, I didn't go down to the lower levels of the Northern Palace because it was a lot of steps and we were all very hot and tired. Definitely next time!