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!