Gladiators, wild animals, and a fortress, oh my!

Like I said last week, Bet Guvrin is HUGE. There's so much to it! I think you could spend all day in this park and still not see everything. from the caves running under the lush (in winter) Judean hills to what we're going to explore this week: the Roman, Byzantine, and Crusader era ruins!

WOW!

So, let's start with the Roman amphitheater. 

This elipitcal amphitheater is amazing to explore. You can walk through the stands (complete with cut-outs of 'audience members'), stroll through the area, and then walk through the gladiator sections. It's actually the only Roman amphitheater in Israel that is completely open to the public, and walking through it gives you a good idea what it was actually like. 

Built in the 2nd century, during the Bar Kochba revolt, its purpose was to keep the bloodthirsty Roman garrison happy and entertained, holding up to 3,500 people. There are even places next to the walls with openings for the wild animals to emerge from their cages (below).

Get this, it wasn't uncovered until the mid-1990s! I was maybe 10-11 years old. That's how long it laid under the surface! Incredible!

Close to the amphitheater is the Crusader Fortress. This area fascinating as well!

Like its BC story, Bet Guvrin's AD story is fascinating as well. The city was granted 'free status' by Emperor Septimus Severus in 200 AD, and it controlled the area between the coastal plain and the Dead Sea in that region. It became an important junction, and the city build up despite the lack of springs there, as the city benefited from Roman-era aqueducts.

The Jewish population in the area grew, and then in the Byzantine era, Bet Guvrin became an important Christian center. Then it was conquered by the Mamluks in the 6th century, then the Crusaders came and built a church (as well as the fortress), and then it was conquered by the Ottomans, who turned the church into a mosque.

Because of that, you can see the mix of materials everywhere in this fortress- and it cracked me up! You can even see it in the photo above: see how the rocks change? But I'm going to take you on a closer tour so you can see it all:

Can you see the random columns stuck in the walls? And closed entrances/arches?

There's another one! The arch below is intentional- to fortify the wall. 

But see how stones, column bases, etc. don't match each other as far as time period?

Below, right, is the church-turned-mosque:

The view from above!

Now, down into the fortress.... Only a few pictures here because we ran through it quickly.

The mix of materials cracks me up. It's like the builders were like, "Hey, this fits!" Which, honestly, is what I would do. And it matches the history of using found materials and building on former foundations.

There's such a wide mix that throughout the park are stations with flip books where you can find what you are seeing and see what era it was from, what kind of stone, etc. My friend, who was in the middle of furnishing her apartment was looking through it, and I teased her that she was looking for ideas. I mean, it was basically a giant HGTV warehouse, haha.

Can you see the base of the arch starting to curve out from the wall on the left?

That's it for this portion of Bet Guvrin. Next week is my favorite part: Maresha!

Oh yeah, one final photo. This is a simulation of a dig as you walk onto this part of Bet Guvrin, and it was awesome! One of my friend said that 'models' were the same from our Hebrew textbook, haha.

This desert fortress dates back to Solomon!

It's not everyday you wake up next to a fortress dating back to the time of Solomon. Needless to say, those are the days (my) dreams of made of!

But that's exactly what happened to me the weekend of Hanukah and Christmas 2022. Some friends and I were able to stay at Tamar Park, near the spring of Hazeva in the Arabah Valley of the Wilderness of Zin (part of where the Israelites wandered for 40 years).

Wow!

Being so near a spring, the location of biblical Tamara was significant, because it sat at the crossroads of ancient routes... meaning it would have been a stopping point for travelers. The archeological remains date back to the Israelite Kingdom, Nabatean, Roman, and Byzantine empires!

In 10th century B.C., the time of Solomon, this route was used to trade with Arabia, Africa, and Sheba, as is described in 1 Kings 10. Tamar is mentioned as "Tadmor" in 1 Kings 17-18. In addition to the spring, it also lay near a copper mine, which was a major trading commodity for both Kings David and Solomon. It's believed that this is why David conquered Edom in 1 Chronicles 18. Edom, which we'll talk about in a future post, is an area of the desert where the land is red. It was the ancient land of Esau. (Something that makes me wonder: it's interesting to me that the area is red, and there was copper nearby. Is there a connection here?)

Anywho, here's the entrance and the 4-chamber Solomonic gates! Remember those from Megiddo and Hazor?

But before you even enter the gates, there's actually a 4-room house dating back to 700-600 B.C. 

Nearby, archeologists found remains of shattered clay vessels used for local pagan worship. It's believed the smashing and burial of these is associated with King Josiah's reforms. 

That's it for the Israeli Kingdom history of Tamar, because this fortress was destroyed by the Assyrians in 600s B.C.

Next came the Nabateans! Underneath this fortress are the ruins of a Nabatean temple, fortress, and storage room. As with Avdat, Tamar was a stop on the ancient spice route, a 1800 kilometer, 65-day trek from Yemen/Oman to the port in Gaza.

When Nabatean King Rabbell II died in 106 A.D., Rome annexed the entire area into the Roman Empire. Tamar was known as "Thamara", and it became part of the road and defense system of the Empire.

The Romans built a square fortress with 4 towers, and later even a bathhouse and inn.

The bathhouse:

Roman construction!

In 344 A.D., an earthquake destroyed Tamar Fortress. It was rebuilt, but then the big earthquake of 363 AD destroyed it, Petra, and much of Israel. From that point, the fortress was left in ruin and never rebuilt.

During the Byzantine era, it was just a small military outpost.

From 7th-9th centuries A.D. (the early Islamic era), it was an agricultural farm. Travelers going between Mecca and Jerusalem would stop there. 

Finally, in the early 1920s, a police station was build here during the British Mandate. They actually destroyed part of the archeological remains but using those stones to construct it! I mean, I understand working smarter, not harder, and using close materials, but what a loss! 

Anyway, you can go into the police station and the underground bunker. There are photos on the walls of all of the Prime Ministers and Presidents in the bunkers, and the police station has photos and information of important Israelis and others who aided in the rebirth of Israel in the Land.

I love how light glows through the open back door of the bunker in the photo above!

Wow, what an amazing history in this place!

One more thing to feature in this blog, because it's pretty cool. According to BibleWalks*, this is the oldest tree in all of Israel. Wow! It is somewhere between 1500-2000 years old, and has survived this long because of the spring of En Hazeva! Wow! I saw the tree, but in photos it looked like a mess (and I didn't see a sign near it), so I am posting their picture below:

This tree would have been there during the Roman era! Wow!

I definitely recommend visiting Tamar park if you get a chance. It's beautiful, and it's free to walk explore the archeological park.

*I didn't have a tour and the only brochure I saw was in Hebrew, so all the information I learned about Tamar Park is from Bible Walks.