Who are the Circassians?

In March, I visited Kfar Kama in the Jezreel Valley. Its residents are a people group I'd never heard of before. Have you ever heard of the Circassians?

The Circassians are from the northwest Caucasus Region. This Muslim people group suffered a genocide at the hands of Russia in the early 19th century and were exiled to Turkey and the Middle East.

Today, there are 10 million Circassians in the world. Though they are far from their homeland, their culture and language remain. Since I am learning Hebrew, I was fascinated to learn about their language, which is pictorial, using onomatopoeia, words that look like they sound, like "Meow". Like Hebrew, each letter has a meaning. Their language doesn't have gender; there isn't even a word for "he" or "she". They won't say, "My husband" or "my wife", because no one belongs to anyone. Because there are not enough consonants to complete the language, words have multiple meanings. For this, and many other reasons, context is key.

While in Kfar Kama, I got to tour the ancient town, see artifacts, and watch a demonstration of the cultural dances. It was so cool!

Today you get to experience this with me!

Can you see the basalt in the building materials? What a beautiful town!

Kfar Kama known as one of the cleanest cities in the world. But they don't have cleaning crew, because everyone in the town cleans the town.

This symbol on the building is from the Circassian flag.

Peek-a-boo!

Traditional clothes and artifacts:

Now for the dancing! It was so beautiful. The girl looked like she was floating. My favorite dance was the one about the eagle. 

The story goes that there was a guy who couldn't dance well, so he intentionally made up funny dances imitating different animals that made everyone laugh. And then one day he and his wife did a dance like a pair of eagles, and no one laughed. It was so beautiful that they said, "We aren't going to call this one 'the eagle dance', we are going to name it after you."

So fun!

What do Korazin, Beit Tsaida, and Capernaum have in common?

When I was in the Galilee, I went to the national parks of Korazin, Beit Tsaida, and Capernaum on the northern shore. These 3 towns represent the 'ministry triangle' of Jesus, where He spent 80% of His ministry.

Yet in Matthew 11:20-24, Jesus says:

"Then Jesus began to denounce the towns in which most of his miracles had been performed, because they did not repent. “'Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I tell you, it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you. And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted to the heavens? No, you will go down to Hades. For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Sodom, it would have remained to this day. But I tell you that it will be more bearable for Sodom on the day of judgment than for you.'”

Wow, talk about sobering. Heartbreaking, actually.

Korazin isn't mentioned specifically in the Bible other than in this passage, but we know that Jesus travelled throughout the Galilee, spent time with people, spoke, and healed people. He calls it out in His curse because of the amount of time He spent there. 

A town known for its grain, Korazin was settled in 1st century AD. The remains here are actually from 3rd-4th century, as is the synagogue. However, we know that in Israel, things are built on top of their original location, so it's reasonable to believe that the original synagogue remains are below this one. 

What got me, though, was seeing a carving of Medusa in the synagogue wall. I can't even imagine how that was allowed to be in the town, let alone the synagogue!

Beit Tsaida is the 'wild card' in this group, because as I reported in November, a different possible location has been found. It will take more time to determine if this is the actual Beit Tsaida, and there is strong evidence for the traditional location being the real one. It later was renamed as Julius, a Roman town, so the presence of both ruins is a strong identifier.

The town of Philip, Peter, Andrew, James, and John, Jesus and the disciples often came here to rest. He healed a blind man outside the city gates in Mark 8, and when Jesus walked on water, it was likely in front of Beit Tsaida, because He'd sent the disciples on ahead to this town. There are the remains of a fisherman's house as well (soil/fossil samples present the confirm this). However, the Sea of Galilee has shrunk so much that the shore is now 2km away. But why would there be a fisherman's house so far if the lake didn't actually come up to that village? 

Capernaum is the town of Peter's mother-in-law, where Jesus did many miracles. This is where He called His first disciples, who were fishing. This is where He spent a lot of time.

The current synagogue remains are actually from the 4th century, but the foundations of the previous one are clear. So we know exactly where it was and can envision that as well.

My favorite part is the shoreline, where I sat for an hour, read my Bible, prayed, stared across at Magdala, and imagined Jesus and the disciples coming in from a long day on the lake.

WOW!!!! It was so incredible to be in each of these 3 towns, and since there weren't any tourists still in Israel, there weren't a lot of people around. I was able to read my Bible, pray, and basically have 3-D devotions, which was amazing!

Still, the reality of these places are impossible to miss.