Exploring the prophet Elisha's hometown

Not far from Beit She'an is another tel. This one isn't built up into a national park; there's honestly not a lot going on with it. It's just there in a field, with beautiful 360 degree views of the Jordan Valley, Mount Gilboa, and Jordan. 

It's also believed to be the hometown of Elisha.

So one particularly warm day in January, I took a metronit to a train to a bus and then walked a lot to explore Elisha's hometown.

It took a lot longer to get there than I thought it would, mostly because one bus never came and then I tried to enter the field in a way that was blocked by barbed wire and had to back track to the road. But finally, I found the right path. 

Then, I climbed up and started to explore. 

First, can we talk about the views?

To the west, to Mount Gilboa

To the east... the mountains in the distance are Jordan (at the time of Elisha, that was still Israel).

Wow! At the top there are also dirt paths like you see above. There are motorcycle and dirt-bike tracks all over them, as well as footprints and pottery shards.

Most of the tel is smooth, but one excavated part remains open:

According to BibleWalks, Rehov was likely settled at the same time as Megiddo, and likely conquered by Egypt at the same time as Megiddo. It's passively mentioned as one of Beit She'an's towns in Judges 1:27. Around the time of David, it was conquered by Israel and eventually was part of the Northern Kingdom.

Excavations in 9 areas revealed that it was a large and prosperous city. Findings of artifacts from other countries prove the residents continued to practice Canaanite/Phoenician and Syrian traditions and customs.

It was eventually destroyed by the Assyrians in the 736 BC invasion. The Assyrians lived there for a while but then moved to Megiddo. It laid in ruins for 1500 years, and then a small Jewish town was built nearby in the Roman Era. In the Middle Ages, an Arab town settled on top.

What's most interesting about this tel are the findings in the opened excavated areas:

Found in the ruins was an apiary dating back to the 10th Century BC, with the remains of dozens of beehives in clay cylinders. This is unique for many reasons:

First, the apiary was very close to a bunch of houses. This means it was likely this was a source of income for the townspeople. 

Second, signs on the property say that when they tested the apiary, the found the bees themselves didn't originate from Israel. This particular group of bees came from Turkey! Apparently, they were less aggressive and more productive than Syrian bees.

So funny! 

It gives new meaning to the phrase "land flowing with milk and honey"!

My favorite part of the day, other than the adventure and the views, was going back from the tel and finding the local springs right beside it. Even though it was January, it was close to 80 degrees that day and I was hot! I waded in and cooled off before heading to the bus stop.

Definitely a great adventure!

The Golan: the ancient synagogue of Afik (Part 2 of 4)

I had never heard of Afik until I still in its ancient synagogue, staring out at the incredible view over the Golan. 

That was an epic day. 

But when I started writing this series, I learned something interesting: somewhere near here is where King Ahab defeated Ben Hadad I of Damascus in 1 Kings 26-30. That's pretty cool!

Okay, back to the synagogue (also cool)!

As I stated in the last post, during the Talmudic era, there were 27 different villages along the Golan, all with a synagogue. Katzrin was one, and Afik was another. This is one of the synagogues. (There's one not too far away that they were able to put back together by numbering the stones and using a computer program, which is JUST INCREDIBLE and I can't stop dorking out about it. I definitely need to go there). 

Anywho, what's interesting about this one is that while synagogues are supposed to be facing Jerusalem when they are built, this one isn't. It faces west instead of south. 

Why? Because the topography of the area, with its many ridges, and the fact that it lies on the longest fault line in the world (think 363 AD, 749 AD, etc). However, despite this anomaly, the Torah room still faces Jerusalem.

Pretty cool, huh?

See the carving on the stone? It's another example of using found materials in building... it was originally used somewhere else.

Seriously, can we talk about this view? INCREDIBLE!

The Golan: Ancient Katzrin (Part 1 of 4)

The Golan Heights is a place of incredible Israel history, filled with conquests, epic battles, and important lessons. 

"Golan" is mentioned in Deuteronomy 4:43, Joshua 20:8, and 1 Chronicles 6:71 as a city of refuge in Bashan. Throughout Biblical times, the Golan was a focus of a power struggle between the Israelites and the ancient Arameans from near Damascus.

King Ahab of Israel defeated Ben Hadad I of Damascus near Afik (pictured above) and years later, Elisha prophesied the victory of King Jehoash of Israel over Ben Hadad III of Damascus.

Jewish exiles from the Babylonia settled here in the 5th and 6th centuries BC, and during the inter-Testamental period, Judah Maccabee and his brothers came to the aid of Jewish settlements there (above info found here). 

By 1st century AD, Gamla was the capital of the Golan, and fell as the last Jewish stronghold to resist the Romans in 67 AD.

Despite the fall of Gamla, Jewish settlement continued to grow in the Golan, and during the Byzantine Era (4th-7th centuries AD), Jewish settlement in the Golan Heights reached its peak. During that time, 27 different towns (with synagogues) were built up along the area. And after the Six Day War in 1967, excavation began. Over the next few weeks, we'll look at a series of locations throughout the Golan that tell part of its incredible story.

First of all, the meaning of the Talmudic Era. The Talmud is a set of teachings and commentaries on the Torah that form the basis for Jewish law. It was written during the time of the Byzantine Era, hence the name

In the city of Katzrin is lies the ancient Talmudic village of Katzrin. It's a really cool interactive park where people can go, learn about things like the olive press, wine press, and threshing grain, while also touring ruins from the Talmudic era. There's a village and the remains of a synagogue!

this isn't the olive press; I didn't get a good picture of it.

I could totally picture Eden from The Chosen smushing grapes in here!

grain sifter

These areas were fun, but I enjoyed most walking through the ruins (of course):

And we got a surprise at the synagogue—a modern day ceremony!

These children were being given their very own copies of the Torah!

the carving of the menorah is interesting here... I'll explain more in a future post.

Walking through the Rabbi's house was also really neat:

can you guess where the refrigerator is?

here it is! keeps out the critters

This was a really cool place. As a BIG fan of HGTV in the States, the house was the most interesting thing to me. What was your favorite part?

Stay tuned for next week—Afik!