When I saw Kursi National Park on Google Maps while I was in the Galilee, I thought it just had some cool ruins of an old church. I didn't think it was a Biblical site.
And to be fair, these ruins really are cool, mostly because I love arches. And some of the original floors from this church from the 5th century.
I mean, who doesn't love original floors?
But what I didn't realize until I started exploring is that this national park is in the Gerasenes, where, in Mark 5:1-20, Jesus healed the demoniac and sent the demons into the herd of pigs, who then ran over the cliff.
The freed man then went into the area of the
Decapolis to tell of what Jesus had done). I checked googlemaps, and Beit She'an is actually pretty far from there...almost 40 minutes driving. But Mark's account speaks of the local people being angry and afraid, telling Jesus to leave the area, and Jesus telling the man to go far away. So maybe he went to the city of the Decapolis that is at the foot of Beit She'an. It's also likely he went to Susita (Hippos), which was also one of the 10 cities of the Decapolis. That is closer to Kursi National Park, and I hope to go there soon).
Either way, this is the traditional location of that cliff!
As I've said before, the Sea of Galilee has shrunk a lot over the years. Right now it's about 13 miles long and 7 miles wide at its widest point. There's actually a trail that goes up from the left to just before the actual cliff face, and the remains of an old chapel are there as well.
The cliff from directly below it:
The location of the water makes it reasonable to think that it could have touched the edge of this mountain, as the Sea of Galilee has shrunk a lot since the first century.
So fun!!!
