Jericho to Bet She’an, Kohav Hayarden (Belvoir), and Sea of Galilee

January 7, 2019

Jericho to Bet She’an, Kohav Hayarden (Belvoir), and Sea of Galilee

This morning we left Jericho after breakfast, loading our bags, and stopping in Jericho for an orientation, some shopping and a camel ride at the Mt. of Temptation Restaurant. 
Jericho, known as the city of palms, is approximately 10,000 years old and is said to be the world’s oldest city and lowest (1,300 ft below sea level) in the world.  We stopped to climb a small hill to look over the city where Herod the Great had built several palaces during his reign (37 BCE to 4 BC).  He felt the weather was appropriate and the area grew balsam.  Jeff talked about Herod and his ruthlessness during his reign.  We then stopped at the Hebron Handicrafters, which specialized in Hebron glass.  From there we drove to the Mt. of Temptation Restaurant to meet the man who owned a camel and would give everyone a ride.  I don’t believe anyone missed out on the unique opportunity.  Everyone got a treat from the camel – a kiss.  There were lots of laughs and much fun.

Remains of One of Herod's Palaces

We then left Jericho for our drive north to Bet She’an, which is an ancient city that was also known at Scythopolis during Roman and Byzantine periods.  As we drove, we noticed a change in scenary.

The first settlement in Bet She'an began in the fifth millennium BCE on the Tel just to the south.  It was located on a major crossroad and had abundant water.  In the late 16^th-12^th centuries BCE (Canaanite period) the city was the seat of Egyptian rule.  The Israelite tribes did not conquer Canaanite Bet She’an.  After the battled waged at Mt. Gilboa, the Philistine rulers of Bet She’an displayed the bodies of Saul and his sons on the city walls.  David took the city along with Megiddo and Ta’anach and Bet She’an became the administrative center of the region under Solomon’s reign.  The site was destroyed in 732 BCE by the Assyrian king, Tiglat-Pilesser III.  During the Hellenistic period, the city was known as Nysa-Scythopolis.  At the end of the 2^nd century BCE, the city fell to the Hasmoneans.  The gentile inhabitants were exiled and the city’s population became predominantly Jewish.  The Roman conquest resulted in Roman occupation of the city in 63 BCE and the inhabitants were mainly gentiles.  It became the most important city in northern Israel.  In the revolt against the Romans in 66 CE, the Jewish residents were murdered.  Under Roman rule, the city thrived and expanded.  Magnificant public building went up, engraved with inscriptions and adorned with statues.  Then in the Byzantine period, Bet She’an became largely Christian with a population of 30,000 to 40,000.  A wall was erected around the city with churches and monasteries near it.  After the Arab conquest in the 7^th century, the city steadily declined in prominence.  A severe earthquake in 759 CE devastated the city and it was largely forgotten.  Eventually a rural settlement was built and the area was called Beison.  The settlement was concentrated in the southern part of the city.  During the Crusader period, a fortress was put up east of the destroyed amphitheater.  Under Ottoman rule, the city remained a small settlement.

Archeological excavations were begun in the 1920’s, but major work did not begin until 1986.  To date, about 10% of the Byzantine period city has been unearthed (see map).  

We visited:  1.  Theater [built in the 1^st century CE and renovated in late 2^nd century CE, 7000 seats); 2.  Western Bathhouse ‘hot and tepid bathing halls, walls coated with colored plaster, floors paved with marble slabs and mosaics); 3.  Paladius Street (150 m long colonnaded street, NW side had covered portico with a row of shops faced with marble); 4.  Sigma (thought to be the brothel area, rooms paved with colored mosaics, one mosaic depict the guardian goddess of the city wearing a corwn of city walls, and holding a cornucopia toped with a cross); 9.  Tel Bel She’an (20 some settlement strata, including remains of the walled Canaanite city, 5 temples, governor’s housea rounded Byzantine church on the summit) which I climbed for a vantage point over the city and its surroundings; and 13.  Public lavatories (built next to the bathhouse for the benefit of theater visitors).

Theatre Model

Theatre

Western Bath House Model

Paladius Street

On Summit of Tel Bet She'an

We then drove a short distance for lunch before heading north to the Kohav Hayarden or Belvoir, which is the site of the Crusader fortress (built 1168), which was conquered by Saladin in 1189 and then destroyed in 1220 to prevent its re-annexation by the Crusaders.  The Hospitaller Knights purchased the lands and built the fortress, which resembled fortresses in Europe.  The fortress had a commanding view of of the Jordan Valley and the three major crossroads in the area :  Zinbari (south of the Sea of Galilee), Naharayin (at the confluence of the Jordan and Yarmuk rivers), and Bet She’an crossing east of Bet She’an.  It saw no battles for 10 years, but all that changes in the 1180s when the Muslim general Saladin came into the area.  He was unable to penetrate the fortress and even when Saladin defeated the Crusaders at Hittin in 1187 , they continued to hold on.  After a year and one-half siege and the undermining of the eastern fortress walls, did the Belvoir knights agreed to surrender.

Our tour of the fortress involved seeing the moat and then walking to the Main Gate, from which you have a fabulous of the valley below.  To the north are the Golan Heights and Mount Hermon, east is the Jordan Valley and Gilead Mountains, and to the south the Gilboa range and northern tips of the Mountains of Samaria.  The fort is two concentric forts with the outer one surrounding the inner stronghold.  

As we entered the main gate we noted the wall with the remains of the original seven arrow slits that gave defenders control over the path and gateway.  Further on, the last hurdle before entering the fortress was the fortified inner eastern gate.  It was protected by double wooden doors, reinforced with iron and a groove above from which hot oil could be poured onto the assailants.  Again there are arrow slits.  The grove hinges and bolts can still be seen.  Then we walked to the water cistern and bathhouse structures.    The inner and outer fortresses were separated by an inner courtyard.  After walking through this we entered the 40 x 40 m inner fortress with a tower at each of its corners.  We exited the fortress across the drawbridge that crossed the moot. 

Map of Belvoir

View of Valley Below

View from Pathway to Entrance Gate

View From Gate

Arrow Slot

Entering the Courtyard

 

Inner Fortress

We had a 20-minute drive to our lodging for the next three days – Ein Gev resort on the shores of the Sea of Galilee.  The lodging was perfect and the room came with a half-bottle of red wine.   

Dinner was at 6:15 pm.  After dinner we walked back in a light rain. The forecast for tomorrow is rain as we explore the region of northern Galilee.

Very slow internet.  Will try to upload pictures.