Planning to Discover Some New Historical Sites in Israel
Planning to visit some unique and off-the-beaten-path historical sites often leads to traveling into Israel’s magnificent north.
There, especially in the Ramat HaGolan area, you may discover some amazing places and collect stories and facts to share with your relatives and friends back home.
Our country is famous for its abundance of historical landmarks. As of the present, there are around 35000 known archeological sites in Israel. Unfortunately, not all of them are now showing signs of past splendor. The responsibility partly lies in the series of very powerful earthquakes that damaged Israel and the Mediterranean in the first 800 years AD. Israeli authorities funded and carried out massive and impressive reconstruction of the key sites located in Jerusalem, Beit Shan, Tiberius, Caesarea, Capernaum, Zippori. Still, more than once we would go to some famous location in Galilee or even the central part of the country and see just ruins of the stone wall pieces, foundations of the buildings, or remnants of the pavement.
Spring of the Arches, Ein HaKshatot in Hebrew, is the location of the Byzantine Period Synagogue in the North of Israel.
This site in the Sothern Golan Heights was a great surprise from the first visit.
The usual chaos of the past was there, no problem. An ever present large pile of rocks and stones was idling under the warm midday sun.
But, somehow, the whole place had unmistakably purposeful energy. The first sign of the order to the chaos was a bright yellow crane. Antone could notice it from quite far away. It carried ”Restoration of Ancient Technology” written proudly in bold black letters on its front. This mobile crane was busy riding slowly forth and back on its rails, carrying basalt blocks.
Its yellow shape seemed out of place in the archeology dig. We had no idea that this crane is already a permanent future of our landscape. And it shall stay so for a decade. Every time we look to the opposite side of the valley, to North East – the mechanical creature will be clearly visible.
Three strongly built men were directing and easing the blocks into a destined place with the assurance of Master Builders of the past. Black walls of stone and some pillars raised a few levels. Something not short of a miracle was happening.
A large pile of basalt reported to be here just a few years ago was methodically turning into an impressive and artistic building. There was a magnificent black stone Menorah, carved on the basalt block in the image of the Holy Temple candelabra. It was proudly standing in between the rubble, carrying a powerful promise that more of the Jewish history is waiting to be unearthed.
Some pottery fragments were being sorted and examined under the shade of a field tent. Three pieces of what appears to be a carved arch stood proudly waiting to be applied to the building.
Beautifully carved basalt lion smiled at us from the newly rebuilt wall, showing a long tongue. You just wait and see…
