Tuesday, October 16, 2001
Today we made our way through the southern parts of Galilee, carefully avoiding the Palestinian territories around Nabulus. This part of the country being in the valley of the Jordan River is quite lush as an agricultural area due to irrigation. The Israelis have exploited this valley to the max and are producing vast quantities of produce.
High above the valley are the remains of a Crusader castle built in the 1100s as a center for the Knights Hospitaliers, a group that tried to assist pilgrims on their journey to the Holy Lands during the time of Arab occupation. This castle stands as a reminder of the impact the Crusades had on the mind of the Arabs even unto our own time.
Figure 1 The pollution has prevented a clear view, but Belvoir Castle is perched on a hilltop overlooking the entire Jordan River Valley. From here the Crusaders tried to protect visiting Christian pilgrims. The Castle was an enormous structure built of the basalt stone of the area.Haikim the Mad was the Caliph whose destruction of churches and expulsion of Christians instigated the First Crusade. Even his local subjects hated him and thus gave him the name "Mad". Finally, he was apparently assassinated when he went out for a night time horse ride and his subjects immediately informed the Pope that the pilgrimage route was again open. However, the Pope said the Crusaders were already on their way and could not be turned back.
Figure 2 The Knights Templier prided themselves on their civilized behavior - like frequent baths. Here the shower stall is in the left corner, the channels for the water in the left foreground and the cistern with a stove to make hot water on the right.In addition, the Crusades were as much about socio-economic matters as religious. In those days, only the eldest son in upper class families inherited the family property. The second son was shipped off to become a bishop. But third sons had nothing. Thus, these went off on expeditions like Crusades to make a fortune and perhaps find a duchy or kingdom to rule over. The Crusaders were ruthless in their violence toward the so-called Muslim "infidels" as well as toward the Jews and even local Christians.
The remembrance of the actions of the Crusaders remains firm in the Arab memory and thus continues to influence how they regard the actions of the west. They have never forgotten the brutality of Christians during this period and do not trust anything western as a result. Fr. Hoppe also claimed that at the Council of Florence the eastern and western churches were reconciled but when the eastern church fathers came home to find that the western Crusaders had sacked even Constantinople the division widened even unto this very day.
Fort Belvoir ("beautiful view") is on a spectacular summit overlooking the Jordan Valley. It was a typical Crusader fort and enough of it remains today to get an idea of what these structures looked like. Massive basalt stones were carved out of the hilltop to form the moat and to provide the stones for the huge walls and tower. The Knights Hospitallier were even so chivalrous that they regularly took showers and washed their clothes. The keep or central section of the castle featured an area specifically for this purpose.
Proceeding a bit further south in the Jordan Valley, we came to the town of Bet She'an. This site has had almost continuous occupation back to 4000 BCE and its tel reveals at least 25 layers of occupation. The Israeli government is trying to really develop this site for tourism to assist in the economic recovery of an area that has a 25-30 % unemployment rate. The current drought of tourists has serious hampered this effort.
Figure 3 The bath complex of Bet She'an (right photo) was a huge place not only to pamper the bodies of the wealthy but also for socializing and deal-making. The floors of the bath were specially constructed (left) to conduct heat and thus create the steam baths.The site which is open to tourists now is the lower city which dates from the second century BCE to the Byzantine. Bet She'an must have been a spectacular and extremely wealthy city in its heyday. There is a huge Roman theater and amphitheater as well as several streets lined with what must have been quite exclusive shops, given the mosaics on their floors. Most impressive, however, is the Roman bath complex. Wealthy folks hung out at the baths much like today's business people frequent the golf course country club. In Bet She'an the bath was a huge place not only for the rich to be cleansed and massaged but also where the they could engage in games of chance with each other and find quiet corners to close a business deal.
Much of the Roman city was destroyed by a 7th century earthquake and the condition of some of the massive columns gives evidence to the force of this event. In a couple of years when the Israeli finish the preparation of this site, it will undoubtedly be a central site to help people understand the remarkable archeological significance of this area.
Figure 4 Bet She'an is a city that has been continuously occupied for nearly 6000 years. The tel which reveals at least 25 layers of occupation is in the background of the 2nd century Roman city that is currently the center of excavation.A quick stop at Bet Alfa gave us a chance to see a remarkable mosaic on a 5th century synagogue floor. Apparently the elders of the synagogue engaged a father and son to do this projecs and these executed a peculiar work. They used the zodiac as the centerpiece with a traditional Jewish-theme on an upper panel and the story of the sacrifice of Isaac on a lower. The zodiac is peculiar inasmuch as traditional Jewish art never used human forms, let alone a Greek goddess, as part of the scene. The artists used a very primitive style but one that today has its own charm and simple beauty. One can only wonder how the patrons who paid for it reacted when they saw it!
Before heading back to Azaryia we took time for lunch and a swim at a warm springs national park in the area. A former quarry now forms a sort of extended lake where the waters bubble up to form a water way with falls and rock cliffs that make for a wonderful swimming hole.
We ended our long Galilee journey having seen the major valleys of Israel, the principal Christian sites of Jesus' ministry, the Mediterranean coast, several ports, the Carmel range as well as Mount Tabor, a couple of famous long-occupied tells dating back to the Paleolithic era, the mountains of the Golan and innumerable synagogues facing every which direction. We swam in the Mediterranean, the Sea of Galilee and the Jordan River. We sailed on the Sea of Galilee, ate St. Peter's fish and saw how typical families lived in the Galilee. We visited the major cities of modern Israel and the extraordinary Museum of Eretz Isarel in Tel Aviv as well as the ancient sites of Dor, Dan, Hatzor, Meggido and Bet She'an. We gazed on the first century boat discovered in the mud of the Lake of Galilee; we heard the tanks practicing in the Golan and the fighter jets roaring overhead.
The truly extraordinary part of this whole trip, however, is the fact that we didn't drive even 200 miles to see it all. So much history in such a small place.
Figure 5 The sun sets over the Galilee as it did in Jesus' day and as it did when the first settlers drew water from the well at Hatzor 6000 years ago.
Questions for Father while he is on Sabbatical please email: Mike King, who will be forwarding questions to Father to answer while he is out.