Genghis Khan And The Golan

View of Sea of Galilee

No, it's not the catchy title of my dissertation on the 13th century Mongolian invasion of the Holy Land.  Rather, it's the name of the hotel - well, yurt - we stayed at in Givat Yoav, a small moshav (Israeli village) just to the east of the Sea of Galilee.  Benzi Zafrir was part of the group that started the moshav in 1968, and his wife Sara runs the hotel, which they painstakingly built with their own hands a few years ago.  There are five very comfortable (and air conditioned) Mongolian yurts set around an attractive courtyard, with a communal kitchen and barbecue.  It is a unique and very enjoyable accommodation and is officially recommended by the Bruner Family Journey®.       

Our yurt, with spacious private bathroom

Jeremy meditating (well, pretending to meditate) in the yurt

The hotel's location was great for exploring the sights along the eastern and northern shores of the Kinneret (the Hebrew word for the Sea of Galilee).

First, there are numerous Christian pilgrimage sights associated with important events in the New Testament.  To name just a few, there's the Mount of Beatitudes, where Jesus is said to have delivered his sermon on the mount.  Pilgrims have been drawn to this scenic hilltop setting overlooking the Kinneret since the 4th century.  The present Italianate church on the site was built in the 1930s and is surrounded by tranquil gardens.  There's also the Church of the Multiplication of the Loaves and Fishes, another modern church built on ancient foundations, where Christians believe that Jesus turned five loaves of bread and two fishes into enough food to feed 5,000 faithful.  The floor of the church incorporates numerous colorful mosaics from the Byzantine period.  On the recommendation of a tourist from San Diego (he was a Padres fan, but it's easy to forgive him now that the Giants are world champions!), we also visited a beautiful red-domed Greek Orthodox church built in the late 19th century, which sits on the site of a monastery destroyed by the Persians in the 7th century.

Church of the Beatitudes

Church of the Loaves and Fishes

Byzantine mosaic, Church of the Loaves and Fishes

Byzantine mosaic, Church of the Loaves and Fishes

Greek Orthodox church

Second, there are ancient ruins aplenty.  In Capernaum (which is another Christian pilgrimage site, as Jesus settled and recruited his first disciples here), we visited one of the best preserved ancient synagogues in Israel.  The date of the building's construction is a matter of debate, ranging from the 2nd to the 5th centuries CE.   Some believe it was built on the foundations of an earlier synagogue where, according to the New Testament, Jesus preached.  There's another ancient synagogue in nearby Korazim, along with some remains of a Jewish village from the 3rd and 4th centuries.  And in Kursi, there's a 5th century Christian monastery surrounded by beautiful countryside.  Many of the buildings at these sites were made of dark basalt, creating an unusual and dramatic setting.  In Korazim and Kursi, the absence of any other visitors enhanced this effect.      

Ancient synagogue, Capernaum

Ancient olive oil press and other architectural remnants, Capernaum

Olive oil press, Capernaum

Ancient synagogue, Korazim

Ancient synagogue, Korazim

Byzantine monastery, Kursi

Byzantine monastery, Kursi

But most impressive of all is the ancient hilltop city of Susita.  Between the 3rd century BCE and the 7th century CE, Susita was the site of a Greco-Roman city called Hippos.  (Susita and Hippos both mean horse.)  After its founding, Hippos grew into an important "polis," or city-state, with control over the surrounding countryside, including a port on the Kinneret.  During the Roman period, Hippos enjoyed a certain degree of autonomy, which included minting its own coins stamped with the image of a horse in honor of the city's name.  Starting in the 2nd century CE, the city experienced its greatest era of growth and prosperity.  The streets were lined with hundreds of granite columns imported from Egypt, a clear indication of the city's wealth.  The city declined after the Arab conquest in the 7th century and was then flattened in 749, by the same earthquake that destroyed Beit She'an (click here for yesterday's post on Beit She'an).  In addition to the remarkable ruins - especially the road network and the massive granite columns strewn across the site - there are amazing views over the Kinneret.  But stay on the path, as there are still mines from the 1967 war with Syria.

View from Susita

Ancient road in Susita

Need some large granite columns?

Stay on the path!

Ancient stuff at Susita (there were no explanatory signs)

Need some more large granite columns?

Talia walks in the footsteps of the ancient Greco-Romans!

Talia is now too hot and tired to walk in the footsteps of the ancient Greco-Romans!

Me, with Tinariwen t-shirt, at Susita

Skipping ahead through the centuries, Ein Pik is another place near Susita that's worth exploring.  It's a deserted Syrian village, captured by Israel in the 1967 war, with yet more stunning views of the Kinneret and a petty hike down to a small stream.

View from Ein Pik

View from deserted Syrian building in Ein Pik

Susita shares many things in common with Beit She'an to the south.  Both are extremely impressive ruined cities and are highlights of our archeological sightseeing in Israel.  Both cities were destroyed by the great Golan earthquake of 749.  Both sites are subject to active and fruitful archeological investigations.  And both sites are unbelievably hot!

Turning to cooler (and wetter) pursuits, we knew we couldn't miss the "Majrase," part of the Betiha-Bet Zayda Nature Reserve.  It's a delightfully shaded hike through a stream adjacent to the Kinneret.  The hike involves getting quite wet and I saw a couple of folks trying, unsuccessfully, to shake their drenched cell phones back into order.  You may recall my story from an earlier post (click here) about Talia loving this hike so much that, upon finishing it, she absolutely, positively had to do it a second time immediately, until she decided, standing in the middle of the stream, that in fact what she really wanted was a set of dry clothes and a warm meal.  But for now we'll forget that unsavory end to this most enjoyable adventure.  (FYI, Jeremy skipped the hike altogether to eat snacks and read his kindle under a tree.)       

As we look back on these adventures more than a month ago, we continue to be amazed at all the things to see and do in this area of Israel.  And we're not finished yet!  To be continued (again)....