Israel: Tour Day 3 - Caesarea and Haifa, and our first night at the Hagoshrim Kibbutz in Upper Gallilee

Left Tel Aviv ten minutes late, thanks to me! I managed to lose my iPod at the pool the night before, but a worker at the hotel found it and, not surprisingly, took it home. What was surprising was that the hotel located it, and got the worker to bring it back! Unfortunately, he lived quite far from the hotel, so, we ended up leaving without it. However, our tour operator, Neal, offered to pick it up when he returns to Tel Aviv next week. So.... at last, we're on our way.

As we traveled,we passed by a mini "Silicon Valley", and a large kibbutz farm. As we were viewing it, Yehuda mentioned that barns in Israel are carefully built to prevent contamination of the fresh water table. Apparently, he, himself had been born on a kibbutz and spent much of his early life immersed in farm life. Yehuda's mother is apparently a well known painter. This, no doubt, contributed to his sophisticated appreciation and knowledge of Israeli art. We found this to be very helpful as we later various shops and galleries during the tour.

Caesarean Aquiducts

On the way to Caesarea, we stopped by the sea to view an ancient aqueduct built over two thousand years ago. Two were built, 18km long, from springs in the hills, to Caesarea.

The first was built by Herod, the other in the second century AD. The main reason for the aquiducts was not to deliver water to drink or for irrigation. Rather, they were built to deliver water for the Roman bathouses. The source of the water was the springs of Shummi, 10KM away. Later, two more aqueducts were built to supply water to Caesarea.

Caesarea

Built 22 to 10 BC by King Herod, the beautiful port city of Caesarea was named in honor of the Roman emperor.

Every five years the city hosted major sports competitions, gladiator games, and theatrical productions.

Caesarea has a place in early Christian history as it was the site where the apostle Paul was imprisoned there for two years. Pontius Pilate ruled from Caesarea and, in fact, is the place where only one of two inscriptions exist that bear his name. In Jewish literature, (the Midrash), Jerusalem, the holy city and Caesarea, the representative center of Roman power, are philosophical "rivals".

As we entered the ruins, we passed through a gate built by the crusaders between 1191-1270 AD. Only a small part of this area has been excavated, but what we saw was impressive.

Near the ruins are some modern buildings that have been constructed using materials from the site so that they fit in beautifully with the surroundings. There, we viewed a ten minute film depicting how Caesarea was built, and what happened to it over the centuries using computer animation. Afterward, we went into a separate room where images of a number of "characters from history" such as King Herod, floated on digital screens and answered questions entered on a computer. The result was an entertaining and educational experienced for all ages.

The following dates are important for Caesarea:

• 63 AD Herod built a huge breakwater, completed in 12 years. The harbor was man made, with an outer and inner harbor.

• 132 AD The major port was damaged by earthquakes and storms by 200 AD

• 324 AD The Roman empire collapsed with the subsequent rise of byzantine empire. The breakwater at Caesarea is destroyed

• 500 AD An very ornate octagonal byzantine church was built on the site of the old Roman temple

• 638 AD the Arab period began. Caesarea was the last Palestinian city to fall to the Muslim invaders in 640 CE, driving out the Romans. After this, Palestine was largely neglected.

• 1101 AD, the Crusaders captured the city under the leadership of Baldwin I

• 1187 AD Caesarea was re-conquered by the Kurdish general, Saladin, who held it until 1191.

• 1191 AD Richard I of England (the Lionhearted) led the Third Crusade to recover the Holy Land. But in 1192, the disappointed king returned home. His meager accomplishments were permission from Saladin to allow Christian pilgrims to enter Jerusalem and a remaining sliver of the Crusader (Latin) Kingdom along the Mediterranean which included Caesarea.

• 1251 - 1252 AD Reconstruction of Caesarea under the Crusaders. Under the Crusader rule, the Jewish community of Caesarea dwindled until in 1170 only 20 Jews remained. At the same time, Caesarea experienced a remarkable rebirth as a crusader military port city. From 1251-1252, the city was entirely reconstructed by Louis IX. St Peter's cathedral was built at that time on the site of the old Roman temple.
  

• 1265 AD Caesarea fell to Baybars, the Mamluk sultan of Egypt, who destroyed the city, as he did with all crusader cities he conquered. It which remained in ruins and was used as a site for After seizing Caesarea and its silted-in harbor, Sultan Baybars razed its fortifications, as he did in all the defeated Crusader cities. For many centuries, the ruins of the destroyed and deserted site were used only as a source of lime and building stones until 1884.

• 1884 AD a small fishing village was established on the remains at Caesarea by Muslim refugees from Bosnia, but was later abandoned during the War of Independence (1948).

• Modern times: Baron Rothschild purchased the site rebuilt portions of Caesarea for tourism

On the way to the Roman Circus, we passed by Roman arches through which it was possible in ancient times to gain access to palaces and bath houses for officials such as tax collectors and senior administrators.






<----Roman bathhouse

The Roman Circus was massive. There were 20,000 spectators for chariot racing. In later years, it was used for lion 'sporting events'.

An interesting side note to history is that Herod prevented the decline of the Olympic Games. Apparently, leading up to the 193rd Olympiad 12 B.C., funding the Olympic Games became a major problem (so what else is new?). At the time, there was apprehension as to whether the ancient Olympic Games could take place as a result. King Herod assured their survival that year by providing money so that the games could continue at Caesarea. As part of this, he attracted athletes by offering a prize, the first in time this had been done in Olympic history.

Herod's contributions helped the ancient Olympic Games to continue without interruption until the 293rd Olympiad, when they came to a final end, until modern times, by order of the Caesar Theodosius in the year 385 A.D.

Just past the Circus were open air 'washrooms', which were basically a gender-neutral slotted series of stones, still standing, on which patrons sat and under which water flowed to remove debris. This may seem rather gross, but, since there were no paper towels in those days, the left hand was the "dirty hand". Food was therefore eaten only with the right hand while reclining on the left side. And people shook hands with the right hand for the same reason, a tradition that continues to this day.

We past by a large number of sea shells on the path. Apparently, it was recently discovered that these shells are normally found only in deep water seas. It is now suspected that a tsunami in the 2nd century BC may have brought them to the shores of Caesarea. This may be why there are no remains of a palace where it was thought to be, on the point of land at the edge of the port city, or of a path leading to up to it.

The Amphitheater, also built during the time of Herod, used for theatrical events, which has been restored and is used today for open-air concerts, kept 7,500 spectators.

Theater = "thea on" = "view place of/from". Romans knew how to build with arches, unlike the Greeks. Of 800 theaters built, only one exists. People sat on pillows on the feet of others behind them. The floor is marble that is original from the time of Herod. Part of every amphitheater is very large corridors, called the "Vomitorium", which allowed rapid exit of thousands of spectators.

On the way to Haifa

We drove past a dam built by the Romans to raise the water level as springs in the area were 3 feet below Caesarea. This allowed them to build a third aqueduct to the city. Along the way, we could see the mountains of Carmel on the right. 85% of the many trees seen in Israel were planted, transforming desert regions into areas of lush green vegetation.

Haifa

The coastal port of Haifa is the 2nd largest city in Israel. The center of the Ba'hai faith is located on beautiful grounds overlooking the city.

The Baha'i faith began in 1850 when the Armenians shot the Persian founder, Bahaullah in front of a firing squad. Legend has it that his execution followed a miraculous event in which the jailers first went to take him away for execution. The "Bab" politely told his jailers that he "was not finished writing yet", but to no avail. The jailers took him away. However when the firing squad of 750 Armenian soldiers tried to shoot him, the smoke from their rifles filled the air such that the "Bab" was obscured from the blasts. When the smoke cleared, he gone. A search found the "Bab"back in his cell, writing. When they entered the room, he said, "now I'm finished". The jailers took him away a second time, and this time, he died under the fusillade.

The most important part of Baha'i faith is that everyone "is equal". Gardens are important - a place of peace. Numerology figures prominently in the Ba'hai faith. The number "19" important, provides 361 days of the year. This leaves four days to do major good works. The number "9" is also important. Nine leaders are selected for a given country around the world where Ba'hai is practiced. Each year all "nine's" come to Israel. Every five years the global assembly elects nine leaders and their assistants to administer the Ba'hai faith worldwide.

Along the way, we passed by Maxims, a favorite restaurant where Jews and Arabs frequented, but was the site of a terrible suicide bombing five years ago when a young Palistinain woman detonated a bomb she was wearing, killing 21 people and injuring 51 others.

From Haifa, we drove north towards the kibbutz where we will be staying tonight. Along the way, we passed by large groves of olive trees, some over 700 years old. Near them were pomegranate groves.

New Israeli fruits include red pomegranates, which are sweet with a high anti-oxidant value.

Galilee is separated into "low"and "high"regions. Low Galilee is 600 meters in elevation. High Galilee is 1200 meters, where the climate is quite different..

Pomegranate Tree

On the way to Matula

Passed view of the sea of Galilee, then into the Hula Valley. In the higher regions, extensive orchards were found of apricots, plums (three kinds), mangos, nectarines, apples. Along the way, Yehuda pointed out broad barren hills near the highway which are actually uncovered archeological "Tells", or multi-layered sites of ancient cities. Villages in this regaion have been found that date to over 350,000 years ago. Once studied, most of these sites are carefully covered over again to them.

The age of these "Tells", of course, presents some problems for literal believers of the biblical account. According to the Jewish calender, the world is not as old as this. Yehuda's answer is simple... the archaeological calendar is "not the same calender".

Despite the fact it is very dry, it is also very green. Tel Aviv has state of the art technology, but in the north, this is farm country. Most Israelis, Yehuda said, are farmers, or were farmers in recent memory.

The green area in the foreground is Israel. The brown area in the distance is Lebanon. The difference is striking---->

As we travel through the Gallial region, we passed by many trucks and tractors pulling small trailers containing produce. The lush valley attracts wildlife. Twice each year about a half billion birds migrate across Israel.

Three years ago, the pastoral scene of the country we were traveling through was quite different. In a single month, 4,000 missiles rained down in this region of northern Israel, bordering Lebanon. While driving through one of the villages, Yehuda pointed out one of the inns where soldiers stayed when fighting the war in Lebanon. The side of the hotel facing Lebanon was painted sky blue.... which led to Yehuda's light-hearted suggestion that perhaps this was to hide the building from the rockets.

Matula

Is the northern-most settlements facing Lebanon. A beautiful town set on a hill overlooking the Galilean farmland below, it is guarded, like every settlement in the region, by heavy security. The community is quite isolated from major centers, leading some of the inhabitants to avoid commuting to work by using computers in home offices.

The town is the site of a major community center, funded by the Canadian Jewish community. Called the "Canada Center", it was built to provide recreation for soldiers in Lebanon.

It is one of the only facilities in Israel that has an Olympic sized hockey rink. When Israelis come to Vancouver to compete in the 2010 Winter Olympics, we will know where they trained.

<---Canada Center. Lebanon is in the distance.

From Matula, we drove up to an Israeli lookout at the top of a hill overlooking the town and Lebanon, immediately beyond. It is incredible to view close the border really is.

There, we met Ali, an Israeli tank driver who was hitch hiking back from the army post. He rode with us on the bus a short distance, down from the lookout.

The teenage girls on the bus found him irresistible... lots of photos were taken!

Hagoshrim Kibbutz

Just outside the kibbutz where we were to stay for the night, we passed trees that had been scorched from rocket attacks there years ago. These people were really on the front lines. We then crossed the north Jordan River, the Senir. There didn't seem to be much water in the river this year. From there, we entered the kibbutz, part of which has been made into a lovely resort. When we entered it, we felt it was an oasis of tranquility.

Lush green lawns and trees, with marble sculptures and a beautiful swimming pool made it a very comfortable place to stay.

We will be here for two days. Tomorrow (Friday), we tour the region, including the Golan Heights. We will then spend Shabbat resting by the pool, and learning more about the families who live here.

But, for now, I must leave the journal to get to bed. Wakeup is at 6:15 am, leave at 7:50 am. Touring is tough!