janeandbobandmore: IF STONES COULD TALK

IF STONES COULD TALK

Israel prides itself on protecting the extensive archaeological record often unseen and buried beneath its soil. It considers it a sacred trust to preserve records of ancient civilizations that thrived in the Middle East. Whenever excavating for a new building, the uncovered remains of the past are preserved. One trick is to create a glass floor where one can see the past history while building above to satisfy new needs. So as one travels to a state-of-the art 21^stcentury hotel such as Beresheet, one can divert off the direct route to explore archaeological ruins of the past. Many of the sites reveal how earlier Jewish settlers from Biblical times to the present inhabited the land.

BET GUVRIN - MARESHA

This national park in a region of low hills consists of two cities, the biblical city of Maresha which was abandoned in Roman times when the settlement moved to nearby Bet Guvrin, straddling an important N-S / E-W crossroads. Archeological discoveries show that the town flourished during the Biblical, Hellenistic, and Roman periods with decline in the Byzantium and Crusader periods. Talmudic scholars walked these very streets in the third and fourth centuries.

At the end of the Mandate period, the British gave their police station here along with other strategic sites to the Egyptian Army. However, during the 1948 War of Independence, the Israel Defense Forces took this area and five months later established Kibbutz Bet Guvrin .

We climbed down into a system of connected caves dating from the Biblical period. Soft chalk rock allowed for easy excavation of caves which had created an underground city. The 21^stcentury tourist can descend underground and can find baths, mikvehs, oil press complexes and most startling, columbaria. A columbarium is a structure with many niches to raise doves. The 85 rooms of columbaria have multiple niches carved into the wall where the doves can nest and rest. We imagine that the doves in these underground niches provided the inhabitants of this biblical city with eggs, meat, fertilizer and finally a source of cash income as worshipers on their way to Jerusalem purchased some of the doves for sacrifice on the Temple Mount.

Descending into the caves

Part of an underground olive oil press

Columbarium with niches for doves on the side and rear walls, photo by Tuvia Book

AVDAT

The Incense Route extended from the Arabian Peninsula to the port of Gaza and from there to the rest of the Roman Empire. It passed through the small Nabatean settlement of Avdat that was abandoned after a huge earthquake in the 7^thcentury CE. The heart of the city was perched on a high hill overlooking the road and the expansive desert below. Extensive archeological remains consist of two Byzantine churches, a winepress, fortress walls, towers and much more.

Driving north to Jerusalem from Avdat, we encountered high winds creating a major sand storm. Masada and other sites were closed to tourists. Our Waze GPS added an hour to our drive due to these adverse conditions. (Just imagine being on a camel walking through the desert!)