Pictures from the Holyland

Banias

dgrushko — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 13:51:14 +0000

Banias (or Paneas ‎) located at the foot of theGolan Heights, and is the source of the Nahal Hermon stream. Banias was first settled in the Hellenistic period following Alexander the Great’s conquest of the east. The Ptolemaic kings, in the 3rd century BC, built a cult centre there. The sacred precinct included a temple, courtyards, a grotto and niches for rituals, and was dedicated to Pan. It was constructed on an elevated, 80m long natural terrace along the cliff which towered over the north of the city. A four-line inscription at the base of one of the niches relates to Pan and Echo, the mountain nymph, and was dated to 87 CE.

In 20 BC, Paneas was annexed to the Kingdom of Herod the Great. Herod erected a temple of ‘white marble’ in Paneas in honour of his patron. Remains of a temple built by Herod the Great stand in front of the cave.

After Herod’s death, his son Philip inherited this area, and in 2 BCE Philip founded his capital near the Banias Spring, calling it Caesarea Philippi.

In 61 CE, king Agrippa II renamed the administrative capital Neronias in honour of the Roman emperor Nero, but this name was discarded several years later, in 68 CE. Agrippa also carried out urban improvements.

In 1129 the Crusaders fortify the city and built a fortress.

(Most of the city was not excavated)

The Pan Temple

The Pan Grotto

The court of Pan and the Nymphs

The Temple of Pan & The Dancing Goats

An Altar found in Banias

Roman Bridge On Gobta River

Nahal Hermon stream

Agrippa II Palace

Banias Synagogue

The Cardo

The Crusaders City Gate

Tower Corner

A structure describing the various historical periods of the city of Banias. The Lower wall related to the Late Roman and Byzantine structures, above it Crusador level, Ayyubid level, Ottoman level, and on the Top a modern Syrian building.

The Basilica

Um el Kanatir

dgrushko — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 13:14:23 +0000

The ruins of the ancient JewishvillageofUm-el-Kanatir are located in the central Golan. The abundant, clean, spring water was the reason for the village’s ancient industrial specialization in the production of fine, white linen cloth. The villagers also engaged in mixed farming, and raised sheep and olives. It is believed that the income generated by the linen industry enabled the villagers to construct the very large sixth-century synagogue. Interestingly, the synagogue appears to have been built on the site of a more modest, fifth century synagogue. The large synagogue was destroyed by the catastrophic Golan earthquake of 749 AD.

Neither the synagogue nor the town, were rebuilt after the earthquake of 749.

The name was given by Arab shepherds who continued to make use of the site the water source, a spring that pours from the face of a cliff into three basins carved of stone in antiquity. Each of the basins was surmounted by a Roman monumental arch of cut basalt.

The Spring

The Synagogue

Decorated stones found in the Synagogue

Katzrin

dgrushko — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 18:30:02 +0000

The ruins of the ancient Jewish village of Katzrin (Kasrin, Qasrin) are located in the central Golan. The village of Katzrin was built around a spring, which still flows. The village was built during the Roman period (3rd-4th centuries) and was destroyed by the Golan earthquake of 749 AD.

The Village

The Oil Press

The Synagogue

The Synagogue was built in the 6th century AD atop a more modest 4th-5th century synagogue. Constructed entirely of basalt, it is notable for the wealth of its decorations. The synagogue was partially preserved to a height of 3 m. Fragments of a mosaic floor have been found. The synagogue had two rows of four columns each. The building was two stories tall with rows of windows at the top of the walls. The roof was built of wooden beams covered with ceramic tiles.

The location of Katzrin (Qasrin), mentioned in the Talmud ,in the excavation was found an ancient gravestone bearing the Hebrew inscription “Rabbi Abun, may he rest in honor”.

A stone with Menora (5 branches)

Lintel with relief of laurel, vine and amphora.

Basalt jamb with Menorah with bird relief

Ein Nashut

dgrushko — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 16:07:15 +0000

Ein Nashut - a small Jewish village was situated on the Golan mountain, 3km northern from Katzrin. The Jewish settlement that flourished here in the Mishnaic and Talmudic periods (Byzantine periods), 2nd-6th centuries AD was not identified and still keeping his Arab name. A small Synagogue and a big oil press was found in the village.

The Synagogue

(All this folowing items were found at Ein Nashut and now are in The Katzrin Museum)

A pair of entwined snakes and the inscription : “Abun son of Yose”. (Found in the synagoge)

Sarcophagus lid with Hebrew inscription.

Sarcophagus lid with Greek inscription: Yosseh son of Zanneas seventy years of age.

found at Ein Samsam (1 km northern from Ein Nashut)

The Ophel

dgrushko — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 20:39:01 +0000

The Ophel, perhaps meaning “fortified hill,” is the name of the narrow promontory beyond the southern edge of Jerusalem’s Temple Mount and Old City. Despite the name, the Old City of Jerusalem dates from a much later time than the settlement in the Ophel, which is generally considered to have been the original Jerusalem. Since the Books of Samuel credit David as the first Israelite ruler of the city on Ophel, the archaeological remains of the city are usually referred to as the City of David.

This site include the southern wall of the Temple mount and the excavation near thesouthern wall.

Most of the remains are from the Herod the great and the second Temple period.

The Southern Wall

The Western Wall

An Herodian Jug

The Eastern wall – The second Temple was built twice, first by Ezra and was fortified by the Hasmonean, the second time by Herod the great. On the right side - the Hasmonean stones, and on the left side the Herodian stones for the enlargement of the Temple Mount.

Hulda Gates , The eastern Hulda Gate, built in the Second Temple period, was a triple gate. Of the original masonry, only the threshhold and the lowest stone of the left doorpost have survived.

Aelia Capitolina coin

Robinson Arch

A pier of large stones which originally supported the western springer of Robinson’s Arch. The arch supported a monumental stairway leading up to the Temple Mount plaza. these structures were built by King Herod as a part of the expansion of the Temple Mount enclosure.

The remains of Jerusalem’s main street running the length of the Western Wall along the Tyropoeon Valley.

This stone was found among the collapsed stone , ”to the place of the trumpeting to …”

Herodian Oil-Lamp

A Lavatory compartment

A Ritual Bath

A residential building from the Byzantine period.

The Temple Mount

dgrushko — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 12:28:51 +0000

The Temple Mount (Har Habayit, Haram esh-Sharif)is the holiest site for Judaism. The Jewish Temple in Jerusalem stood there: the First Temple (built c. 967 BC, destroyed c. 586 BC by the Babylonians), and the Second Temple (rebuilt c. 516 BC, destroyed in the siege of Jerusalem by the Romans in 70 AD).

Following the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in the year 70, the area of the Temple was deliberately left in ruins (first by the Romans, then by the Byzantines). This desecration was not redressed until the Muslim conquest of the city by the Caliph Omar ibn al-Khattab in 638. He ordered the clearing of the site and the building of a “house of prayer”.

Some 50 years later, the Umayyad Caliph Abd al-Malik built the Dome of the Rock to enshrine the outcrop of bedrock believed to be the “place of the sacrifice” on Mount Moriah. He (or his son, the Caliph al-Walid I) also built the large mosque at the southern end of the Haram, which came to be called al-Aksa after the Koranic name attributed to the entire area.

Hulda Gates

A stairway in front of the north entrance to the al-Aksa Mosque leads down to a vaulted passageway and the walled-up Hulda Gates, which had been an entrance to the Temple Mount Platform at the time of the Herodian Second Temple.

Dome of the Rock

The Dome of the Rock stands on or near the approximate site of the Jewish Temple (most of the scholars today think the rock is the place of the Holy of Holies).

Al Aksa Mosque

The Golden Gate – The House of the gate.

Part of the Antiquities founded on the Temple mount

One of the gate to the Temple mount

Jerusalem – Burial sites and Tombs

dgrushko — Wed, 26 Dec 2007 07:55:40 +0000

The large number of burial sites and tombs in Jerusalem dating from the Second Temple period (second century BC – first century AD) have been the subject of intensive and continuing investigation. Hundreds of tombs, elaborate and simple, were hewn into the slopes of the hills surrounding the city, mainly on the Mount of Olives and Mount Scopus.

The burial caves were in continuous use for several generations by members of the same family. Simple tombs have a narrow opening, sealed with a square stone. Several dozen particularly large tombs have splendid facades. In primary burial, bodies were placed in niches (kuhim) or on benches (arcosolia) cut into the walls of the burial chambers. The most typical feature of the Jewish tombs of that period are the stone chests with lids (ossuaries). Thousands of these have been found in Jerusalem. They attest to the prevalent practice of collecting the bones of the deceased for secondary burial.

Kidron Valley Tombs

Yad Avshalom

Monument to Absalom, traditionally ascribed to the rebellious son of King David (but the funerary monument dating to the Second Temple period).

The Tomb of Zechariah (by tradition the Prophet Zechariah)

Judean Ossuary

The Tomb of Bnei Hazir

The tomb dates to the Hasmonean period. It has a long Hebrew inscription carved on the architrave above the columns, identifying it as the tomb and nefesh of several members of the Hezir family who had served as priests in the Temple.

The Tombs of the Sanhedrin

(Are located northwest of the Old City, in the neighborhood still called Sanhedria)

There are no evidence How was buried here (and in the other burial caves) except the fact that this cave contains several dozen burial niches, roughly the number of the members of the Sanhedrin.

Judean Ossuary

Yason Tomb

A Tomb from the Hasmonean period, found in the center of the new parts of Jerusalem.

City of David

dgrushko — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 15:41:41 +0000

The City of David was built in the south of the Temple Mount and is strategically surrounded on all sides by valleys. It is perched above its source of water, the Gihon spring, which continue to flow plentifully to this day. The ridge was inhabited as early as the prehistoric Chalcolithic period, but the first signs of a fortified city date back to the Middle Bronze Age – the days of Abraham (1800 B.C.). While the city was relatively small (12 acres), it was strongly fortified. Massive walls and towers and a sophisticated water system indicate that “Shalem”, as the bible refers to the city in the days of the Patriarchs, was a powerful city that maintained a high standard of living. Joshua defeated the Canaanites but Jerusalem did not fall into the hands of the Israelites until the 10th century BC, when King David led his people to victory over the Jebusites and established the first capital of the united Tribes of Israel at the heart of the Israelite settlement.

David built his palace here, fortified the city, and , most importantly, by locating the Ark of the Covenant within its walls, he bestowed upon his new capital the exalted status of G-od’s chosen place. David’s son Solomon reinforced this policy by building his great temple to the north of the city on Mount Moriah.

In 586 BC, the City of David was totally destroyed by King Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians. Ancient Jerusalem was burned, the First Temple was obliterated, and the Jewish people were taken into Babylonian exile for 70 years.

The Water System

The Canaanite Conduit

The Canaanite tunnel (tunnel 2) was apparently dug at the same time that the fortifications of the city were established during the Middle Bronze Age 2 Period (18th Century BCE). The waters of the southern spring were channeled through this canal for agricultural purposes.

Warren’s Shaft

In 1867 the archeologist and treasure hunter Captain Charles Warren uncovered a secret access tunnel that led from the city deep into the mountain, meeting a 13-meter shaft descending to the Gihon Spring. Warren claimed this shaft was the place of the Biblical “pipe” used in King David’s capture of the city, and was used by the ancient Jerusalemites to draw their water from the Gihon Spring.

Hezekiah’s Tunnel

Towards the end of the 8th century BC, the Bible contains a vivid acount of King Hezekiah miraculous deliverance from the infamous Sennacherib, describing Hezekiah’s preparations for the inevitable onslaught of the mighty Assyrian army. Hezekiah hewed a long tunnel to direct the water from Gihon spring into the Shiloach pool, which was now included within the city walls.

An Iron Age II - Water Jug

The Shiloach Pool

The small Shiloach Pool, to which the waters of the Gihon flow today, is part of a pool from the Byzantine Era. Fragments of pillars which can be seen today in the pool, appear to be remains of the Shiloach Church that was built in this location.

During the Second Temple Era the waters continued to flow south and were collected in an additional, larger pool. During the time of the Second Temple this pool was about three dunum in size and had wide, central roads leading to it. Archeologists believe that this pool was built upon an older pool dating back to the First Temple Period. It is to this pool that King Hezekiah diverted the waters of the Gihon.

Capernaum

dgrushko — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 07:56:35 +0000

Capernaum (Kefar Nachum, Nahum’s hamlet) was a settlement on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. The site is a ruin today, but was inhabited from 150 BC to about AD 750.

Archaeological evidence demonstrates that the town came into existence in the second century BC, in the Hasmonean period. The site had no defensive wall and extended along the shore of the nearby lake. The cemetery zone is found 200 meters north of the synagogue, which places it beyond the inhabited area of the town. It extended 3 kilometers to Tabgha, an area which appears to have been dedicated to agriculture, judging by the many oil and grain mills which were discovered in the excavation. Fishing was also a source of income.

The Synagogue

The synagogue was built almost entirely of white blocks of calcareous stone brought from distant quarries. The building consists of four parts: the praying hall, the western patio, a southern balustrade and a small room at the northwest of the building. The internal walls were covered with painted plaster and superbly well-done stucco work found during the excavations. The synagogue appears to have been built around the fourth or fifth century AD. Beneath the foundation of this synagogue lies another foundation made of basalt, and was suggested that this is the foundation of a synagogue from the first century AD.

A Byzantine Oil-Lamp

The ancient synagogue still has two inscriptions, one in Greek and the other in Aramaic, that remember the benefactors that helped in the construction of the building.

The city dwelling house

The Octagonal church

A Bronze Cross

Hamat Tiberias

dgrushko — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 05:54:17 +0000

Hamat Tiberias (Hammath Tiberias), located on the western shore of sea of Galilee, was known for its healing hot springs even before the country was conquered by Joshua. The city became the southernmost of the fortified towns of the tribe of Naftali, and was inhabited during the Roman, Byzantine and Omayyad periods. The Roman built sophisticated spas here that drew holiday-makers from the entire region. When neighboring Tiberias was built by Herod Antipas in the year 20 AD, Hamat was already well established as a resort. In all, there are seventeen hot springs in Hamat.

The southern wall
The southern wall was apparently part of the wall erected by the Caesar Justinius (527-565 AD).

The Southern City Gate

The remains of arches which once suported a building, probably a spa.

In the southern part of the site, remains of additional synagogues construted between the first and eighth centuries and built one on top of the other. The mosaic floor at the site belong to the Severus Synagogue, built in the fourth century AD and destroyed in the fifth.

The Synagogue

A Talmudic Incantation Bowl

Talmudic Oil-Lamp

The platform (Bima) of the later synagogue (5th – 8th centuries)
A semicircular prayer alcove, served as a platform on which the ark was placed. In the annex to the east was the stairway leading to the upper floor, while in the room to its west the synagogue chest (Geniza) was discovered.

Courtyard of the later synagogue (5th – 8th centuries), can be a study room.