![]() ![]() We whizzed forwards through thousands of years in time for the final sites of the day. The museum also contains an interesting presentation on the strange stone circles at Rujm el-Hiri and many remains from the Roman & Byzantine period there is a good film about the siege of Gamla by the Roman forces during the Great Revolt. ![]() Human settlement in the area goes back up to 800 000 years and one of the most ancient artefacts is the ‘ Venus of the Galil’, a small rock found with tools belonging to prehistoric man which is said to resemble a female figure. ‘Venus of the Galil’ at the Archaeological Museum of the Golan Heights in Katzrinįrom there it was a case of popping over the street to the Antiques Museum of the Golan Heights. We made do with verbal explanations and also enjoyed the ruins, particularly the ancient synagogue. Based around ruins of a village from the Byzantine period, the idea is to give visitors the chance to experience ancient life it is possible to have workshops in pressing olive oil grinding flour or treading wine using ancient methods. Having treated our taste buds we visited the Talmudic Village of Katzrin. The downside was that concentrating during the afternoon was slightly harder… Byzantine period Synagogue at Ancient Katzrin The winery has won many international prizes under their Yarden brand and the muscat particularly appealed to my sweet tooth I picked up a bottle of their new 2T ‘port-style’ wine which I am looking forward to trying. Wine tasting at the Golan Heights WineryĪfter a welcome rest in the air-conditioned bus (37 degrees is not ideal hiking weather!) we travelled to the city of Katzrin, the capital of the Golan and its largest city, with an almighty 7000 residents! Our first stop was at the Golan Heights Winery for a brief tour and then a more lengthy tasting session. The hike afforded some lovely views of the Hula Valley and also of a couple of waterfalls in a country so devoid of water all very much appreciated the opportunity to revel in the wonders of nature. To my slight disappointment we have not done a great deal of hiking on the course so it was nice to get into nature to enjoy the green surroundings and the sound of the water to hop along stepping stones as we crisscrossed the stream as we descended towards the valley below. Our day began with a hike down the Jilabun stream, a great way to stretch the legs after a lengthy bus ride. The reasons for this are far too complex to go into in this blog post, but in summary, there are no problems of note between the different peoples living in the Golan Heights and all have full rights as Israeli citizens. Unlike the West Bank and Gaza however, the area is calm (apart from the occasional stray shell from the Syrian conflict across the border) and the largely Druze population cooperate with the state although not to the extent of their kin in the Galil, as those living in the Golan still maintain loyalty to Syria. In 1981 Israel effectively annexed the area and awarded citizenship to those citizens who had not been given it since 1967. In 1967 Israel took a significant portion of the Golan Heights, and a small amount of the Hermon range in the Six Day War, with the argument that it would help protect its citizens from the constant Syrian sniping in the intervening years. The region is not without controversy the vast majority was given to the new state of Syria in 1946. Last week we spent three days in the area of the Golan Heights and Mt Hermon, in the north east of Israel as each day was effectively its own field trip I’ll be dedicating three blog posts to the campus over the next couple of weeks. As part of the course, we have four ‘campuses’ – trips of 2-3 nights to more far-flung parts of the country to enable us to make the most of our time. ![]()
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