Megs In The Holy Land: Galilee 4: Gamla, Qazrin Village & Swimming!

November 17,2010

Gamla- Qazrin Village

Beach

Hiked Gamla-- What an incredible place. Gamla is camel in I believe Aramaic and the city looks like a camels hump! It was quite a hike and these were the people last remaining before the Romans attacked. 5,000 people jumped off the cliffs after the romans had broken their walls down. The romans had attacked all of Galilee and they were the very last city to conquer. They could hold them off for seven months, but King Aggripa II besieged and gave up, but the Romans didn’t. Within one month they had hit through the walls with “battering rams”. These Jews jumped because they would be sold into slavery, prostitution, and much worse. Brother Chadwick asked us what we would do if we were in that situation. So I ask you, what would you do if your city has been under attack for so long, and you had a family to take care of. All the surrounding cities had been demolished, would you jump and kill your family, or try and have a second chance of a more than miserable life with the Romans? It lead me into a deep discussion with people around me. I really put myself in that place and felt overwhelmed with what a heavy decision that would be. It was an amazing spiritual experience to be so humbled by these wonderful people that gave their lives for their beliefs. There was a synagogue that we know that Christ taught in. It's not well known among Christians, thanks to our incredible professors they know all the secret stuff. They’ve done a lot of research of this place, and it felt different there. This place was absolutely breath taking. The hike was really hard, and completely rewarding.
-Then visited a Ancient Qasrin- an old Talmudic village that people were dressed up like they would have been in the time of Christ. We saw all the household supplies of the people of the day and a very well preserved city. It was SO great. I saw a lot, and learned more.
- In the evening ate some St. Peters fish from this Sea... It came head and all!
- Then off to Tiberias for Ice Cream. I'm looking at the beautiful city right now... It's glistening over the glass-like galilee waters casting a gorgeous reflection.

These are markers for burial grounds and called Dolmen. We don't really know what happened to these people or what these were like that built these! They were used at the time stone hedge!

Gamla! Or camels back in Aramaic... I think?

Gamla

1. Where does the word Gamla come from and what does it mean?

Derived from Hebrew/Arabic word “gamal” meaning camel

2. Who was responsible for Gamla’s defense during the First Jewish Revolt?

Joseph-Ben-Matthias, later called Josephus, a leader of the Zealot movement

3. What is the name of the Roman General who captured Gamla?

Vespasian

4. Describe how the Romans eventually captured Gamla and what happened to the Jewish defenders?

Romans breached the wall in three places and entered the city, but the Jews fought them off. When it was dark, three soldiers undermined the large northeast tower, causing panic among the Jewish defenders. The Romans entered the city and pushed the Jews back to the Northwest pinnacle of the city, killing 4,000 in hand to hand fighting. Another 5,000 Jews committed suicide by throwing themselves off the cliff.

5. Describe the synagogue found at Gamla. When was it built, etc?

From the 1st century AD, rectangular, built of black basalt stones, faces Jerusalem, large mikva outside