Ruins, rest and relaxation

Our final day in Israel, and we finally found a supermarket - with aisles and prices and checkouts! We could just feel ourselves relax!

More importantly we had one destination on our agenda – the Roman ruins at Beit She‘an. At the junction of two fertile valleys and on trade routes, the town has been inhabited since 5000 BC. It also has the highest recorded temperature in Asia – 53.9 degrees! And yes it was hot today!

Does it have any connection with the bible?

King Saul and his sons died in battle against the Philistines, and they ‘fastened his body to the wall of Beth Shan.’ 1 Samuel 31:10

Later King David took the city and it became an Israelite strong hold.

But the main reason we went there was for the massive Roman ruins left from when most of the town was destroyed by an earthquake in the 8^th century. 

The highlights:

1. An amphitheatre to fit 7000 spectators. It looks huge, but only the lower tier of seating has survived – there were two more tiers!

The exits between each tier were called ‘vomiteria’, from which we get the word vomit. 

At the front was the stage with a 21m high ornate stone backdrop (mostly now destroyed) and backstage area. 

 And sometimes the plot of the show would become so complicated that the only solution was for a god to be dropped in from backstage, and for this there was a special ‘god crane.’ 

Why was there a need for such an huge entertainment complex? Because having slaves meant the citizens had plenty of free time, and the amphitheatre was busy 140 days each year.

2. When the citizens weren’t enjoying a show, they were working up and then washing off a sweat at one of the two huge public bathhouses – one on each side of the main street. 

There were three pools – hot, warm and cold, with the slaves stoking the fire which provided the heat wafting between the underfloor supports. 

3. And even better than the ones in the Knights’ hall at Akko – the toilets. With supports strutting out from the wall to sit on, running water underneath you and soft leaves provided for afterwards, the Romans had everything covered. Except perhaps privacy – there was space for at least 30 people in this room at a time! How would you ever be able to read your book?

4. Finally – the massive hill at the end of the street known as the ‘tell’. This is where civilisations before the Romans were built at Beit She ‘an. In fact 20 civilisations built on top of one another! We trudged up the hill and enjoyed the views of the town, and then saw the Egyptian Governor's house from 1200 BC. 

But trumping everything we have seen in this mega tour of ancient history - remains from a village 4000 years before Jesus! 

And highlight no. 5 - experiencing and talking about it all with Isaac. 

 

Hot and having had our hunger for Roman ruins thoroughly satisfied - at least for today - we had a bite to eat and headed for some well earned R’n'R.

Isaac had found the ideal spot, known as Gan Hashlosha, a swimming hole in a national park just 15 minutes away. As soon as we arrived, we saw the delightful colour of the water and the sheer size of the natural pool. 

Getting into our swimmers, I reminded Isaac that this wasn’t the Dead Sea, and he would need to actually do something to avoid drowning. The pool was very deep and very long, but we enjoyed slowly swimming to the end, only to discover that the water flowed over a waterfall into another pool, about twice the size. Standing on the ledge built under the waterfall was the strongest shower I’ve ever had – twice as powerful as the Dead Sea beach shower.

Eventually swimming to the end of this pool, we discovered that the waters flow into yet another pool (this time more like a stream) through a complicated series of waterfalls which seemed to have been a mill in a former life. 

The whole experience was absolutely delightful, and very refreshing after so many tours and ruins. And did I mention the colourful fish swimming around us? Beautiful to look at, although I wasn’t keen on my feet being nibbled. Isaac was braver and had about 20 on his foot at one stage.

And so our time in Israel comes to an end. A land of such great significance for God's workings in history. And a country of such great contrasts. Modern buildings and conveniences beside ancient ruins. People living amongst and over millennia of history every day. People from different cultures and religions and lands being themselves and living alongside one another every day. And a land of such great contrasts – waterfalls flowing into a Dead Sea, and rocky desert hills not far from fertile farming valleys. And from north to south you could drive where we have been in the last 10 days in just 3 hours!

Looking forward to some more Roman ruins tomorrow on the way to staying with our friends the Forrests in Amman.