Subject: JUICE Geography: The Golan - Lesson #3
Date: Tue, 24 Mar 1998 23:41:21 +0000
To: "Hebraic Heritage Newsgroup"<heb_roots_chr@geocities.com>
From: JUICE Administration <juice@virtual.co.il>
To: geography@virtual.co.il
Subject: JUICE Geography 3
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World Zionist Organization
Jewish University in CyberspacE
juice@wzo.org.il birnbaum@wzo.org.il
http://www.wzo.org.il
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Course: Biblical Geography
Lecture: 3/12
Lecturer: Eli Birnbaum
The Golan
The Golan is one of the most hotly contested parcel of real estate in
Israel today. Why does it inspire such intense debate? We will examine
the geographic as well as the historical framework paying special
attention to the part geography has played in security issues of this
area. In point of fact no one can truly understand the importance of the
Golan Heights (no matter what your political view) unless you are
standing by the river in the vicinity of kibbutz Gadot and simply look
up.
http://www.israel-mfa.gov.il/facts/land/fland2.html
The Golan is the westernmost part of a region known as the Bashan or
Basan, encompassing approximately 1,240 square kilometers (480 square
miles). The Golan borders the Hula and Kinneret lakes in the west, the
Rukad (Ruqqad) stream in the east close to Qunaitira (Kunetra), the
Yarmuk river in the south and the Hermon in the north. The eastern
Bashan stretches from the Rukad to the foot of the Hauran Mountains. The
Hauran, a region of volcanic peaks, includes the Jebel A-Druze mountain
range, which at 1820 meters (5,900 ft) above sea level is the highest
range in Syria apart from the Hermon.
http://wzo.org.il/juice/map/map3.htm
The Golan comprises two distinct sections. Professor Gottleib
Schumacher, the 19th century researcher, defined these as the lower
Golan, which he called by its Arabic name of Ard el Kmach (land of the
grains), and the Upper Golan, Ard e-Rabi (land of the pasture). The
Lower Golan runs from the Yarmuk in the south to the Sameck stream and
Mount Peres in the north. The region lies 200-600 meters above sea level
and is mostly flatland. The rich basalt soil combined with an average
rainfall of 400 mm ensures good crops, especially grain harvests.
The Upper Golan reaches a height of 1,280 meters (4,250 feet) at Tel
a-Shaikah near the Hermon. The many extinct volcanoes attest to a great
deal of volcanic activity. The largest of these is Har Avital (1,204
meters) near the border with Syria. The largest crater lake in Israel,
Birket Ram, is situated at the foot of the Hermon. Although the upper
Golan's rainfall is one of the highest in the country (1000 mm) there is
little topsoil which makes grain farming unfeasible but is useful for
pasture land.
Mount Hermon (Jebel a-Sheikh) has great strategic importance. At a
height of 2,814 meters (9,232 ft), it towers over the entire area. Its
rainfall is probably the highest in Israel, averaging 1500 mm (60 in)
annually. The Hermon Shoulder, with an altitude of 2,200 m (7220 ft), is
the highest region currently under Israeli control.
Lastly is should be noted that the Golan is one of the most imprtant
sources of water for the sea of Gallilie which in turn feeds much of
the country.
http://www.geocities.com/Colosseum/Loge/7748/golan2.html
What's in a name?
I will refer to the Golan Heights (Ramat Hagolan) as the Golan for the
sake of saving a few bytes on the lecture. In actuality the name Golan
probably refers to the city of Golan in the southeastern Heights. The
name probably reflected the status of the city (golah = exile),
referring to the fact that it was both a levitical city and a city of
refuge for those who were guilty of involuntary manslaughter (Deut. 4:43
Joshua 20:8). Today's Golan overlaps the Bashan or Basan whose western
border begins at the Dan (Deut.33:22), with Salcah its easternmost city
(Joshua 13:11).
Another interesting name is the Hermon. Moses, while recounting all the
battles fought by the Israelites against the two Amorite kings, said: "
We took ..out of the hand of ..from the valley of Arnon to Mt. Hermon"
(Deut. 3:8-9). The Sidonites call it Sirion and the Amorites call it
Senir. Rashi the medieval scholar explains that each kingdom wanted to
call it by its own name. According to him Senir means snow in Canaanite
and German.
According to one legend the name Hermon refers to the word Herem - a
ban. Many years ago, in the time of Jered son of Mahalal, angels
descended from the skies. "And the sons of God saw that the daughters of
man were beautiful and they took for themselves wives" (Gen. 6:2). And
they swore an oath on the mountain that all would resolve to take wives
from the daughters of men. All 200 swore an oath of excommunication
(herem) for anyone who did not take a wife. And the mountain was called
Hermon. (Book of Enoch 1:6)
Then again some commentators maintain that "sons of God" simply means
men of rank.
Biblical History
Driving through the plateau we find weird looking stone monuments off
the sides of the road. These are the dolmens probably the earliest
signs of habitation in the Golan. These massive stone table-like
structures are believed to be the remains of ancient burial sites dating
back more than 6000 years, but little more is known about them.
http://wzo.org.il/juice/map/golan/index.html
The first biblical story linked to the area actually concerns a group
we met before. Remember the sons of God or fallen angels? An interesting
story is related in the Talmud (Nidah 61a). One of the fallen angels
(wasn't that a movie?) was named Shamhazai. He and Ham's wife had a
child of their own . They named the child Ahijah and he in turn had
two sons who were bound to be a bit unusual. One was named Og and the
other Sihon. We will meet Og again shortly.
During the Flood ,the Talmud tells us (Sanhedrin 108a), great
underground springs opened adding to the rain to flood the land. Later
all but three were sealed up. The three were Hammat Gader (Hamat Gader
of today) near the Yarmuk river , The Tiberias hot springs and the
spring of Beit Ram, known today as Birkat Ram in the Golan.
Another site supposedly dating from the same period is Kaalat Nimrod -
the fortress of Nimrod, perched above the ancient city of Dan on the
edge of a ridge. This is said to have first been built by Nimrod the
grandson of Ham (Genesis 10:8). Although the ruins still visible today
are dated much later.
http://www.israel-mfa.gov.il/mfa/archair2.html
The earliest reference to the Golan's strategic value appears in Genesis
14:5, the battle between the 4 kings against the 5. "And in the 14th
year came Chedorlaomer and the kings and attacked the Rephaim in
Ashterot Karnaim". If you look at a map of the area you will see that
Ashterot Karnaim (which we will see again frequently) is one of the
strategic keys to the entire south. The Rephaim were part of the larger
tribe of Amorites living in the area. The most famous of their leaders
was Og (the Giant) king of Bashan who had 60 fortresses under his
control (Deut. 3:4).
Og's two main cities were Edrei and Ashterot Karnaim (actually two
cities on two hills separated by the main highway in the valley). I
touched briefly on the importance of the latter. If you look at the map
you will see that it controls the road northward to Damascus. Its
southern exit leads to both the Trans-Jordanian Kings Way and a southern
branch of the Via Maris which cuts through the southern Golan to join
the main road at Karnaim. Bear in mind that there were very few passable
roads leading from Asia to Africa. Right in middle of one of these
important roads lies Ashterot Karnaim.
http://www.wzo.org.il/juice/map/map5.htm
Og was defeated at Edrei by Moses (Num. 21:33) and the land was given as
an inheritance to the tribe of Menassah (Joshua 12:5-6, 13:7-12,
13:29-31, II Kings 4:13). The defeat of Og was one of the first
conquests of Eretz Israel. Jair the son of Menassah led a smaller
battle, east of Ashterot, near what is known as the Lega. Jair succeeded
in conquering the area and named it Havot Jair for himself (Deut. 3:14)
Evidently they were not able to hold on to it for long. It is important
to remember that when the Book of Judges (Judges 10:4) mentions the
Judge Jair Hagiladi from Havot Jair, it is referring to a different
Havot Jair, in the Gilead just across the Jordan from Beit Shean which
lies south east of our Havot Jair.
The tribe of Menassah which settled the area, was one of the two and a
half tribes who asked permission from Moses to settle on the other side
of the Jordan (the others were Rueben and Gad - Numbers 32). Menassah
actually had only half their tribe settle there, the other half
preferring the land near the Jordan valley and the Sharon Plain. One of
the problems the tribe had was the lack of real territorial link to the
rest of the country.
This was due to Joshua's lack of success in capturing much of the
territory north and east of the Dan, or the approaches to the Hermon.
Much of it was included in what was known as "eretz hanishar" (the land
that remained). This refers to land that had not been taken over by the
tribes who seemed to prefer to settle on the arias easily conquered.
Leaving the rest to be divided up between the tribes at a later date
(Joshua 13:4-5, 17:11-12, Judges 3:3). As an interesting aside the
midrash says that one of the reasons for the eventual destruction of the
first Kingdom is the lack of faith of the Israelites to drive out the "
foreign inhabitants" from the entire country. If you examine the later
conquests of the "land that remained" you will see that although in the
south of the country a large section of land was taken (II Samuel 24:
6-8), in the north large tracts (especially on the coast) still remained
outside Israelite control even later on. Why? It is possible that the
Sidonites were allied with the Israelites for much of the time, helping
Solomon to build the Temple. Another hypothesis is that since the
Israelites never drove out the inhabitants and so would have remained a
minority, making it difficult to control the area (see I Kings 9:18, II
Chron.7:8, 8:2, II Kings 14:25,28).
Just at the foot of the northern Golan lies the city of Laish or
Leshem. The tribe of Dan who desired a quieter and safer existence left
their territory, near the Ayalon Valley (Joshua 19:47, judges 1:34)and
moved up north capturing the city and renamed it Dan. It is also the
site for Micha's idol (, 18:2). Dan in the bible is used to denote the
most northern point of Eretz Israel as in "Dan to Beersheba (Judges
20:1) Evidently during the 10th century BCE under Jeroboam I it was
highly fortified with a beautifully preserved gate and paved street.
http://www.israel-mfa.gov.il/facts/hist/arcsit2.html
For the most part it was only during the time of King Solomon that the
Bashan come under Israelite control (I Kings 4:13). During the reign of
King Jehoahaz (815-801), his allies (albeit temporary) the Assyrians
were defeated by the Aramite kingdom causing him to lose the northern
land including the Golan. The resurgence of the Assyrians under
Adad-Nirai III restored most of it to his successor Joash (801-786). It
was only with his successor Jeroboam II (786-746) that the Bashan
eventually came under Israeli rule (II Kings 13:14-19).
The First Exile
Within a few years the Assyrians turned on their former allies and once
and for all ended the Kingdom of Israel. The year was 732 BCE.
Tiglath-Pileser III plowed through the entire territory, exiling many
inhabitants and establishing two districts: Karini (note the similarity
to Karnaim) in the West and Hawrina (Haruan) in the East. (I Kings
15:29; cf. Isa. 8:23)
Since we just finished Purim there is a fascinating story is told in
the Talmud regarding the origins of Haman (Megillah 97a). He is said to
have been born in Kfar Kartzoum and was the village barber for 22 years.
Karzoum is also known as Karynos which is a corruption of Karnaim.
Hasmonean Rule
The struggle of the Maccabees was difficult and painful. Judah was
called upon to help his fellow Jews who were being persecuted by the
Seleucids in the Galilee, Trans-Jordan and the Bashan. He sent Simon
with 3000 soldiers to the Galilee while he, his brother Jonathan and
8000 soldiers crossed the Jordan northward. He fought one Timotheus up
through the Gilead, chasing him "until the "Temples of Karnaim... but
Judah took the city and slew them and burned the temple" (Jos.
Antiquities Book 12 chapter 8). Many Jews chose to follow Judah and
settle in a safer area. It was not until real independence had been
achieved under Simon the brother of Judah that the expansion of borders
began. In those days ownership of land bounced back and forth like a
tennis match.
In 100 BCE Ptolemy invaded the north from the coast but was pushed back
to Ptolemais (Acre) by a combined force of Egyptians and Jews under the
command of two Jewish generals.
The full impact of Hasmonean rule was felt during the reign of Alexander
Yanni (Josephus Antiquities, 13:394) who in 85 BCE pushed the borders
well to the north including Dan and the Bashan. This didn't last long
however, and in 66 BCE Pompey gave the land to the Itureans. It was
returned to the Jews however, when Augustus granted it to Herod.
The revolt
Prior to the outbreak of the war against Rome, the Galilee had been
given over to Josephus to command. Realizing that the Romans would
probably take the Galilee first, he began fortifying many of the towns.
In the Golan, then known as Gaulontius, he strengthened Selucia, Sogane
and his strongest site Gamala (War
of the Jews IIl:577).
Josephus succeeded in convincing both Selucia and Sogane not to continue
the revolt, leaving the fortress of Gamala, perched high on a mountain.
Listen to how Josephus, who witnessed the battle, describes it: "Sloping
down from a towering peak is a spur like a long jagged neck... On the
face and both sides impossible ravines cut it off... Built against the
almost vertical flank the houses were piled on top of one another and
the town seemed to be hung in air... It faced south and its crest served
as a citadel resting on an unwalled precipice that went straight down
into the deepest ravine."
http://www.israel-mfa.gov.il/facts/hist/arcs2-3.html
Vespasian himself led the Fifth and Fifteenth Legion, besieging the city
for eight months. After sustaining great losses he managed to breach the
walls of the town. The survivors fled up the southern flank to the
citadel, all the while throwing rocks on their attackers. With nowhere
else to go, knowing that only
death awaited them, as Josephus relates "whether they resisted or tried
to surrender their fate was the same... The Romans who spared not even
babes in arms but seized all they found and slung them from the
citadel... Despairing of escape and hemmed in every way they flung their
wives, children and themselves... into the
ravine". The Romans killed 4000 while 5000 more jumped into the ravine.
Two girls who had hidden in the ruins were the only survivors.
The Aftermath
The war soon moved south leaving the silence of the dead. Quiet slowly
returned to the land. Much of the Galilee and the Golan was spared since
they surrendered without a fight. With Jerusalem destroyed, the center
of Jewish life and learning moved to the Galilee. Little is known about
the reaction of the inhabitants
to the second revolt in 135.
The Golan, as evidenced by the over 100 sites studied since 1967, began
to really flourish just as the rest of the country was in decline.
Throughout the Golan synagogues were built, in Hamat Gader, Aphek,
Dabura, Katzrin, Kanaf, Sogane (Yehudiya), Kfar Harub, Nob, Susita etc.
The Golan is rarely mentioned in the
Talmud and it is possible that many of the communities were founded only
in the 4th Century. Most of the villages consisted of about 40
households. Their main occupation was olive oil processing and several
of them were quite wealthy. The reason for smaller towns rather then
large communities stems from the fact
that each town was built around a spring, which could only support a set
number of families.
When did they disperse and where did they go? Amazingly many of these
communities lasted for over 600 years, until the Arab conquests spread
lawlessness in their wake. It became difficult to defend the small towns
from roving bands. Some of them, like Sogane and Edrei (Adraene), had a
small Jewish community until the 14th century. Many settlers fled to the
relative safety of Damascus, Banias and Tiberias.
http://www.israel-mfa.gov.il/facts/hist/arcs2-2.html
There is a fascinating story dating back to the Middle Ages which
concerns Nimrod's Fortress. It is said that a Bedouin leader who
specialized in capturing his enemies and forcing them to become addicted
to hashish used the fortress. Under the influence of these drugs they
would be sent to kill people on his personal hit list. Since they were
to bombed out to notice they wouldn't even think of their personal
safety, sometimes walking directly into the victim's home or camp. They
were greatly feared and eventually passed into legend, known as the
Hashishians - from which we now have the word "assassins".
>From the 14th century on we do not know for certain of any Jewish
settlement on the Golan. For the most part it was desolated. Only in the
19th century did the Turks try to resettle Circassians in semi-military
border villages.
The renewal of the Zionist Movement ended 500 years of exile. In 1887 a
small number of Jews from Safed formed a group called Bene Yehudah (Sons
of Judah) and attempted to purchase 15,000 dunams (3800 acres) of land
at Rumthniya, 15 kilometers south of Qunaitira (Kuneitra). Some of them
began working the land and building houses, when the Turkish governor
reneged on his agreement.
This setback did not stop them and soon they bought another parcel of
land north of Kibbutz Ein Gev on the Kinneret. In 1898 they moved in
with 10 families and despite horrendous conditions (the Turks refused to
allow them to build permanent housing) they managed to hold out until
1912. In 1920 the last remaining family lost their son who was killed by
Arabs while farming, and the village was abandoned. Another attempt was
made in 1904 by a group of Crimean Jews to settle in the Bethsaida
valley although this too was short lived.
The attempt of Baron Rothschild was probably the largest in scope. In
1896 he purchased 75,000 dueast of Nahal Rukad which runs north of the
Yarmuk. He built two settlements: a farm at Jilin and a village called
Tiferet Binyamin. Seventeen families moved in only to be forcibly
evicted one year later by the Turks, who claimed they were not Turkish
citizens. Although they tried again, this time with Syrian Jews who were
Turkish citizens, they again met with failure. Throughout the 1930s
leaders of the Zionist Movement tried again and again to reestablish a
hold in on the Golan, but the French were no more helpful the Turks.
Only at 11:30 a.m. on June 9 after heavy attacks on Shear Yashuv, Tel
Dan and Ashmura did the IDF cross the border at Kfar Szold. In two days
they established a line running from the Hermon to the Rukad in the east
and the Yarmuk in the south. One week later, on June 16 1967, Merom
Golan became the first new Jewish settlement in the Golan.
For maps on the Golan today see
http://www.geocities.com/Colosseum/Loge/7748/golan.html
Bibliography
Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews. World Library Edition
Josephus, The Jewish War. Penguin Classics 1969
Daat Mikrah, Joshua, Judges, and the Kings
Zev Vilnay, Legends of Galilee, Jordan and Sinai. JPS Philadelphia
Yohanan Aharoni, The Land and the Bible. Westminster Press
Orni and Efrat, Geography in Israel. IUP 1973
Parkes, A history of Palestine from 135 A.D. to Modern Times. London
1973
Irit Zaharoni, Derekh Eretz (Heb.) Min. of Defense Press, Israel
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