Hamat Gader
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Hamat Gader (
Hamat Gader, known for its health benefits and recreation since classical antiquity, was mentioned in several historical texts. Built by the Romans in the 2nd century, the site featured a bath complex and a theater. An ancient synagogue, complete with mosaics and inscriptions, also stood within its walls. Despite earthquakes damaging the site in the 7th and 8th centuries, it continued to attract visitors until abandonment in the 9th century, eventually becoming buried beneath silt.[2]
It is set on several mineral springs with temperatures up to 50 °C.[citation needed]
Geography
The site is located in what was a demilitarized zone between Israel and Syria from 1949 to 1967.[3] The site is next to the Jordanian border, and about 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) from the tripoint of Israel, Jordan and Syria.
Etymology
The ancient Hebrew name, Hammat Gader or Hammath Gader, means hot springs of Gader,[4] also translated as Hammath-by-Gadara.[5] The ruins of the ancient city of Gadara stand south of Hammat Gader,[4] on the plateau edge above the springs, in modern Umm Qais.[citation needed]
The Arabic name Al-Hammeh or El-Hamma dates back to the medieval period
History
Roman, Byzantine and Umayyad periods
Hamat Gader was already a widely known health and recreation site in Roman times.[7] It is mentioned in Strabo,[8] Origen[9] and Eunapius,[10] as well as the Rabbinic literature of the first centuries CE.[vague][citation needed]
Construction of the bath complex began in the 2nd century by the 10th Roman Legion, which was garrisoned in the city of Gadara. Two distinct construction periods are evident at the site: The Roman-Byzantine Period, during which most of the bath complex was built, and the Muslim period, during which major changes were made to the existing structures.[11]
The site includes a Roman theatre, which was built in the 3rd century CE and contained 2,000 seats.
A large synagogue was built in the 5th century CE.[12] The synagogue complex is enclosed by a 32.5-meter-long wall and oriented southwards towards Jerusalem. The main prayer hall, nearly square at 13 meters per side, boasted two rows of columns, an apse, and a bema set into the southern wall. Adorned with a mosaic floor, the hall retained four well-preserved Aramaic inscriptions, while damaged sections bore inscriptions detailing donations from various locales.[2] Sukenik's 1932 excavation uncovered the main structure along with the Aramaic mosaic inscriptions and a Greek inscription from the chancel screen.[12][2] Subsequent analysis by G. Foerster in 1982 shed light on earlier phases of construction.[2]
The empress Aelia Eudocia composed a poem praising the qualities of the multiple springs which was inscribed so that visitors could see it as they went into the pool.
Some of the buildings including the famous
Mandate period
The border between the
Before 1949, the Palestinian Arab village Al-Hamma was located at this site. At the time of the 1931 census, it had 46 occupied houses and a population of 170 Muslims, 1 Jew and 1 Christian.[15]
Syrian control
After the
On April 4, 1951, a two-vehicle military patrol set out for Hamat Gader in order to assert Israeli sovereignty over the site, over the objections from the Northern Command that Syria was likely to attack it.
Israeli control
Israeli control over Hamat Gader was secured during the Six-Day War in 1967, when the Israeli army occupied the surrounding Golan Heights, allowing free access to Hamat Gader for Israelis. Since then, it has been under Israeli control and has been developed as a tourist attraction, health resort and an alligator and exotic bird reserve. The health resort opened in 1977.[19]
Today, Hamat Gader also includes a
Tourist site
The Hamat Gader tourist site is centered around thermal baths and a crocodile farm. The water of the thermal baths contains sulfur at a concentration of 4.7%, which may have a therapeutic effect on skin diseases, asthma, rheumatism and wrist pain, as well as renew skin cells.[citation needed]
Further reading
- E.L. Sukenik, The Ancient Synagogue of el-Hammeh, Journal of the Palestine Oriental Society, 1935. pp. 101–ff.
References
- ^ Brown, J., E. Meyers, R. Talbert, T. Elliott, S. Gillies (30 January 2019). "Places: 678131 (Emmatha)". Pleiades. Retrieved August 8, 2014.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ ISBN 978-3-11-071574-3, retrieved 2024-02-23
- ^ Israel to build dam on disputed land claimed by Syria New York Times, 26 August 1997
- ^ ) (Snippet view).
- ^ S2CID 194966510. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
- Eliezer Sukenik.
- JSTOR 27931308.
- ^ Geog. XVI, 45.
- ^ Commentary on St. John, VI, 41, 210
- ISBN 0195112156.
- ^ Hamat Gader Information Site Archived 2006-02-12 at archive.today
- ^ Jewish Palestine Exploration Society, 1934), pp. 41-61
- JSTOR 27925800.
- ^ "The Line of June 4, 1967", Frederic C. Hof, Jewish Virtual Library
- ^ Mills, E., ed. (1932). Census of Palestine 1931. Population of Villages, Towns and Administrative Areas. Jerusalem: Government of Palestine. p. 82.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-521-00967-6.
- ^ UN Doc S/1353 Archived 2011-07-26 at the Wayback Machine Syria Israel Armistice Agreement of 20 July 1949
- ^ a b c d Benny Morris (1993). Israel's Border Wars, 1949–1956. Oxford University Press. pp. 378–279.
- ^ Hamat Gader in the 20th Century
External links
- Photos of the Hammat Gader baths at the Manar al-Athar photo archive