Hamat Gader

Coordinates: 32°41′2.51″N 35°39′55.43″E / 32.6840306°N 35.6653972°E / 32.6840306; 35.6653972
Page extended-protected
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Hamat Gader during the day
Nile Crocodiles at Hamat Gader's Crocodilians
Farm

Hamat Gader (

Arabic: الحمة السورية al-Hamma) is a hot springs site in the Yarmuk River valley, located in an area under Israeli control, near the Golan Heights and the border with Jordan
.

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

Latin word meaning "baths".[citation needed
]

History

Roman, Byzantine and Umayyad periods

Ancient Roman bath with arches

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 section of the mosaic pavement recovered from the ancient Hamat Gader synagogue, now installed in the entrance hall of the Supreme Court of Israel.

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

caliph Mu'awiyah who ruled from Damascus.[13] A century later the 749 Galilee earthquake hit. Eventually, in the 9th century, the baths were abandoned and a thick layer of silt
covered the ruins.

Mandate period

The border between the

better source needed
]

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

Ein Gev - Al Samra - Al Hamma Demilitarized Zone, per the Israel–Syria Mixed Armistice Commission

After the

Palestinian inhabitants, a total of 2,200 people, moved to Syria.[16]

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.

Nuqeib in order to render the DMZ "clear of Arabs".[18]

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

gavials. It has about 200 crocodilians and it is the largest crocodile farm in the Middle East.[citation needed
]

Tourist site

Hamat Gader at night

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

  1. ^ 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)
  2. ^ , retrieved 2024-02-23
  3. ^ Israel to build dam on disputed land claimed by Syria New York Times, 26 August 1997
  4. ^
    ISBN 0-8264-1316-1. Retrieved 27 January 2022. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help
    )
    (Snippet view).
  5. ^ . Retrieved 26 January 2022.
  6. Eliezer Sukenik
    .
  7. .
  8. ^ Geog. XVI, 45.
  9. ^ Commentary on St. John, VI, 41, 210
  10. .
  11. ^ Hamat Gader Information Site Archived 2006-02-12 at archive.today
  12. ^
    Jewish Palestine Exploration Society
    , 1934), pp. 41-61
  13. JSTOR 27925800
    .
  14. ^ "The Line of June 4, 1967", Frederic C. Hof, Jewish Virtual Library
  15. ^ Mills, E., ed. (1932). Census of Palestine 1931. Population of Villages, Towns and Administrative Areas. Jerusalem: Government of Palestine. p. 82.
  16. ^ .
  17. ^ UN Doc S/1353 Archived 2011-07-26 at the Wayback Machine Syria Israel Armistice Agreement of 20 July 1949
  18. ^ a b c d Benny Morris (1993). Israel's Border Wars, 1949–1956. Oxford University Press. pp. 378–279.
  19. ^ Hamat Gader in the 20th Century

External links

32°41′2.51″N 35°39′55.43″E / 32.6840306°N 35.6653972°E / 32.6840306; 35.6653972