Hula Valley

Coordinates: 33°6′12″N 35°36′33″E / 33.10333°N 35.60917°E / 33.10333; 35.60917
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
(Redirected from
Lake Hula
)
Designations
Official nameHula Nature Reserve
Designated12 November 1996; 27 years ago (1996-11-12)
Reference no.868[1]
A wheat field in the Hula Valley, against the background of Mount Hermon, March 2007.
Hula Valley farmland

The Hula Valley (

Syrian-African Rift Valley between Africa, Europe, and Asia
.

Lake Hula and the marshland surrounding it were a breeding ground for mosquitoes carrying malaria, and so were drained in the 1950s.[2] A small section of the valley was later re-flooded in an attempt to revive a nearly extinct ecosystem. An estimated 500 million migrating birds now pass through the Hula Valley every year.[3]

Etymology

Lake Hula was historically referred to by different names. The 14th century BCE Egyptians called the lake Samchuna, while the

springs
on the western side of the valley.

History

Palestine Post article explaining the history of the Huleh Concession, 12 August 1937
Map of the Hula swamp north of Hula Lake created by canoe explorer John MacGregor (1869)

Prior to its drainage in the early 1950s, Lake Hula was 5.3 km (3.3 mi) long and 4.4 km (2.7 mi) wide, extending over 12-14 square kilometers. It was about 1.5 m (4 ft 11 in) deep in summer and 3 m (9.8 ft) deep in winter. The marsh-like lake was fed by several perennial springs.

Daughters of Jacob Bridge" at the southern end of the valley. The first permanent settlement, Enan (Mallaha
), dates from 9,000–10,000 years ago and was discovered in the valley.

The Hula Valley was a main junction on the important trade route connecting the large commercial centre of Damascus with the Eastern Mediterranean coast and Egypt. During the

Canaanites.[6]

Throughout the

Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine and early Arab periods (fourth century BCE to eighth centuries CE) rural settlement in the Hula Valley was uninterrupted. During the Seleucid Empire, the town Seleucia Samulias
was founded on the lake shore.

Traditional crops were

Water buffalo were introduced in the eighth century supplying milk
and serving as beasts of burden.

In the 19th century, the valley, mainly marshy ground and a shallow lake, was inhabited by Ghawaraneh

] In 1882, a traveler wrote that the region was "among the finest hunting grounds in Syria," home to "panthers, leopards, bears, wild boars, wolves, foxes, jackals, hyenas, gazelles and otters." During World War II, officers of the British Army wrote about hunting birds there.

In 1908, the Ottoman government granted a concession to drain the marsh to a French firm, which sold it to Lebanese businessmen. In 1933, during the

Palestine Land Development Company was awarded this concession by the Mandatory government and drew up plans to drain and irrigate the valley which brought scientific expeditions to the area.[8]

A visitor to the area in the 1930s reported that the villages in the area harvested the papyrus for weaving. They used two distinct styles of loom: one for fine mats for interior use, and a second producing longer, coarser mats which were used for constructing huts and shelters.[9]

The first modern Jewish settlement in the Hula Valley, Yesud HaMa'ala on the western shore of the lake, was established in 1883 during the First Aliyah.

In 1948 there were 35 villages in the Hula Valley—12 Jewish and 23 Arab.[10]

Geography

Water buffalo grazing in Hula Valley

The Hula Valley lies within the northern part of the

above sea level. Basalt hills of about 200 meters above sea level along the southern side of the valley intercept the Jordan River, and are commonly referred to as the basalt "plug", the Korazim block, or Korazim Plateau (actually a temporary geologic base level), as they restrict water drainage downstream into the Sea of Galilee
.

Climate

The Hula Valley has a

Hermon mountain range, only a few kilometers north of the valley, mostly in the form of snow, feeding underground springs, including the sources of the Jordan River (Nahr Hasbani, also known as the "Upper Jordan" river, the Banias river, the Dan river and the brook el-Malaha), all eventually flowing through the valley, and which, before its drainage, could not easily be distinguished because of the marsh.[11]

Wetland environment

G. Schumacher, visiting the region in 1883, described the Hula valley in the following terms:

Ard el Huleh. The whole country of the marshes of the Huleh Lake, a swampy territory thickly overgrown with papyrus. It abounds in snipe, wild ducks, francolins and many other kinds of birds, and is consequently much resorted to by the hunter, but as carefully avoided by the inhabitants on account of the noxious fever.[12]

Swamp drainage

View of the Hula national reserve from Keren Naftali

The draining operations, carried out by the

Though perceived at the time as a great national achievement for Israel, with the advent of the modern environmental movement, it became evident that the transformation of the swamp into agricultural land involved significant trade offs and had effects on the ecosystem that had not been perceived in the first half of the twentieth century, when the major concerns had been the reduction of malaria-bearing mosquitoes and improving economic productivity. In 1963, a small (3.50 km²) area of recreated papyrus swampland in the southwest of the valley was set aside as the country's first nature reserve. Concern over the draining of the Hula was the impetus for the creation of the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel.[16]

Draining the Hula turned out to be a mixed blessing. Water polluted with chemical fertilizers began flowing into Lake Kinneret (Sea of Galilee), lowering the quality of its water. The soil, stripped of natural foliage, was blown away by strong winds in the valley, and the peat of the drained swamp ignited spontaneously, causing underground fires that were difficult to extinguish.[3] Eventually part of the valley was transformed back into a wetland habitat.

Hula Nature Reserve

Common cranes in Agamon Hula Nature reserve

The work of a number of scientists and nature lovers made it possible for at least a small part of Hula's wetlands to be preserved. In 1964 the Hula Nature Reserve was officially inaugurated.[17] The Hula Nature Reserve is listed by the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, as a Wetland of International Importance.[18]

Hula Lake Park

Flocks of pelicans and cranes on migration
Gathering of common cranes

Hula Lake Park, known in Hebrew as Agmon HaHula (Hebrew: אגמון החולה‎), is located in the southern part of the Hula Valley, north of the nature reserve and distinct from it. It was established as part of a JNF rehabilitation project.[19] In the early 1990s part of the valley was flooded again in the wake of heavy rains. It was decided to develop the surrounding area and leave the flooded area intact. The new site has become the second home for thousands of migrating birds in the autumn and spring.[20] The lake covers an area of one square kilometer, interspersed with islands that serve as protected bird nesting sites. It has become a major stopover for migrating birds flying from Europe to Africa and back, and also a major birdwatching site. In 2011, Israeli ornithologists confirmed that Lake Hula is the stopover point for tens of thousands of cranes migrating from Finland to Ethiopia every winter. In Israel, farmers set out food for them to keep them from damaging crops near the lake.[21][22]

Important Bird Area

Some 24,000 ha of the northern Hula Valley, including the nature reserve, has been recognised as an

Return of Hula painted frog

Female of the Critically Endangered Hula painted frog

In November 2011 the

critically endangered.[24]

Archaeology

Archaeological findings in 2009 show that the

hominids who inhabited the area exploited Lake Hula fish. Analysis of the fish remains recovered from the archaeological site of Gesher Benot Ya‘aqov (GBY) has shown that they exploited a wide range of fish including catfish, tilapia and carp. Some of the carp were over a meter long.[25] Tools to light fires and crack nuts were also discovered at the site.[26]

Cultural references

In December 2007 Israel issued a set of three stamps featuring the Hula nature reserve.[27]

View of the Hula valley from the south.

Gallery

  • Buildings circa 1885
    Buildings circa 1885
  • Hula. Papyrus harvest 1920
    Hula. Papyrus harvest 1920
  • Hula. Reed house 1920
    Hula. Reed house 1920
  • Hula. Reed house 1920
    Hula. Reed house 1920
  • Hula. Mat weaving 1925
    Hula. Mat weaving 1925
  • Papyrus raft 1926
    Papyrus raft 1926
  • Hula. Cotton harvest 1930
    Hula. Cotton harvest 1930
  • View from Al-Nabi Yusha' 1930s
    View from Al-Nabi Yusha' 1930s
  • Al-Salihiyya circa 1936. Woman weaving papyrus mat
    Al-Salihiyya circa 1936. Woman weaving papyrus mat
  • Hula bedouin 1938
    Hula bedouin 1938
  • Malaria clinic, 1938 (Dr. Gideon Mer in the centre with hat)
    Malaria clinic, 1938
    (Dr. Gideon Mer in the centre with hat)
  • Fishermen at Lake Hula ca. 1943
    Fishermen at Lake Hula
    ca. 1943
  • Dederra, 1944 – only Zionist outpost on eastern side of Hula; used by the Palmach for smuggling immigrants
    Dederra, 1944 – only Zionist outpost on eastern side of Hula; used by the Palmach for smuggling immigrants
  • Buffalo soaking in a mud hole, 1946
    Buffalo soaking in a mud hole, 1946

See also

References

  1. ^ "Hula Nature Reserve". Ramsar Sites Information Service. Retrieved 25 April 2018.
  2. ^ The Drainage of the Hula Swamps, Yehuda Karmon
  3. ^ a b The Hula Reserve[permanent dead link]
  4. ^ John Lightfoot, From the Talmud and Hebraica, Vol. 1, p. 139
  5. ^ William McClure Thomson, The land and the Book; or, Biblical illustrations drawn from the manners and customs, scenes and scenery of the Holy Land, Volume 1, New York 1859, p. 320
  6. ^ Book of Joshua 11:5–7
  7. ^ Thomson, W.M. (1872) The Land and the Book; or Biblical Illustrations drawn from the manners and customs, the scenes and scenery of The Holy Land. T. Nelson & son. p. 253
  8. ^ a b History of the Hula Valley Archived 2012-04-25 at the Wayback Machine
  9. .
  10. .
  11. ^ Velde, van de, C.W.M. (1854). Narrative of a journey through Syria and Palestine in 1851 and 1852. Vol. 1. William Blackwood and son. p. 168.
  12. ^ Schumacher, G. (1888). The Jaulân: surveyed for the German Society for the Exploration of the Holy Land. London: R. Bentley. p. 95.
  13. ^ "Register of the Zuckerman (John) Huleh Reclamation Papers, 1948-1989". www.oac.cdlib.org. Retrieved 2020-03-04.
  14. . Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  15. . Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  16. .
  17. ^ Official webpage of the Hula Nature Reserve at the Israel National Parks Authority website "Hula Nature Reserve". Archived from the original on 2016-06-17. Retrieved 2016-06-22.
  18. ^ "The Ramsar Sites | Ramsar". Archived from the original on 2019-11-16. Retrieved 2016-08-11.
  19. ^ "The Hula Valley- Bird Watching Site". Haaretz. 25 March 2008.
  20. ^ "The Hula Valley- Bird Watching Site". Haaretz.[dead link]
  21. ^ "Israeli ornithologists confirm flight path of migrating cranes". Haaretz. 2011-03-04.
  22. ^ "No-fly Zone: For Birds, Too, the Mideast Poses a Growing Danger". Haaretz. 29 August 2009. Retrieved 29 December 2019.
  23. ^ "Hula valley". BirdLife Data Zone. BirdLife International. 2021. Retrieved 23 February 2021.
  24. Nature Publishing Group
    . Retrieved 2013-06-07.
  25. S2CID 762576
    .
  26. .
  27. ^ "Hula Reserve series" (in Hebrew). israelphilately.org.il. Archived from the original on 2011-07-23.

External links

Media related to Hula Valley at Wikimedia Commons

33°6′12″N 35°36′33″E / 33.10333°N 35.60917°E / 33.10333; 35.60917