Saturday, March 21, 2009
Tel Tzova/Tzuba or Belmont Fort and Kibbutz Tzova
Located on a hill 769 metres above sea level, Tel Tzuba is believed to be a Biblical village from the time of Joshua. Some identify it as the Tzores in Joshua 15:59 (Septiguant/Greek version) or with Tzova in 1 Samuel 14:47 and 2 Samuel 23:36. For long time many took Tzova for Modiin, the city of Maccabees. In 1170, Crusaders built here the Belmont fortress to guard the road to Jerusalem. Later, Belmont was conquered by Muslims in 1191 and an Arab village called Suba developed gradually. Suba was later conquered by the Jewish forces in 1948 and established a kibbutz called Misgav Palmach near the village.
Kibbutz Tzuba is a tourist spot today, famous for its wineries, fruit and dairy farming units and a factory that produces bulletproof windshieldsIn 1999, a cave was identified from the kibbutz's orchards and on its walls were some of the earliest Christian art discovered so far. Some of the drawings inside the cave include crosses and at least one represents John the Baptist. It is the earliest representation of John the Baptist discovered till date. The cave is thus believed to be that of St. John the Baptist. Interestingly, Ein Karem, the traditional birth place of St. John is not far from Tzuba. Structures from 2nd century AD also indicate that the cave was used as both a water reservoir and a place for bathing. http://www.tfba.org/projects.php?projectid=3 . To know more about the unique water systems in Tzuba here is to a nice article http://tzuba.co.il/shimonclayplant.htm
Ancient oak and olive trees, Tzova/Tzuba
Across the entrance to the Tel Tzuba site, is a meadow with 2 old trees – an 800-year old oak and a 1200-year old olive. The first written document however, is from 1840 when the British surveyors recorded their existence.
Sataf Region
If you remember my earlier posts, I had mentioned about Sataf and its ancient agricultural practices. The region has two springs viz. Ein Bikura and Ein Sataf, which were used from old times (4000 BC). Today, the remains found in Sataf are from the Byzantine (4-5 cent AD) and Arab periods. The Israeli government is trying to re-introduce the ancient agricultural methods back to the region. The entire area is divided into terraces and the regions above the springs are irrigated from harvested rain water. The lower strata are watered from the springs directly: by their waters collected in cisterns and directed through a system of channels. I was told that farmers from Jerusalem hire plots in Sataf region for a short period and grow vegetables utilizing these facilities and harvest a good yield.
Here is a nice Jerusalem Post article.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1230733127951&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
"In this rocky-hilly region, dry farming (which relies only on rainfall for irrigation) was practiced using an elaborate system of terraces and tunnels. The springs here were not plentiful, so the existing water supply had to maximized. This was achieved by tunneling into the water-bearing strata. An ingenious system of channels (parts of which are clearly visible) conducted the water that was stored in large pools to the terraced plots." (http://www.gemsinisrael.com/e_article000006236.htm)
