Around the Sea of Galilee

Beit She'an zebra mosaic

Israel is experiencing an unusual amount of rain this season, so the hills and fields around the Sea of Galilee are covered with wildflowers, white and yellow daisies and brilliant red poppies.  The grass is tall and bright green, especially on the Golan Heights which rise above the Sea on its east side.  I wish I could have photographed these hills, but it was raining pretty constantly while we were in the Galilee area.

Sea of  Galilee

Beit She'an temple columns

We stayed in Tiberias, the largest city in the area, overlooking the Sea of Galilee (which is only 1/3 the size of Lake Tahoe).  This is an area rich in Biblical history and also in kibbutzim, the collective farms that were a key part of building Israeli culture and society.  I did a blog yesterday on the kibbutz we visited.

There is also Israel's best Roman ruin, Beit She'an, just south of the Sea.  It is worth a visit, mostly for its beautiful mosaics.  As in Caesarea, these mosaics need to be protected.  There is some restoration work going on at Beit She'an, but it needs a lot more resources to protect it.  The stones in the mosaics are quite large, which means they are Roman rather than Byzantine.  

Beit She'an's central road

The site is a tell, a large mound or hill created from the construction of cities on top of older cities.  The Beit She'an tell excavations show at least 20 cities built one on top of the other, starting in the Late Neolithic period.  Archaeologists believe the site has been occupied for about 8000 years.  Nearby is another large tell which has yet to be excavated.

beautiful mosaic floor like a carpet

The Sea of Galilee is a major source of water for agriculture and domestic use in Israel.  It rises and falls with the rains and some snow from Mt. Hebron, to its northeast, so Israelis watch it closely.  The two days we were there, it rained pretty constantly, so good for the water supply.  The Sea was too choppy for tourist boats.  The shores of the Sea are mostly swampy, though our hotel had created a small beach for guests to use in warmer weather.

Below are some of my favorite mosaics.

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fish mosaic

lion mosaic