Mount Arbel

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Mount Arbel
File:Mount Arbel, Israel.JPG
Highest point
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Geography
Mount Arbel is located in Israel
Mount Arbel
Mount Arbel

Mount Arbel (Hebrew: הר ארבל‎, Har Arbel) is a mountain in The Lower Galilee near Tiberias in Israel, with high cliffs, views of Mount Hermon in the Golan Heights, trails to a cave-fortress, and ruins of an ancient synagogue. Mt. Arbel sits across from Mount Nitai; their cliffs were created as a result of the Jordan Rift Valley and the geological faults that produced the valleys.

There are four villages on the mountain: Kfar Zeitim, Arbel, Kfar Hittim, and Mitzpa. The peak, at 181 metres above sea level (380 metres above the surrounding area), dominates the surroundings (much of the area is below sea level) and from the lookout atop the mountain, almost all of the Galilee into the Golan Heights including Safed, Tiberias and most of the Sea of Galilee, is visible.

History

File:Arbel ancient synagogue (11).jpg
Arbel ancient synagogue

Nearby are the ruins of an ancient Jewish settlement with a Synagogue from the fourth century CE with extend pews and columns, and dug into the mountain itself are a number of cliff dwellings. The extant cliff dwellings are from the 17th century and were built by the Druze. There are documented Jewish cliff dwellings dating back to the Second temple period, in the area, few standing stones left from synagogues from that period. Josephus writes about the Roman conquest of some of the last Hasmonean rebels who dwelt in the cliffs of Mt Arbel.[1]

Nature reserve and national park

The area was declared a nature reserve in 1967, covering 1400 dunams.[2] The national park (8509 dunams) includes most of Nahal Arbel, that begins near Eilabun and empties into the Sea of Galilee near Migdal. The reserve covers the immediate area around the cliff.[3]

File:Mount Arbel from Nof Ginnosar.jpg
250px

On the south side of the cliff, there is a gradual prolonged climb through agricultural and pasture land and from the peak there is a steep 400 meters drop. From here there are metal handholds driven into the rock to aid those who want to make the climb down to the valley below. Below that are a series of switchbacks that eventually lead to the Bedouin village of Hamaam.

Mt. Arbel, with its 110 metre vertical drop, is the only known mountain in Israel to serve as a base jumping site.[4] A hike to the top of Mount Arbel from the south is included in the Israel National Trail, and an approach from the west is part of the Jesus Trail; the trails converge temporarily at the peak.

File:Arbel 065PAN.jpg
Panoramic view of the Sea of Galilee from the Mountain

References

  1. ↑ Josephus (66AD): "I also fortified, in the Lower Galilee, the cities Tarichee, Tiberias, Sepphoris, and the villages, the cave of Arbela,... I also laid up a great quantity of corn in these places, and arms withal, that might be for their security afterward".Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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