Gamla: Difference between revisions

'''Gamla''' ({{lang-he|גַּמְלָא}}, {{literal translation}} the camel), also '''Gamala''', was an ancient [[Jews|Jewish]] town on the [[Golan Heights]]. Believed to have been founded as a [[Seleucid]] fort during the [[Syrian Wars]], it transitioned into a predominantly Jewish settlement that came under [[Hasmonean dynasty|Hasmonean]] rule in 81 BCE.<ref name=AndreaBerlin/><ref name=":3" /> The town's name reflects its location on a high, elongated ridge with steep slopes resembling a camel's hump.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |lastlast1=Joyce |firstfirst1=Marilyn |title=Handbook of Synagogue Architecture |last2=Segal |last3=Chiat |publisher=Brown University |year=1982 |isbn=0-89130-524- 6 |series=Brown Judaic Studies |volume=28 |pages=282-283282–283}}</ref>

The remains of Gamla were discovered in the 1968 survey of the Golan,<ref name=":1" /> with geographical features matching Josephus' descriptions.<ref name=":2">{{Citation |last=Aviam |first=Mordechai |title=The archaeological illumination of Josephus’Josephus' narrative of the battles at Yodefat and Gamla |date=2007-01-01 |work=Making History |pages=373 |url=https://brill.com/display/book/edcoll/9789047409069/Bej.9789004150089.i-471_020.xml |access-date=2024-06-06 |publisher=Brill |language=en |doi=10.1163/ej.9789004150089.i-471.126 |isbn=978-90-474-0906-9}}</ref> Located approximately 10 kilometers inland from the [[Sea of Galilee]],<ref name=":1" /> the town was built on the southeastern slope of Mount Gamla.<ref name=":2" /> Archaeological excavations, starting in 1970 and continuing periodically, have unearthed city walls enclosing an area of about 180 dunams, a water conduit system, [[Mikveh|ritual baths]], Herodian lamps, [[Stone vessels in ancient Judaea|stone vessels]], and thousands of [[Hasmonean coinage|Hasmonean coins]].<ref name="evidence" /><ref name="YA" /> One of the earliest [[Gamla Synagogue|synagogues]] in the [[Land of Israel]], believed to date back to the late 1st century BCE, was discovered near the town wall in 1976.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":0" /><ref name="YUP" />

According to [[Josephus|Flavius Josephus]], who served as the commander of [[Galilee]] during the early phases of the revolt, he fortified Gamla by building a city wall.<ref>[[Gamla#JosephusB|Josephus, ''The Wars of the Jews'']] 2, 574.</ref><ref>''Gamla III (1)''. p. 14</ref> Josephus gives a very detailed topographical description of the city, which he also referred to as ''Gamala'',<ref>BibleWalks.com, [http://www.biblewalks.com/sites/Gamla.html Gamla], accessed 12 December 2015</ref> and the steep ravines which precluded the need to build a wall around it. Only along the northern saddle, at the town's eastern extremity, was a 350 metersmeter-long wall built. It was constructed by blocking gaps between existing houses and destroying houses that lay in its way.<ref name="aviam" /><ref name="rocca1" /> It was one of only five cities in the [[Galilee]] and Golan whichthat stood against [[Vespasian]]'s legions, reflecting the cooperation between the local population and the rebels.<ref name="rocca2" />

The city sustained the first seven-month siege, which was organized in 66 CE by [[Herod Agrippa II]]. On October 12, 67 CE a total of about 60 thousand soldiers under the command of Vespasian began a second siege.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Aune|first1=David E.|title=Gamla|url=http://www3.nd.edu/~daune/near_east_arch/gamla/gamla.htm|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130503142554/http://www3.nd.edu/~daune/near_east_arch/gamla/gamla.htm|archive-date=2013-05-03}}</ref> The inhabitants of the city, including armed rebels, were, according to Josephus, only 9,000 people. Kenneth Atkinson calls this number clearly exaggerated. Nevertheless, Danny Syon writes that before the siege Gamla became a refuge city, into which both insurgents from all over the Galilee and residents of the surrounding villages flocked. There were not enough places in the city, and even the [[Gamla Synagogue|city synagogue]] was adapted to accommodate refugees.<ref name=":4" />

Josephus also provides a detailed description of the Roman siege and conquest of Gamla in 67 CE by components of legions [[Legio X Fretensis|X ''Fretensis'']], [[Legio XV Apollinaris|XV ''Apollinaris'']] and [[Legio V Macedonica|V ''Macedonica'']].<ref name=josephus>[[#JosephusB|Josephus, ''The Wars of the Jews'']] 4, 1-83.</ref> The Romans first attempted to take the city by means of a siege ramp, but were repulsed by the defenders. Only on the second attempt did the Romans succeed in breaching the walls at three different locations and invading the city. They then engaged the Jewish defenders in hand-to-hand combat up the steep hill. Fighting in the cramped streets from an inferior position, the Roman soldiers attempted to defend themselves from the roofs. These subsequently collapsed under the heavy weight, killing many soldiers<ref name=aviam/> and forcing a Roman retreat. The legionnaires re-entered the town a few days later, eventually beatingovercoming Jewish resistance and completing the capture of Gamla.<ref name=rocca3/>

Gamla is often compared with the more famous story of the fortress of [[Masada]], where the defenders, not wanting to surrender to the Romans, committed suicide. Sometimes Gamla is even called the "Northern Masada" or "Masada Golan." However, Dani Zion emphasizes that Masada was a fortress, originally built as a fortification facility, where several hundred families of rebels were hiding and where there was no battle as such. Gamla, onin the other handcontrast, was a city where fortification was carried out in connection with military operations and where real heavy fighting took place before theits capture and destruction. According to Josephus, some 4,000 inhabitants were slaughtered, while 5,000, trying to escape down the steep northern slope, were either were trampled to death, fell or perhaps threw themselves down a ravine.<ref name=josephus/> These numbers appear to be exaggerated and the number of inhabitants on the eve of the revolt has been estimated at 3,000–4,000.<ref name=weiss/>

The [[Israel Antiquities Authority]] has, of late,{{When|date=July 2024}} taken the position that the ancient site of Gamla is to be identified with the site known as ''Tell es Salām'' (shown on map) which, itself, is a corruption of the Arabic word, ''es-Sanām'' (the hump).<ref>Danny Syon, [http://www.antiquities.org.il/Article_eng.aspx?sec_id=17&subj_id=296&id=509 Identification of Gamla], [[Israel Antiquities Authority]].</ref> In previous years, the site had been identified with ''Tell ed-Drāʿ'', a place ca. {{convert|20|km|mi|sp=us}} east of Lake Tiberias in the [[Ruqqad]] river-bed, based on Konrad Furrer's identification of the site in 1889.<ref>The identification of Gamla with ''Tell ed-Drāʿ'' was mainly based on the similarity of the old name with that of the nearby village called ''Gamle'' (''al-Jamlah'', Syria), and on the shape of the spur which resembles a camel. For a discussion on this dispute, see Bezalel Bar-Kochva, ''Gamla in Gaulanitis'', pub. in: Zeitschrift des Deutschen Palästina-Vereins, Bd. 92, H. 1 (1976), pp. 54-71 (English), who presents arguments in favor of the priority of the earlier identification; (see: {{cite journal |last=Bar-Kochva |first=Bezalel |title=Gamla in Gaulanitis |journal=Zeitschrift des Deutschen Palästina-Vereins |volume=92|issue=1 |pages=54–71 |jstor=27931028 |date=1976 }}).</ref> It was only properly identified in 1968 by surveyor Itzhaki Gal, after the Israeli conquest of the Golan Heights during the [[Six-Day War]].<ref name=kinneret/> The site ''Tell es Salām'' was excavated by [[Shmarya Guttman]] and Danny Syon on behalf of the Israeli [[Israeli Antiquities Authority|Department of Antiquities]] between 1977 and 2000. The excavations have uncovered 7.5 dunnams, about 5% of the site, revealing a typical Jewish city featuring [[mikveh|ritual baths]], Herodian lamps, limestone cups and thousands of Hasmonean coins.<ref name=evidence/><ref name="YA">{{cite book|last1=Arbel|first1=Yoav|title=Ultimate Devotion: The Historical Impact and Archaeological Expression of Intense Religious Movements|date=2014|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1845532260|page=126|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8JTCBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA126}}</ref> Additional excavations were carried out on the site in 2008 and 2010, by Haim Ben David and David Adan-Bayewitz on behalf of [[Bar Ilan University]]'s Land of Israel Studies Department, and by Danny Syon on behalf of the [[Israel Antiquities Authority]] (IAA).<ref>[[Israel Antiquities Authority]], [http://www.antiquities.org.il/m_digs_eng.aspx?shana=2008 Excavators and Excavations Permit for Year 2008], Survey Permit # G-79; [http://www.antiquities.org.il/m_digs_eng.aspx?shana=2010 Excavators and Excavations Permit for Year 2010], Survey Permit # G-69</ref>

Archaeological finds in Gamla provided historians with a unique opportunity to study Jewish life at the end of the [[Second Temple period]]. In particular, studies prove that, although the active development of the Golan began under Alexander Jannaeus, the Jews began to settle here much earlier - at least in the second century BCE. This is shown by the large number of coins of the period of the reign of [[John Hyrcanus]]. In addition to coins, a large number of weapons were found in Gamla, a [[Gamla Synagogue|synagogue]] of the Second Temple period, various ritual objects, many different household items and jewelry.{{cn|date=September 2022}}