Catacombs

Bet She'arim

Today was Sunday -- which these days means one thing -- that we must get the heck away from our house because of the construction behind/next to/virtually on top of us. Since Israelis work on Sundays, we basically now pre-plan to get away on Sundays. Today meant heading toward a national park (after putting in our required gym-time first thing in the morning).

Bet She'arim flourished as a Jewish town after AD 70 (during a time when Jews were denied access to Jerusalem). After a revered Jewish rabbi (Rabbi Yehuda "Hanassi") was buried there around 200AD, the town became the most sought-after burial spot for Jews.

So... the site consists of lots of burial chambers and catacombs and sarcophagi. A bit creepy. But, one of the catacombs was quite extensive -- with over 200 sacrophagi and lots of different chambers emanating off the main tunnel in the rocky hillside. It was amazing!

We were glad we made the effort to do some siteseeing again, because after all, that is really what makes living here worthwhile. We can walk straight into history every time we visit a park.