Kobi was a Jewish village in Roman times and Ein Kobi was its water source.
The Arab village of Al Qabu was also located here. The 2,000 year old remains
of the spring are situated in a valley with gorgeous vineyards and orchard
trees. The water of the Ein Kobi spring has been used over the years by the
farmers of the surrounding villages.
Our next stop was at the Seadim Ruins, Horvat Saadim, in the
Aminadav Forest. We
followed a short path to the Byzantine agricultural farm house, olive press,
and an ancient mosque that was built later on top of the ruins of the
Byzantine buildings.
Horvat Saadim is a very small nature reserve and the main reason for its
recognition as such is the presence of the exceptionally large specimens of
the
Israeli common oak
(Quercus calliprinos) that grow there - an unusual sight where this
variety of oak is concerned. These oak trees may have attained their unusual
proportions because of the nearby presence of the remnants of a
maqam - a shrine
dedicated to the memory of a Muslim saint - in this case Sheikh Ahmad. This is
due to the belief that trees near a mosque should not be cut down due to the
sanctity of the place. An impressively ancient carob tree can also be seen in
the vicinity.
The
KKL-JNF (Jewish National Fund) have prepared Ein Kobi for hikers and have
provided tables and benches. It is a lovely place for a picnic and for
overnight camping. Sadly not that much is left of the village above ground
except for one building, above, which dates back to the Ottoman period. It
contains a prayer niche that faces Mecca, evidence that is was once a house
of prayer. The prayer structure was built on the remains of an ancient
building from the Roman-Byzantine period.
The highlight of the site is the spring, above. The spring flows into
an underground arched chamber, which serves as an ancient collecting
system. The purpose of the site was to store water for drinking and to
transport the rest of the water to agricultural crops, through a tunnel to
an external water reservoir, and from there to the ditches. Nowadays they
are usually dry.
You can reach the spring by walking down a few steps to a structure,
Beit Hama'ayan, which is enclosed by green railings. In its
roof there is an opening that lets the light in during the day.
Adventurous types can take a dip in the underground cistern or climb
through the water tunnel. I considered it for a moment then decided
against it! A 17 metre long shaft emerges from the underground pool.
After visiting the spring it was time for a hike. We passed the ruins of
the mosque and found the red trail that leads to the ravine of Nahal
Kobi. The descent through the ravine was somewhat steep, but there were
numerous wooden or stone steps, making it quite easy. Towards the
end we enjoyed wonderful views of the forested Valley of Rephaim, below, where the Philistines once encamped. The Tel Aviv – Jerusalem railway, originally
known as the Jaffa–Jerusalem railway, uses the entire length of the Valley of the Rephaim from Jerusalem to
its junction with Nahal Sorek.
Eventually we came to a gravel road, at which point we turned right
onto the green trail which is signposted to Ein Kobi. The
road took us back to our car parked at Ein Kobi.
All that now remains of the mosque are two walls two metres high, one
of which still retains an arch in its entirety. Sheikh Ahmad was
renowned for his ability to induce fertility in barren women and this
may be the source of the Arabic name of the site, Khirbet Sa'ida, which means "Fortunate Woman Ruins".
Near the maqam, in open ground, stands a heavy stone column, below,
that once supported the beam of an oil press. The basin stone of the
press (the lower stone, in which the olives were crushed before the
oil was extracted from them) was found in a nearby cave, which would
appear to have been its original site.
Picnic tables have been placed at the foot of the ruins, among the
pine trees. It was the perfect place to stop for a sandwich before
returning home. It was good to be out exploring once again.
* This post has been shared on
Nature Notes, The Good. The Random. The Fun., Wordless Wednesday (on Tuesday), Tuesday's Treasures, Pictorial Tuesday, Our World Tuesday and My Corner of the World.
20 comments:
what a great place to hike!
I'm glad you were able to get out and about again. What a beautiful place to visit. The views from your hike are amazing. #mmbc
How lovely to get out and about again. I'm rather envious - we have gone from Tier 1 to Tier 4 within a few weeks and Boris has cancelled Christmas - I was so looking forward to seeing my girls. :O( You have some lovely places to walk near you and all that sunshine is making me very envious! Here's to a brighter 2021! xx
I'm glad you were out having fun. Great photos. Take care.
You really do visit the most interesting places and I am so glad you are able to get out again.
The views look amazing x
So much significant history!
Wonderful photos and scenery. It looks like a grand place to hike. Wishing you a wonderful week!
You have so many lovely and interesting places to hike! #MMBC
Fascinating to see history before one's eyes.
Thank you for sharing. Hope your Hannukah was full of meaning and wonderful memories.
Thanks for being a regular visitor and for sharing this week at http://image-in-ing.blogspot.com/2020/12/quarantine-christmas.html
What a lovely area!
...for being 2,000 years old it looks amazing. These days most things are built to last. Thanks for sharing, take care and stay healthy!
We're starting the cold of Winter here so looking at your walking trails, the weather looks so inviting. Living there has to be so interesting with all the history. Nice to see you could get out and about again. We haven't gone back into lockdown here, even though the numbers are very bad. But, we do have curfew here in Ohio. Have a great week ahead. Enjoy seeing your visits to Pictorial Tuesday.
What an impressive bit of history you were walking on and around! I enjoy your photos of the beautiful countryside and the history of the area.
So glad you joined us at 'My Corner of the World' this week! Merry Christmas!
What an amazing place to hike, so much interesting history and such beautiful scenery
I love all the history that you uncover and show from Israel. I have seen another water storage cistern in Turkey. They are interesting places.
This history is so fascinating to me. Biblical accounts come to life through your eyes and other history bad well. Thai for sharing!
Such a nice place to walk. Much warmer, I think. I like it. Think of you in the third lockdown.
We have the second now.
Stays safe and be very careful.
What interesting history Lisa..Yes we are in as the weather is cold alternating with snow and rain, but I hope to get out for walks. Snow would be easier than rain and mud...Michelle
What a beautiful place to explore. I always enjoy your travel posts. I can't wait to get out more this year when it's safe to do so. xx
You always have such interesting hikes!! As a bonus, we get to learn a lot about your corner of the world when you take us along, and we appreciate that! We'd love to see what's down in the well, out of sheer curiosity. But... not sure we'd actually climb down to see for ourselves. ;)
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