The Beit Itab Ruins

In September, over the High Holidays of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, we were back in lockdown again. Knowing that it was coming, Mister Handmade in Israel and I squeezed in another hike. The trail we took this time started off in the American Independence Park, up in the hills to the west of Jerusalem. The Jewish National Fund (JNF) began to develop the park in 1976, the 200th anniversary year of American Independence, to celebrate the relationship between Israel and the US. The park developed and extended an existing woodland planted in the region in the 1950s by new immigrants from the surrounding area. A large number of picnic areas, recreation facilities and scenic lookouts were added and footpaths were built. It was a lovely place to start our hike.

We set off on a particularly beautiful pathway that wound down into the valley, through vineyards and up to some caves, all the time following the signs marked Beit Itab. The caves, above, are apparently sometimes closed for bat nesting but when we passed by they were open. They were interesting to look at and I peeked inside but didn't really fancy climbing in or exploring. The views to the vineyards down below were breathtaking.

The main point of interest on the particular route we had taken were the Beit Itab Ruins, or Hurvat Beit Itab, a further 15-20 minutes walk along the footpath from the caves. It was quite a climb up to the ruins on a hot September day but the observation deck at the top of the hurva (Hebrew for ruins) offered beautiful views of the mountains of Hebron and Jerusalem, the Shfela (lowlands) and the coastal plain. Inside the building, under the roof of the observation deck, a Crusader dining room called the "Refectory" has been preserved.

The observation deck is built on the foundations of a Crusader fortress from the 12th century CE. The fortress is believed to have been established by Johannes Gothman, a Frankish crusader knight known as the owner of the fastest horse in the kingdom. His wife was forced to sell his landholdings after he was taken prisoner by Islamic forces in 1161, in order to raise the money needed for his ransom. The estate was sold to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

Gothman's fortress had two storeys, both vaulted, and was built of beautiful hewn stones. The building, which was well fortified, was established on a hill that was 665 metres high and had a view of the entire area. For hundreds of years additional buildings were added and their ruins are scattered around the area.

The Crusaders were defeated at the Battle of Hattin in the Galilee in 1187, ending the First Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem. An Arab village called Bayt 'Itab was later established around the fortress. Agriculture was its main source of income. The village owned extensive areas of the coastal plain that were planted with grain. During the British Mandate period some of this land was expropriated to make a large, government-owned woodland. A grove of eucalyptus trees was planted by the British army which served as a rest stop for the British soldiers.

During the War of Independence the Arab village of Bayt 'Itab was captured by Israeli forces as part of Operation Ha-Har. Most of the village population fled southwards, towards Bethlehem and Hebron. In 1950 the Israeli village of Nes Harim was established north of the village site. The remains of the Arab village, terraces, an orchard of almond trees, figs, pomegranates and more are scattered around the hill.

It has been speculated that Beit Itab may have been the hiding place for Samson when he "went down and dwelt in the top of the rock Etam" when hiding from the Philistines (Judges 15:8). Many Arab villages retain the name of Jewish settlements from Biblical times. Etam means an eagle's nest in Hebrew, and it was not uncommon for an "m" to change to a "b" (i.e. Etam to Itab).

Southeast of the village was the village spring known as Ein Bet It'ab, and in Arabic En Khod, which means "Spring of the Water Trough". A tunnel built by the Crusaders, known in Arabic as Mgharat Bīr el-Hasuta, ("Cave of the Well of Hasuta"), connected the village to the main spring. Some 75 metres long, it runs in a south-southwest direction from the ruins, emerging near to the En Khod spring. Today the tunnel is closed off by a metal grid close to the spring, above. A second exit can be seen inside a nearby cave, identified as a columbarium (a place for raising doves). 

From the spring it was a short walk and a climb back up the hill where we had started. The hike had been a particularly nice one because there were a lot of different things to see and do along the way. We had passed vineyards, caves, crusader ruins, a columbarium and a spring, all in a few kilometres walk.

* This post has been shared on Nature Notes, The Good. The Random. The Fun., Wordless Wednesday (on Tuesday), Our World Tuesday, Tuesday's Treasures, Pictorial Tuesday and My Corner of the World.