Heritage
So we
put on our hats and sunglasses, filled our bottles with ice water, and
headed
to the remains of a Jewish town of Korazim,
mentioned in the Babylonian Talmud. The town was divided into five
quarters,
and the central quarter contains a synagogue,
remains of three large
buildings, and a prominent paved square in the center of the quarter.
They also
had a mikveh and oil press, and
the buildings had these really
cool “windows” that you can see us posing in.
Earliest
occupation of Korazim was in the first or second century CE. In the Mishna
and Talmudic period of the third and fourth centuries, the
town grew, and
most of the remains visible today date to this period. The first
excavations of
Korazim were conducted in the early 1900s and were renewed in the 1920s
by the
Hebrew University and the British Mandate Government’s Department of
Antiquities. Excavations were continued by Israel in the 60s and 80s,
and just
a few weeks ago a mosaic was uncovered on the site.
There
were also adorable rock hyraxes running between the
ruins. Mindy is a
sucker for their sweet little faces.
The
site was very clean and had the obligatory gift shop and ice-cream
pops. Worth
a visit – but go early in the morning or late in the afternoon – it’s
hot!