Gamla

Gamla (Hebrew גמלא Gamla or Gamala) was the capital of the Jewish Golan from 87 BCE to 68 CE when it was sacked by the Romans. Its remains can still be seen in the Golan Heights, territory seized by Israel in the Six Day War. The name Gamla comes from the word gamal, meaning "camel", as it is situated on a hill shaped like a camel's hump.

Ruins of the city of Gamla.

The city appears to have been a Seleucid fort (2nd century BCE) which later became a civilian settlement. Jews inhabited it from the last quarter of the 2nd century BCE, and under the Hasmonean ruler Alexander Jannaeus in c. 81 BCE was annexed to the Hasmonean state.

Josephus Flavius was the Commander of Galilee during the Jewish Revolt against Rome and in 66 CE fortified Gamla as his main stronghold on the Golan (Antiquities of the Jews 13:394).

He gives a very detailed topographical description of the city and describes the Roman siege under the command of Vespasian which led to its conquest in 67 CE, by the X Fretensis.

The Romans attempted to take the city by means of a siege ramp, but were repulsed by the defenders; only on the second attempt did they succeed in penetrating the fortifications and conquering the city.

Thousands of inhabitants were slaughtered, while others tried to escape down the steep northern slope, many being trampled to death (Josephus, The Jewish War IV, 1-83).There is reason to believe that Josephus exaggerated the numbers. The notion that these inhabitants tried to commit mass-suicide is incorrect, and is based to the similarity to the story of Masada, also recounted by Josephus. The Greek word Josephus used implies a hasty, clumsy flight and not suicide. Suicide is forbidden by Jewish law, and the two sites (Masada and Gamla) are very different.

Present-day Gamla

The vulture look-out to watch the vultures in Gamla

Today Gamla is an archaeological site and a nature reserve. It is also home to a large nest of Griffon vultures.

External links

first Jewish-Roman War (years 66–73 CE), sometimes called The Great Revolt (Hebrew: המרד הגדול‎, ha-Mered Ha-Gadol
..... Click the link for more information.

1st century BC - 1st century - 2nd century
30s 40s 50s - 60s - 70s 80s 90s
63 64 65 - 66 - 67 68 69

This article is about the year 66. For other uses, see 66 (number).

..... Click the link for more information.

1st century BC - 1st century - 2nd century
30s 40s 50s - 60s - 70s 80s 90s
65 66 67 - 68 - 69 70 71

This article is about the year 68. For other uses, see 68 (number).

..... Click the link for more information.

Historical Jewish languages
Hebrew, Yiddish, Ladino, others
Liturgical languages:
Hebrew and Aramaic
Predominant spoken languages:
The vernacular language of the home nation in the Diaspora, significantly including English, Hebrew, Yiddish, and
..... Click the link for more information.

Zealotry was a movement in first century Judaism, described by Josephus as one of the "four sects" at this time. The term Zealot, in Hebrew kanahi (קנאי, frequently used in plural form, קנאים), means one who is
..... Click the link for more information.

The Roman Empire is the name given to both the imperial domain developed by the city-state of Rome and also the corresponding phase of that civilization, characterized by an autocratic form of government. This article however is about the latter.
..... Click the link for more information.

Josephus (37 – sometime after 100 AD),^[1] who became known, in his capacity as a Roman citizen, as Titus Flavius Josephus,^[2] was a 1st-century Jewish historian and apologist of priestly and royal ancestry who survived and recorded the
..... Click the link for more information.

Vespasian
Emperor of the Roman Empire

Bust of Vespasian
Reign 1 July, 69–23 June, 79
Full name Titus Flavius Vespasianus Caesar Augustus
Born 17 November 9
..... Click the link for more information.

Titus
Emperor of the Roman Empire

Colossal head of Titus (Glyptothek)
Reign 24 June, 79 –
13 September, 81
Full name Titus Flavius Vespasianus
Caesar Augustus
Born 30 November 39
..... Click the link for more information.

first Jewish-Roman War (years 66–73 CE), sometimes called The Great Revolt (Hebrew: המרד הגדול‎, ha-Mered Ha-Gadol
..... Click the link for more information.

State Party Israel
Type Cultural
Criteria iii, iv, vi
Reference 1040
Region Europe and North America

Inscription History
Inscription 2001 (25th Session)
..... Click the link for more information.

Hebrew}}}
Writing system: Alefbet Ivri abjad
Official status
Official language of: Israel
Regulated by: Academy of the Hebrew Language

..... Click the link for more information.

For the Golan region, see Golan Heights

For other uses, see Golan (disambiguation).

This article was originally based on an entry from a public domain edition of the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia.

..... Click the link for more information.

The Golan Heights (Hebrew: רמת הגולן‎ Ramat HaGolan, Arabic:
..... Click the link for more information.

Anthem
Hatikvah
The Hope

Capital
(and largest city) Jerusalem

Official languages Hebrew, Arabic
Demonym Israeli
..... Click the link for more information.

The Six-Day War (Arabic: حرب الأيام الستة, ħarb al‑ayyam as‑sitta
..... Click the link for more information.

The Hasmoneans (Hebrew: חשמונאים‎, Hashmonaiym, Audio ) were the ruling dynasty of the Hasmonean Kingdom (140 BCE–37 BCE),^[1]
..... Click the link for more information.

Alexander Jannaeus (also known as Alexander Jannai/Yannai), king of Judea from (103 BCE to 76 BCE), son of John Hyrcanus, inherited the throne from his brother Aristobulus, and appears to have married his brother's widow, Shlamtzion or Shlomtzion
..... Click the link for more information.

Galilee (Hebrew: הגליל‎ ha-Galil, Arabic: الجليل al-Jaleel
..... Click the link for more information.

1st century BC - 1st century - 2nd century
30s 40s 50s - 60s - 70s 80s 90s
63 64 65 - 66 - 67 68 69

This article is about the year 66. For other uses, see 66 (number).

..... Click the link for more information.

For the Golan region, see Golan Heights

For other uses, see Golan (disambiguation).

This article was originally based on an entry from a public domain edition of the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia.

..... Click the link for more information.

1st century BC - 1st century - 2nd century
30s 40s 50s - 60s - 70s 80s 90s
64 65 66 - 67 - 68 69 70

This article is about the year 67. For other uses, see 67 (number).

..... Click the link for more information.

Legio X Fretensis (Latin: "Tenth legion of the sea strait") was a Roman legion levied by Augustus in 41/40 BC to fight during the period of civil war that started the dissolution of the Roman Republic. X Fretensis is recorded to exist at least until 410s.
..... Click the link for more information.

worldwide view of the subject.
Please [ improve this article] or discuss the issue on the talk page.

A nature reserve (natural reserve, nature preserve, natural preserve
..... Click the link for more information.

G. fulvus

Binomial name
Gyps fulvus
Hablizl, 1783

Dark Green; areas of all-year round habitation

The Griffon Vulture, Gyps fulvus
..... Click the link for more information.

This article is copied from an article on Wikipedia.org - the free encyclopedia created and edited by online user community. The text was not checked or edited by anyone on our staff. Although the vast majority of the wikipedia encyclopedia articles provide accurate and timely information please do not assume the accuracy of any particular article. This article is distributed under the terms of GNU Free Documentation License.

Herod_Archelaus

iPedia Free Information Center

Gamla

Information about Gamla

Present-day Gamla

See also

External links