A cistern from the Byzantine period, right in my town's backyard, near the Meitar Forest!
Some 1,500 years ago people (farmers? monks? villagers?) collected and stored rain water down there in a big plastered cistern.
I edited the first photo lighter so you could see the nice handwork, how the folks carved out the stairs and entrance in the soft chalk.
But actually we were out there in the dark, after 8:00 pm!
The group of about 20 was fortunate to have our neighbor, Dr. Zeev Zivan, as our gude.
The hike was part of the worldwide Jane's Walk global festival of citizen-led free community walks.
Here Zeev was explaining the blaze for the Israel National Trail.
The whole walk to the wilderness was only an hour and a half but we were blessed to witness both sunset and moonrise.
I came home exhilarated, feeling lucky to live so near the desert and its ancient history!
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The resourcefulness and ingenuity of the time was remarkable, after all. Terrific shots!
ReplyDeleteI feel the exhilaration!
ReplyDeleteALOHA from Honolulu,
ComfortSpiral
=^..^=
A great adventure, Dina, really thrilling!
ReplyDeleteWhat an interesting place to explore and it's great that you lightened it so we could see it better.
ReplyDeleteDid the carving and other elements show up better at night? I am not afraid of the dark, but wouldn't you have seen more in daylight? Then you could end on the gloriousness of a desert sunset :)
ReplyDeleteHels, most people work so I guess that is one reason for the 7 pm hike start time. Also the cool of the night is welcome after the heat of the day.
ReplyDeleteI will have to return to the cistern on my own, in the daytime, but with a big flashlight for inside it. If I don't blog for a week, send out the sniffer dogs to the ma-agurah/cistern near the Meitar forest. hehe
Water: the lifeblood. Found in a desert. What chance.
ReplyDeleteAnd you also managed to get some nice pictures for us!
ReplyDeleteVery interesting and informative.
ReplyDeleteAlice