The Vultures of Gamla

The vultures are swirling overhead as we walk out the point of land that overlooks Gamla. They gather here at the intersection of two rivers that eventually flow in to the Sea of Galilee. A sanctuary for the birds who feed on death, and Gamla is a stark death memorial.

Gamla is a triangular camel humped peak with sharp, steep sides rushing down to the rivers on both sides. Thousands of Jewish rebels fled to Gamla just before the 70 AD destruction of Jerusalem. This “Masada of the North” appeared to be self-sufficient and impermeable. There were fields of grain, vineyards, olive trees. Homes and a synagogue nestled inside the gates.

We hike down a steep hill and out a ridge to the city gates, now smashed and broken from battering rams. The Romans held Gamla in siege for several years. Finally, when there was no longer hope for victory, the Jewish men took their families to the crest of the peak and threw them down. Then they themselves jumped to death in a mass suicide of 5000. Rome breached the gates, but like Masada, the victory was hollow. Men who have deep hope of eternal life will chose that alternative to slavery and Rome.

We wander the ruins, look at the olive press, ponder the thoughts like food and water supplies, cisterns and storage. We climb the peak and look down the steep sides to the river below. The sound of rushing water rises hundreds of feet to us.

Hiking back up the steep fact opposite Gamla, we talk about life. Are we so comfortable that we would chose to be captured over taking our lives to be spared from slavery to an enemy?

The vultures continue to circle overhead, though the city is deserted, and we head off across the plains to Mt. Carmel leaving them to their search.