Our next location was Susita, the second of the remaining Decapolis cities still situated within Israel's borders. From Beit She'an, we first headed back to base in Kinneret to restock and pick up another of the most amazing hotdogs from the Kinneret Kibbutz supermarket before the drive. Susuita is located on the eastern edge of the Sea of Galilee and situated on top of one of the steep hills along the shore line.
From Kinneret, I drove along the southern edge of the lake and while most respectable people would have taken the more convenient road 92 to En Gev, I decided I was not so respectable and kept driving along route 98 instead. This road hugs the border of Jordan for approximately three kilometres before an abrupt turn towards the mountains, and then 15 minutes of the most incredible piece of road I have ever driven on. In my life. Ever. The climb involves a large number of almost 180 degree horseshoe curves to climb 400 meters over a geographical distance of only 1500 meters. As pretty as it is however, this road is regarded as potentially very dangerous. Obviously there is the topography, with cliffs on both sides in some sections. Then there is the typical (mad) impatient Israeli driving system, not to mention me wanting to take the Budget rental car to its limits. But to top it all off, there are millions (literally) of landmines on either side of the road, which were all installed in the latter half of the 20th century to deter an invasion by their neighbours. It's hard to believe that my travel insurance would cover me in the event of an off road deviation, but then again I doubt it would matter much. The same piece of road is featured in the Top Gear Middle East special and I can vouch for its sheer awesomeness.
I found the turn off to Susita without too much difficulty, however there we both noticed some signs erected on both sides of the road with a red and white circle. The words underneath were in Hebrew and Vinci automatically assumed this meant no entry. I attempted to convince her that they actually meant 'proceed by taking the racing line'. Ultimately Vinci won this battle, so we continued further up route 98 to try and find another road back to the coast line and enter from the opposite diection. We took route 98 which turned out to be another of those happy little accidents, finding ourselves driving on another spectacular stretch of road descending towards the Sea of Galilee with the late sun. We eventually found the eastern entrance road to Susita, but like the western side, this also had the same Hebrew language road signs. I was not going to miss this place, especially with the sun setting, so I did my best to suppress her protests and we climbed the road. We discovered later that I was (sort of) correct and the signs were simply stating the road is no longer maintained, but not exactly closed. The climb up is quite steep and a few sections of the road are starting to crack and landslides are quite common. Still, there were a number of cars in the car park at Susita and this was enough for Vinci to stop trying to wrench the handrail out of the roof.
Susita
Settlement at Susita dates back to at least 700BC, however the main city dates back from 1 AD. Under Roman rule it thrived and became one of the Decapolis cities. Prior to this, it is believed there was an ancient military outpost located here.
The walk up to Susita from the car park is a bit over half a kilometre and there is a particularly steep section where the path doesn't really exist, but rather a bunch of rocks to scramble over. Despite this, the views overlooking the Sea of Galilee are simply stunning.
There are a number of ruins not part of the original city and most likely military installations from much later in the area's history (~600 - 700AD). The ruins in the photo below show stones that don't match the type and construction method as used for the other city areas and are most likely from the Muslim periods of Rashidun or Umayyad instead.
Susita was never a large city, being limited to its water supply. As it was on top of a peak, they relied solely on rain water. This was collected by a well engineered series of channels in the streets which would gradually descend into large cisterns, as seen in the photo below. Despite the smaller population, it was nevertheless a very well organised and engineered city with very impressive structures, offering all the amenities for a relatively luxurious and modern lifestyle for its inhabitants.
The bulk of the buildings were made from the locally sourced basalt rocks. The remains seen below are the remains of the foundation of a temple near the East gate. The eastern side of the city is very rugged and was sparsely populated.
There is one main road that runs right down the middle of Susita with beautiful large diagonally laid pavers. It is possible to see many of the foundations from houses and shops which back directly onto the road.
One of the most impressive discoveries and excavations was of the huge Basilica, an area used for public gatherings. Most of the short but highly ornate basalt columns are in excellent condition and some even have remnants of the plaster used to cover them. This area measures some 30 x 55meters. The Basilica was built at the end of the 1st century and lasted until the first large earthquake some 250 years later.
The forum itself is fairly much intact and comprises of a large number of granite pillars. These were reportedly brought all the way from Egypt! They are all lying in more or less the same direction, the result of the great earthquake that flattened the city resulting in it's permanent abandonment in 749AD.
Ornate blocks and carved stones can still be found all over the city. There are still annual excavations taking place and new incredible discoveries are made every year. All of the valuable items are documented and then sent to museums. The most notable find in recent times has been the discovery of a large cast bronze mask bearing the face of the god, Pan.
There are large areas of the residential areas still intact. Some of them have been partially rebuilt to give a basic idea of the general arrangement of walls, but for the most part they are in their original state of disrepair.
Excavations of the site began in 1955 and shortly after, Israel used Susita as a military outlook into Syria. They built two buildings which are still standing in this area (also constructed of the same local basalt rock) which gives a fascinating look into modern military history. The buildings were obsolete and abandoned in 1967 after Israel took control of the Golan Heights.
The remains of the small theatre overlooking the Sea of Galilee can be seen in the photo below. These small theatres were generally used for shows and plays and had a seating capacity of around 300 - 400 people. Susita's theatre is situated on the far eastern edge of the city with breathtaking views! Within the ruins, one can still see the three sets of stairs as well as all the ancillary rooms for the actors and the entrances leading out to the city. This is really a magical place.
Susita is generally accepted as being what is referred to in the Bible as the 'city on a hill'. From where Jesus gave that sermon on the northern edge of the lake, this would have been the only such city visible. Jesus said of his followers, "You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden." I decided to test this theory and used my impressive girth to blot out the sun. I failed. Jesus - 1, Peter - 0.
In fact we still had just enough light to walk around and explore some of the other areas in the city including the northern wall, water cisterns and one of the churches. We did unfortunately miss out on the southern bathhouse and the southern fortifications as the sun was rapidly setting now and we started the slow walk back to the car before darkness fell.
Staying in the park after dark is strictly forbidden to prevent attacks from wolves (it's a thing), getting injured on the paths, or stepping on a landmine while trying to harvest the wild fennel as Vinci wanted to do. Like Beit She'an, we were almost completely alone here and I was able to take many photographs without tourists in the way.
The long walk back was almost surreal. We had just enough time near the base of the car park to watch the sun finally disappear behind mountains on the other side of the lake. The wind had completely stopped and the air was filled with the incredibly strong scent of the many White Broom flowers.
The day was finally at an end and we headed off back down the perilous road to civilisation, stopping off in Ein Gev which lies on the coast of the Sea of Galilee and Susita, to look for some dinner. We found a couple of restaurants closing, but rather than head off straight away to try elsewhere, decided to have a quick walk on the wharf. This was a short lived exercise as it just so happened the mutant mosquitoes were also looking for some dinner. We drove all the way on the western side of the lake to Tiberias, but everything had already shut down for the Sabbath and our only option was to stop off at a nearby supermarket, interestingly named "A Good Spot in the Middle".
"You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden." - Matthew 5:14
Further pictures of Susita are shown below for your viewing pleasure.
A view from the walking path to Susita
Many stones have been moved to the side of the city for sorting and possible restoration
Greek inscription on a marble pillar
A beautifully carved pillar at the Basilica
Continue to Part 6 - click here