Friday, June 14, 2013

A Visit to a 6000-Year-Old Garden


This morning, we visited Sataf, which is an ancient agricultural site in the Jerusalem Hills. Sataf, which was first settled by the Israelites about 6,000 years ago, is located on a steep hillside that contains two natural springs. The area was first terraced for agriculture about 4,500 years ago, and ever since, the gardens have flourished or deteriorated, depending on who was in power and who was cultivating the land. In the past century, the area served as an Arab village, then a moshav (a cooperative agricultural community), before the site was abandoned, the terraces collapsed and the irrigation pools filled with dirt and debris. The site was used for military training until the 80s, when several groups began restoring Sataf: digging out the irrigation pools and channels, rebuilding the walls and terraces, unearthing old olive and wine presses.

Today, volunteers not only continue to restore Sataf, they also actively farm the land. During our visit, we walked through vineyards, orchards with olive, almond, fig and pomegranate trees, and gardens full of lettuce, onions, peppers and squash. The trees kept the exposed hillside cool and pleasant, and during our visit we met a lot of friendly people (including other families with young children). Alexander particularly enjoyed walking up and down the stone steps, as well as checking out the impressive water storage pools. While signs clearly prohibit swimming at the pools, we saw several groups of mountain bikers stop to jump into the water to cool off before heading back onto the trails. I thought the water looked a little sketchy for swimming, but I guess if you're hot enough, any kind of swimming will do!


 
 
 








 

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