By Paul Szydlowski
Touching the Bible Lands
This hike took nearly 6 years to accomplish. If you are interested in history, visible from these views, significant human history occurred. If you saw the Orlando Bloom movie “Kingdom of Heaven” you know that the First Crusade came to an end through a crushing defeat of the Crusader army by the Muslim sultan Salah ad-Din on July 4, 1187, after the Crusaders held Jerusalem for nearly 90 years. The battle occurred on a hot summer day in July in the shadows of a distinct looking hilltop (actually an extinct volcano) known as the Horns of Hattin. Hattin derives from a Hebrew word for grain which is still grown in the surrounding fields (see photos). In 2013 Adam and I were hiking around Israel and had a bus drop us off near here. At that time, I did not know enough about the area and we mistook an adjacent hill for one of the horns thus never making it to the top. In 2017 bad weather prevented me from making it to the top. This year I made it. The views are stunning. You can see snowcapped Mt. Hermon (on the Syrian border) in some of the photos. In other photos you can see Tiberias and the Sea of Galilee. The Arbel cliffs are known for a location where Jewish rebels made a stand against the Romans in 66 AD. Today the hike is part of the “Jesus/Gospel Trail” as Jesus likely walked near this path going from Nazareth to Capernaum.
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Horn of Hattin in the Background, Volcanic Rock in the Foreground
Arbel Fields, Snowcapped Mt. Hermon in the Background Marks the Syrian Border