THE NORTHERN BORDER REGION

Banias/Caesarea Philippi -- "Banias" is the original name of this site near Mt. Hermon in the North, famous as the place where Peter first confessed that Jesus is the Messiah. (Matt 16:13-16; Mark 8:27-30; Luke 9:18-21) Here too Antiochus III of Syria defeated the Egyptians in 197 BCE, taking control for the Seleucid Dynasty, which set the stage for the repression of the Jews by Antiochus IV and the revolt of the Maccabees (commemorated by the Jewish festival of Hanukah.)

Gamla -- A town which was the seat of Jewish resistance under the Romans; from here the "Zealots" planned much of their activity. A precursor to events in Masada, in that the Jews of this fortified town chose mass suicide instead submitting to Roman capture. Today, this area is a beautiful nature reserve, with the highest waterfall in Israel (51 meters).

Golan Heights -- Part of the very fertile plateau of Bashan between Mt. Hermon and the Wadi el-Yarmuk east of the Jordan River. The northern security-belt of Israel, won from Syria during the Six Day War in 1967.

Katzrin -- A reconstructed model village from Second Temple/Talmudic times; see how people lived, worked, and ate in ancient Israel.

Nimrod Castle -- Massive 12th century castle overlooking the Hula Valley. Originally built by Muslims atop a precipice, to protect the road from Tyre to Damascus; it changed hands many times in the battles with the Crusaders.

Tel Dan -- Dan was the northernmost city of ancient Israel, thus when Scripture speaks of all of the Land, from North to South, it often says, "from Dan to Beersheva." (Judges 20:1 1 Sam 3:20 2 Sam 3:10; 17:11; 24:2; 15 1 Kings 4:25) Abraham traveled from Hebron to Dan to rescue his nephew Lot from Kedorlaomer. The tribe of Dan was not satisfied with its inheritance near Judah, so it settled here and set up idolatrous worship that plagued Israel throughout its history. This was especially so in the time of Jeroboam, son of Solomon and first king of the divided Northern Kingdom, who set up golden calves in Dan and Bethel to keep people from going to Jerusalem to worship. (Judges 18; 1 Kings 12:26-33)