42 Friday, February 20, 1981 THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS Ta Golan Heights Thermal Baths Excavated by Israelis CASH oinmonos FOR YOUR PRECIOUS JEWELS Sic6t4Riei.4 dale &Sa K.t 755 W.Big Beaver Rd. (16 mile at 115 ) Troy, Michigan Phone: 313-362-4500 tr. JERUSALEM — People from all over the ancient world came to the El Hama (Hammat Gader) thermal baths on the Golan Heights to curee -their ailments, ac- cording to archeologist Yizhar Hirschfeld of the Hebrew University's Insti- tute of Archeology, who is excavating this 1,600-year- old site and finding it to be larger and more elaborate THE JABOTINSKY SOCIETY Presents JEFFREY SHERMAN and ARNOLD ARONOFF In A Discussion Of "WHY I CHOSE HERUT" Moderated by Rabbi Milton Arm in the Youth Lounge of Congregation Beth Achim 21100 W. 12 Mile Rd. Wed., Feb. 25 at 8:00 P.M. Public Invited Free Admission To my clientele I was unable to reach, I am now at Joseph Xavier Salon and looking forward to hearing from my friends. Barbara than was imagined. "It was an international spa of imperial propor- tions," he reports. "Built in the Third Century, it re- mained in use continually for 600 years, and was known as one of the largest and most beautiful baths in the world, second only to Baiae at Naples." The Fourth Century Greek his- torian Eunapius wrote of these baths, famous in the Roman and Byzantine periods. Hirschfeld and architect Giora Solar have conducted three seasons of excavations at the baths of behalf of the government Department of Antiquities, the univer- sity's Institute of Archeol- ogy, the Israel Exploration Society, and the Govern- ment Tourist Corp. which is restoring El Hama as a tourist site. Nearby, the newer Ham- mat Gader baths have been renovated and opened to modern bathers. Working with a team of 30 volunteers from all- over the world, the ar- cheologists have un- covered 4,500 square meters of the ancient baths but it is clear there is much more. So far, they found five large bath halls linked by roads and lead pipelines. Bathers apparently went from one hall to another, gradually becoming ac- customed to the increas- ing heat. The mineral spring on which the main hall is built has water at a temperature of up to 52 degrees centig- rade (126 degrees Fahrenheit), much too hot to bathe in, so the builders installed lead pipes to bring in cold water to dilute the pools. Among the many objects found beneath the debris that has covered the baths all these centuries were three marble slabs bearing Greek inscriptions of great historical interest. One of them, among the largest ever discovered in Israel (71x185 cm), contains a poe- tic text which speaks of the wonders of the hot springs, and mentions the name of the Empress Eudocia who lived in Jerusalem in the mid-Fifth Century. A second inscription men- tions the imperial official, Alexandros, in whose days the construction of the tepid water bath was completed. The third inscription describes the renovation of the baths in the days of Mu'awiyah, founder of the Umayyad dynasty, in 662 CE. This is the first written evidence of co- operation between the Muslim conquerors and the local Christian estab- lishment, and therefore, according to Hirschfeld, an historical find of great importance. "The Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem is mute ar- cheological evidence of such co-operation," he adds, "but here we have it 'black on white.' It even mentions the date, the fifth of December." One of the bath halls was reserved for lepers. It is situated in a narrow pas- sageway between two other halls, and all the entrances and approaches can be closed off. The many intact pottery lamps found here fit the description by An- toninus of Placentum, who wrote in the year 570: "The lepers are led into the large bath opposite the hot pool through the gate, with lamps and incense, and the doors are closed and they remain there all night. When they fall asleep, those who are to be cured see visions . ." The main and hottest bath was in the Oval Hall, where the archeologists found the walls Standard Club Is Closing 26571 W. 12 Mile at Northwestern Call for Appointment 352-8755 The Standard Club, a pri- vate club founded by Jewish businessmen in 1934, voted Wednesday night to close GET INTO THE SPRING SWING WITH A NEW 1981 GAS SAVING PONTIAC OR GMC TRUCK and liquidate its assetts. The club moved from the Book Cadillac Hotel to the Renaissance Center four years ago, but declining membership has placed the club's debts at $100,000 plus $175,000 owed in rent. Some members blamed falling membership on the increasing numbers of members who work in the suburbs rather than downtown. Others blamed the competing Renaissance Club for luring away Standard Club members. The club voted to disband, assess each member $350 to cover the club's debts, and formed a committee to study opening a new club. RT MORAN PONTIAC 29300 TELEGRAPH JUST NORTH OF TEL-TWELVE MALL Islam Dialogue JERUSALEM (ZINS) — Israeli President Yitzhak Navon last week called on Diaspora Jewry to "estab- lish a dialogue with Islam" so that Israel and the Mus- lim world could better understand each other. preserved in some places to a height of 10 meters (33 feet). This gives the visitor an idea of the grandeur that once was. The largest hall dis- covered so far is the Hall of Niches, in which each wall contains a central round niche flanked by four re- ctangular Ones, two on each side. Along the sides of the pool are ,marble fountains, from which water flowed into the pool through the mouths of carved animal heads. This was apparently the coldest pool, where the bathers could refresh them- selves. Tepid water was supplied in the Hall of Pilasters, where two columns of pil- lars supported an enormous vaulted ceiling some 14 meters high. Beautiful Corinthian capitals were found along the remains of a central colonnade here. The entrances to the other halls were ascertained along the southern wall of this hall, beneath three niches which held statues of the gods. The Hammat Gader baths are near the an- cient synagogue exca- vated in the 1930s by Prof. Eleazar Sukenik of the Hebrew University. The display of the synagogue's richly colored mosaics with their Hebrew inscrip- tions, together with the opening of the El Ha.: baths to visitors sho make this, once again, great international tourist attraction. 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