Amid the geometric designs are depicted the fruits of the land. Nun identifies several that one would not expect to find here in antiquity: an orange, watermelon, and bananas. There were also pictures of animals, but the iconoclasts of the 8th century effaced most of them. (These iconoclasts were Muslims who interpreted the ban on graven images very strictly.) It would have been helpful to find a portrait of a pig or two! Gamla Nature Reserve The splendid landscape of Gamla Nature Reserve contains a host of animals and many well-preserved remnants of the past. The reserve boasts both a phenomenal concentration of birds of prey, some of them rare, living in a relatively small area, and the earliest known synagogue in the world. Scores of pairs of Griffon vultures nest on the cliffs, making up the largest flock of Griffon vultures in Israel. In the morning, the birds fly off and in the afternoon they return to their nests, flying directly overhead. The vulture population can be observed from a special birdwatching point on the north bank of Nahal Gamla. Gamla is on the Golan Heights, east of the Sea of Galilee. Josephus locates it "opposite Tarichaeae on the far side of the lake." Tarichaeae has been identified with Magdala, on the lake's western shore, which is visible from here. The town was built on the southern slope, which included a large public building, probably a synagogue. The houses must indeed have seemed to hang in mid-air, and one wonders what might have led people to live at such a place. The strong defensive position must have been a major factor. In peacetime there was plenty of water: rivers flowed all year round on either side of the hill. In war the inhabitants relied on cisterns. We do not yet know what they did for a living, but the Golan in general pressed much olive oil, the basis for night life in the ancient world. Another observation terrace overlooks the 50-meter Gamla Fall, the highest perennial waterfall in Israel. En route to the fall visitors will pass the field of dolmens. Built of massive basalt rocks, placed together to form rectangles with one short side open, dolmens served as graves for nomads who lived in the Golan Heights four millennia ago. The trails through the Gamla Nature Reserve are well marked. Some are suitable for the entire family and others only for good hikers. One of the trails passes through the canyon and waterfalls formed by the Bazelet River, the northern tributary of the Daliyot River. The path crosses over the rivers and affords a lovely view of the Josephus was one of two generals appointed to lead the revolt in the north. He claims that he built a wall around Gamla. One has been found, in fact, but just on the eastern portion, which was the only side that required artificial defense. (See picture above.) The rebellious cities of Galilee fell one by one to the Roman general Vespasian. Jewish refugees fled toward Gamla, but Agrippas (who had been besieging it for seven months) posted cavalry to block them.