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For hundreds of years, women have washed in Ein Izevel (Jezebel’s Spring), between Afula and Beit She’an, and probably not for religious reasons, given its association with the wicked queen after whom it’s named.
Jezebel instigated her husband, the Israelite King Ahab, to bring false charges against the farmer Naboth and execute him after Naboth refused to sell his vineyard to the king. Eventually, Jezebel had the dubious honor of being the first recorded victim of defenestration (death by ejection from a window) and her body was eaten by dogs.
It is understandable that a site associated with such a figure does not attract women who want to bear children or even find a good mate. The women who come to Jezebel’s Spring do so for one reason only: They believe its waters will make them better able to entice men.
Moslem, Jewish and Christian women come to the spring, located near the Navot Junction by the foot of Tel Yizre’el, at the top of which are ruins of Ahab’s fortress.
“The water makes my skin smooth and beautiful and removes wrinkles,” a Bedouin woman once told Eyal Yaffe, director of the regional Valleys Tourist Board. Following an ancient road, Yaffe took me about one-third of the way up, to a point where the ground leveled off.
“This is where Naboth’s vineyard was,” he said, confidently locating the site of an event that occurred 2,500 years ago. Archeologists uncovering Ahab’s fortress discovered that vineyards had grown on the level area in antiquity.
The spring comes to the surface in a small pool, just large enough for a swim. Surrounding the pool is a grove of eucalyptus trees. However, the ground is so marshy that the National Parks Authority, which is responsible for the site, cuts down trees that are in danger of toppling and removes fallen trees that block visitors’ access to the spring.
While at the spring, we met up with Tsafrir Yitzhaki, one of the owners of Hey Hajeep, a company that specializes in jeep tours. We had barely started out in his jeep when he pointed out another site associated with a nasty woman from the Bible.
“That’s the old Ein Dor,” Yitzhaki said, pointing out a stand of palm trees near the new settlement of the same name. He was referring, of course, to the spot at which King Saul visited the witch of Endor, to hear the dreadful prophecy of his end.
Our jeep trip took us to Nahal Tavor, a wild stretch of country with an everflowing stream that becomes a raging torrent in winter. Wildflowers are in bloom all over the country at this time of year, and the banks of the Tavor are blanketed with them, especially cyclamen and anemones.
We also saw a fine assortment of brightly colored birds
It is a drive that envelops the visitor in the wild. There are no roads, no electric or telephone lines, no modern buildings. Only the remains of ancient water mills peep out of the jungle-like undergrowth. Truly, it is a trip through time.