By Steve Kramer
SHUNI FORTRESS, Israel — Ephraim, originally from Wisconsin, and his sabra wife, Rimona, bought a lovely home on a building lot in Aviel last year. Aviel is a small, pastoral moshav (agricultural cooperative) near the towns of Zichron Yaacov and Binyamina. Our good friends and former neighbors love being in the country, with pleasant hiking trails just a few minutes walk from their front door. In addition, this village, which was built just after Israel’s War of Independence, is close to many interesting places. We visited Shuni Fortress with them on a recent visit.
Shuni Fortress (www.support.jnf.org) is a Roman archaeological site, excavated and renovated by the JNF – Jewish National Fund. The site is mentioned in the Talmud as belonging to the tribe of Menashe and is identified with the biblical village of Shumi. Located on a spur of the Carmel Mountains, the fortress used to be a pleasant recreational center, “a country club” for retired Roman soldiers and Roman dignitaries from nearby seat of government, Caesarea. An aqueduct from the Shuni area, still partially visible today, provided water to Caesarea. The aqueduct was built by King Herod (37BC to 4BC) at the time of the founding of Caesarea, which Herod named for Caesar Augustus to gain favor.
On the site there is a large amphitheater in which entertainment was presented. Water was a prominent part of the complex; there was a very large, semicircular fresh water pool built behind the stage, forming a great circle with the amphitheater. Water was also the theme of the annual Mayumas festival at Shuni, a bacchanalian festival that probably predated the Romans, harking back to Canaanite times. During the festival pagan rites were enacted, including fertility ceremonies (orgies), and much wine was imbibed! Today, festivities in the form of concerts are still held in the amphitheater. Last spring we attended an excellent Burt Bacharach show there, with a full house.
The more recent history of Shuni starts with Effendi Salim Houri, a wealthy land owner from Haifa, who bought the area towards the end of the Ottoman period (1517-1917). Houri owned an extensive estate, stretching from Shuni to the town now known as Zichron Yaakov. As each of the previous owners had done, he added buildings onto the earlier site, including a granary, which is Shuni in Arabic. (Or perhaps the name relates more to the ancient Jewish village of Shumi.)
Baron Edward de Rothschild, who established Zichron Yaakov and many other towns, purchased Shuni from Effendi Houri and founded an agricultural school for new Jewish farmers there. The nearby agricultural settlements of Binyamina and Giva’at Ada, home to prime vineyards today, were also established by the Baron. Thanks to the Baron, wineries have become an important part of the regional economy and produce prize-winning vintages.
There is more to Shuni than just the archaeology. The fortress is located in the Jabotinsky Park and Forest, named for Ze’ev Jabotinsky, the founder of Betar, a paramilitary youth movement. Jabotinsky was one of the founders of the Haganah, the pre-state militia. Rejecting the somewhat passive reaction of the Haganah to the British closure of Palestine to Jewish immigration, some members of the Haganah split off to form the more aggressive Irgun (Etzel underground). The Irgun used Shuni as its military headquarters against the British and launched many of its operations from the site. Located within the fortress is a small but interesting Etzel Museum, with several films bringing the history of the movement to life.
Perhaps the most fascinating attraction at Shuni is the Achiam Sculpture Museum. Achiam Shoshany (1916-2005) was born in Galilee and was trained in agronomy. During the Mandate period, the British arrested Achiam and imprisoned him for being a political agitator. It was in prison that Achiam discovered his talent as a sculptor, occupying himself by carving bas-reliefs on the prison walls. After his release, Achiam worked in stone quarries near Jerusalem, where he learned stone-cutting.
In 1947, he was invited to Prague for a competition where he won the Grand Prix. Achiam migrated to Paris, where he met many other artists and sculptors, although he maintained his individuality, never associating with any particular art movement. Achiam became a master at sculpting stone, wood and metal. However, it wasn’t until the 1980s that his work became popular in Israel, after it was featured at the Tefen Open Museum in the Galilee.
Achiam’s beautiful works are representations of man, woman, sentiments, love, childbirth, nurturing, injustice, Biblical figures, musical instruments and domesticated animals. (www.wikipedia.org)
The curator, Moshe, gave us a personal tour of the extensive, beautiful sculptures which fill three rooms. In addition, Moshe prepared herbal tea from his garden and set out delicious home-cured olives for us. We were astonished to learn that Moshe, along with his brother, were the amateur archaeologists who discovered the “Jesus Boat,” which attracts thousands of tourists to Ginosaur, located at the Sea of Galilee (Lake Kinneret).
Moshe is very attached to Achiam’s work, which extends through several indoor galleries to a large sculpture garden, declaring that he now prefers supervising the museum to archeology.
After leaving Shuni, we stopped at a funky restaurant, the Blue Bus, which specializes in humus and salads. It is situated in a renovated bus and serves tasty and inexpensive meals. We then drove to the center of Binyamina, a quaint town which has become very expensive due to its charm and its train station, which allows commuters relatively quick access to Haifa, Netanya, or Tel Aviv.
A real treat awaited us when we made an unplanned stop at the home of Hadar Alon, whose family owns extensive vineyards. At his property off of the town’s main street, Hadar and his family host events in a large covered, outdoor area. Hadar, a wine expert, affably plied us with some of the wine made by Israeli wineries using his grapes. He also served us some of his delicious homemade beaujolais nouveau, copying the French tradition of drinking “new” wine. Hadar explained a lot about the history of wine, including the fact that wine cuttings from the ancient Land of Israel are probably the genesis of Europe’s wine industry, which developed long after that of the Eastern Mediterranean!
We thoroughly enjoyed our day trip with our friends. It was not the first, nor the last, of our many visits throughout this region of Israel.
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This article was previously published by the Jewish Times of South Jersey. Author Steven Kramer’s works may also be read on the website, www.encounteringisrael.com