Hula Valley

The Hula Valley (Hebrew: עמק החולה, Modern: Emek ha-Hul, Tiberian: {{{3}}}, Arabic: بحيرة الحولة, romanized: Buḥayrat al-Ḥūla) is an agricultural region in northern Israel with abundant fresh water that used to be Lake Hula before it was drained. It is a major stopover for birds migrating along the Great Rift Valley between Africa, Europe, and Asia.

This article is about a valley in Israel. For the region in Syria, see Houla. For the town in Lebanon, see Hula, Lebanon.

Hula Valley

עמק החולה (Hebrew)

Israel

33°06′12″N 35°36′33″E / 33.10333°N 35.60917°E / 33.10333; 35.60917

Hula Nature Reserve

12 November 1996 (1996-11-12)

868^[1]

Lake Hula and the marshland surrounding it were a breeding ground for mosquitoes carrying malaria and thus were drained in the 1950s.^[2] A small section of the valley was later reflooded in an attempt to revive a nearly extinct ecosystem. An estimated 500 million migrating birds now pass through the Hula Valley every year.^[3]

Etymology[edit]

Lake Hula was historically referred to by different names. In the 1st century CE, the Jewish-Roman historian Flavius Josephus termed it Semechonitis (Greek: Σημεχωνίτις, romanized: Sēmekhonítis), John Lightfoot writing it as Samochonitis,^[4] while in the Talmud it is called the Sea/Lake of Siwkhi (יַמָּהּ שֶׁל סִיבְכִי). Both names are identified with the place-name Šamḫuna found in the Amarna letters written in the Akkadian language circa 1360 BCE.^[5]

The Waters of Merom has sometimes been used in scientific literature, although that term refers specifically to springs on the western side of the valley.

Archaeology[edit]

Archaeological findings in 2009 show that the hominids who inhabited the area exploited Lake Hula fish. Analysis of the fish remains recovered from the archaeological site of Gesher Benot Ya‘aqov (GBY) has shown that they exploited a wide range of fish including catfish, tilapia and carp. Some of the carp were over a meter long.^[26] Tools to light fires and crack nuts were also discovered at the site.^[27]