Sataf on the Baal Trail - Jerusalem Hillls

The site was developed with contributions from friends of KKL JNF worldwide, including Switzerland, Canada and Israel.

Sataf, nestling among the Jerusalem Hills in central Israel, is the site of an enchanted world watered by two springs, Ein Sataf and Ein Bikura, pools and walking trails. Beside the springs are collection pools that irrigate the orchards and vegetable gardens using agricultural techniques that date back to antiquity. Our route passes through farmland where no artificial irrigation is used and crops are dependent solely on rainfall.

Bustan HaShalom (“The Peace Orchard”), which comprises a variety of fruit trees and a stone-built watchman’s tower for guarding the fruit at harvest time, has been restored and maintained by Jewish and Arab schoolchildren from the surrounding area. At the site you will also see a cistern, which together with the flat rock surrounding it, was used in the past for trampling grapes and collecting their juice to make wine. Later the cistern was used to store water. It was hewn into the natural rock and plastered with lime to prevent seepage.

Nearby is a cave (4) that served as a seasonal dwelling for a farmer or as a shelter for flocks. From here we continue through a pine wood until we come to another orchard that is tended by KKL-JNF volunteers.

Beside it are some caves and ruined buildings (5). From here we have an excellent view of the rain-irrigated (baal) and channel-irrigated areas of farmland and the ruined buildings of the Sataf site. We continue along the blue-marked route through the forest and the recreation area and cross a road beside the water tank. Now we descend in the direction of the fig orchard and the vineyards, still following the blue markings. This section of the route introduces us to a whole new world: the life of a farming community that relied only on rainfall to water its crops.

The first crop we encounter is the vine. The vines have been pruned and the terraces scrupulously plowed – both very necessary tasks in a rain-irrigated vineyard where the growth of weeds that might compete for the small amount of water contained in the soil has to be prevented. The vineyard is situated on terraces whose guard tower and surrounding walls were built from stones removed from the plots before planting – just as described in Isaiah’s parable of the vineyard: “…My wellbeloved had a vineyard in a very fruitful hill: And he fenced it, and gathered out the stones thereof, and planted it with the choicest vine, and built a tower in the midst of it, and also made a winepress therein…” (Isaiah 5:1-2).

Above the vineyard is a fig grove planted by KKL-JNF as part of a project to conserve ancient native fruit tree species. Apart from the figs, nineteen other types of tree are planted here, including olive, pomegranate and pistachio.

The footpath continues uphill from the ruins of the watchtower at the edge of the vineyard and the fig-tree grove and leads to a broad section of an ancient path constructed in Roman times, which served as a link between farming communities on Mount Eitan. From the size of the stones used and the amount of work invested in its construction we may assume that this route was intended for transport caravans.

Several dozen meters further on we come to another watchtower overlooking the path and we can climb up to it. Constructed from stone, it is 2 x 3 meters in size, with no inner chamber. It would have been used mainly at the end of summer when the fruit was ready for picking. An adjacent cave would have been used for dwelling or storage purposes. From the tower we return to a paved path between two stone walls.

A beautiful description of a mountain track of this kind can be found in the Biblical story of Balaam: “… And the ass turned aside out of the way, and went into the field […] But the angel of the Lord stood in a path of the vineyards, a wall being on this side, and a wall on that side,” (Numbers, 22:23-24).

o the south of the woodland we come to a collection cave with steps leading down into it and plastered walls to prevent the water from seeping out. Some believe it may have served as a mikveh, and its proximity to the winepress strengthens this supposition. From here we return to the path and continue on our way through the olive grove. Further on the path passes through plots of deciduous fruit trees – almond, apple, pear, plum and apricot.

After another 150 meters or so we can stop to enjoy a view of the Franciscan Monastery of St. John in the Wilderness, which is situated on the flank of the hill opposite and which was built at the end of the 19th century. According to Christian tradition John the Baptist hid in a nearby cave from the soldiers of King Herod. From here we continue across plots planted with pistachio and carob trees.

Below us sprawls an orchard comprising dozens of types of fruit tree native to the Land of Israel, with a wooden pergola at its center. KKL-JNF is at present in the process of making this orchard site suitable for visitors and is preparing to build a traditional-style watchman’s tower there from local stone.

Around 200 meters further on we reach steps that lead up to Ein Sataf spring, and this marks the end of our walk along the Baal Trail.