The Givat HaMoreh / Dahi Recreation Area
 Photo: Yaakov Skolnik
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This large recreation area is situated below the village of Dahi, outside the Givat HaMoreh scenic routes. The site offers a large number of picnic tables shaded by pine trees, and playground facilities for children. Some of the tables are constructed from natural rock. The landscapes of the Jezreel Valley can be glimpsed through gaps between the trees.
How to get there: Drive for around 100 meters from the blue-marked road in the direction of Dahi (about 400 meters from the junction of Connecticut Street and HaHassidah Street) and turn left on to a good dirt road that will lead you to the recreation area some 700 meters further on.
The KKL-JNF lookout tower
 The firewatchers’ tower on Givat HaMoreh. Photo: Yaakov Skolnik
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To get to the tower we follow the blue-marked woodland scenic route that makes its way through a KKL-JNF pine and eucalyptus grove. Gaps among the trees offer glimpses of Afula and the village of Sulem, which has been identified as the site of the Biblical Shunam. After 1.9 kilometers we arrive at a junction where a red-marked road forks off to the right. We turn left on to a paved road and continue for around 400 meters until we reach the KKL-JNF lookout tower. All along the way are picnic tables constructed entirely from natural rock.
The lookout tower, which is used by KKL-JNF firewatchers in the summertime, is open to the general public at this time of year. As its walls are faced with basalt, it blends in with the local rock. A flight of stairs leads up to the lookout platform that provides a view in every direction and offers some magnificent sights: the Hills of Gilead, Ramot Issachar, the Beit Shean Valley, Mount Gilboa, northern Samaria, the Jezreel valley, Ramat Menashe, Mount Carmel, Givot Alonim, the Nazareth Hills, Mount Tabor and the hills of Upper Galilee. On a clear day, the peak of Mount Hermon is also visible.
Nabi Dahi
 The tomb of Nabi Dahi. Photo: Yaakov Skolnik
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Below the lookout tower stands a small square whitewashed building roofed with a green dome. According to Muslim tradition, this is the tomb of Dihya Ibn Khalifa, also known as Al-Kalbi, who was dispatched to Byzantium by the Prophet Muhammad to try to persuade the emperor to convert to Islam. Tradition relates that Dihya Ibn Khalifa was a military commander in Muhammad’s army.
After he was killed in the battle of the Jezreel Valley his faithful dog is said to have dragged his lifeless body to the top of the hill, and there he was buried. Residents of the village of Dahi bury their dead around his tomb and the fence that surrounds the cemetery prevents visitors from approaching the building.
Dahi is a small village. In its center, not far from the mosque, we can see what was once the heart of the original community, where the ruins of a large impressive vaulted building still visible. In the center of the building is a large courtyard, which gives the site a fortress-like air. According to local tradition, this was where the first residents of Dahi lived after they broke away from the village of Sulem for reasons long forgotten.
Givat HaMoreh Nature Reserve
 A meadow in flower on Givat HaMoreh. Photo: Yaakov Skolnik
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The nature reserve is situated at the center of Givat HaMoreh at the foot of the tall aerial masts that can be seen from almost every spot in the region. The site is famous for the Nazareth iris (Iris bismarckiana), whose large and impressive flowers bloom in clumps from mid-March until mid-April. The contrasting colors displayed by the falls of the iris flower are particularly striking: these three outer petals that hang down below the central parts of the flower are deep purple on a creamy yellowish background with a very dark, almost black, spot in the center. The inner upright petals are pale blue spotted with violet.
The aerial masts can be reached via a vehicle track that ascends from the junction of the blue- and red-marked roads.
 The Byzantine wine press on Givat HaMoreh. Photo: Yaakov Skolnik
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From this junction an unmarked dirt road descends in a south-easterly direction and makes its way through the KKL-JNF pine forest until, some 600 meters further on, it brings us to an open area that forms part of the nature reserve. This is the place to look for irises, which are to be found mainly on the south-eastern side of the nature reserve.
The Byzantine wine pressThis large fine wine press hewn into the rock can be seen at the side of the red-marked footpath some 300 meters to the east of the eastern aerial mast, just before the olive grove. Still visible at the site is the large treading floor from which the freshly pressed grape juice (must) was channeled into a large pit before being collected for fermentation.