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Take one look at this photo of Gamla, and as soon as you read the next statement, you'll go "aha!" This hump-like shaped hill comes from the root word for camel—gamal. This hill, and the fortress on top of it, really has no biblical significance. However, it was so intricately involved in the first Jewish Revolt that it became known as, "the Masada of the North."
Roman soldiers led by Vespasian marched across Galilee to subdue the Golan in 67 AD at the beginning of the revolt. It would take them seven months to breach the walls. Josephus says of that battle that 9,000 Zealots fought their way to the edge of the hill. When they realized that they could not escape capture, they threw themselves to their deaths in the gorge below.
From an observation platform at the top of the trail, you can see part of a rampart tower and a synagogue—one of the oldest ever found. Along with those structures, they also unearthed Roman picks used to climb the fortress walls, thousands of stone "missiles" used in catapults, arrowheads, and Zealot coins stamped, "For the salvation of Holy Jerusalem."
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