Nestled between an ancient theater, a synagogue, and a Byzantine church, the Roman bathing complex at Hammat Gader once covered over 50,000 square feet.[1] Along with ornate architectural features like an acanthus-leaf-decorated beam, the baths hold sixty to seventy inscriptions.[2] Excavated in the early 1980s, one inscription (HAMM0054) points to the bathhouse’s storied history:
Greek transcription:
((+)) Ἐπὶ Ἀβδάλλα Μαάυια ἀμήρα
ἀλμουμενὴν ἀπελ<ο>ύθη κ(αὶ) ἀνε
νεώθη ὁ κλίβανος τῶν ἐνταῦ
θα διὰ Ἀβδάλλα υἱοῦ Ἀβουασέμου
συμβούλου, ἐν μηνὴ Δεκεμβρίῳ
πέμπτῃ, ἡμέρᾳ δευτέρᾳ, ἰνδ(ικτιῶνος) ς´,
ἔτους τῆς κολωνίας ςκψ, κατὰ Ἀράβα(ς)
ἔτους μβ´, εἰς ἴασην τῶν νοσούν
των, σπουδῇ Ἰωάννου μ(ειζοτέρου) Γαδαρηνοῦ.
English translation:
In the days of Abdallah Mu‘āwiya, the commander of the faithful, the clibanus of the baths here was cleared and renewed by Abdallah son of Abu Hashim, the governor, in the month of December, on the fifth day, Monday, in the 6th year of the indiction, in the year 726 of the colony, according to the Arabs the 42nd year, for the healing of the sick, under the care of John the Gadarene, the steward.
Dated to 662 CE, this inscription heralds the creation of the Umayyad dynasty in the year prior as well as the changes enacted by Mu‘āwiya I, the Caliphate’s founder. It is difficult to overstate the magnitude of the seventh-century Muslim conquests; following the lead of their predecessors in the Rashidun Caliphate, the Umayyads rapidly seized territory stretching from Iberia to the Indian subcontinent, giving rise to the modern-day Middle East. The conquests brought about new forms of art and architecture, synthesized from Roman, Persian, and Arab elements, along with the ultimate proliferation of Arab religion and culture. But perhaps unexpectedly, this inscription indicates the preservation, not the destruction, of the thermae at Hammat Gader. Why, in his newly conquered land, would Mu‘āwiya have chosen to safeguard this institution so characteristic of the Roman Empire?
In the capital city and beyond, going to the public baths was an essential and routine part of the Roman way of life. While at the thermae, bathers could socialize with one another and enjoy pools of a variety of temperatures, perfumed oils, and massages.[3] Romans esteemed their trips to the baths so highly that even the lower classes could partake, though less frequently than their well-off counterparts.[4]
The public baths at Hammat Gader were no different, serving as not only a site of leisure but also a locus of medical therapy—as indicated by the inscription’s reference to “the healing of the sick.” Erected in the second century CE, the baths were a popular destination for locals and tourists alike.[5] While the bathhouse served as an everyday recreational setting for those living in nearby settlements, international travelers flocked to the hot springs in search of cures for their ailments.[6] Bathers attributed healing powers to the spring water, which could reach 125 degrees Fahrenheit, and Hammat Gader became a global treatment center for a variety of skin diseases.[7]
The cultic quality of the thermal water—inseparable from its healing abilities—was equally appealing to visitors. Bathers named the hot springs after Greek gods like Eros and Anteros and associated them with supernatural events.[8] They burned incense and lit oil lamps as votive offerings in hopes of procuring medical miracles.[9] Inscriptions, moreover, frequently referred to the baths as “this holy place,” a nomenclature typically reserved for sites of worship.[10] Hammat Gader was thus integral to the recreational, medical, and spiritual lives of its bathers.
By the end of the Byzantine period, however, the bathhouse had sustained damage from numerous earthquakes, in theory priming it for destruction at the start of the Umayyad Caliphate.[11] Instead, the 662 inscription indicates that just the opposite occurred. Mu‘āwiya “cleared and renewed” the “clibanus,” likely either the main bathing complex at Hammat Gader or a portion of it.[12] Other archaeological evidence reveals that the Umayyads put down new marble floors and created new halls for the thermae.[13]
Why would the founder of the first Muslim dynasty have seen to the preservation of an institution closely linked with Christianity and Judaism?[14] An examination of the new caliph’s regional policies helps untangle this question.
Although the Muslim conquests ultimately resulted in the proliferation of the Arab religion, historians argue that the Islamization of recently conquered lands was not Mu‘āwiya’s principal goal—causing many of his contemporaries to regard him as a corruptor of Islamic ideals.[15] Instead, he sought to revitalize the region without displeasing his new subjects, most of whom were Christian.[16] In addition to building houses, markets, and stations for pilgrims, Mu‘āwiya re-cultivated aristocratic Byzantine farms that had fallen out of use.[17]
Simultaneously, he maintained Greek as the Caliphate’s administrative language and ensured the preservation of significant Roman-Byzantine institutions, like the thermae at Hammat Gader.[18] The 662 inscription, which begins with an engraving of a cross, manifests Mu‘āwiya’s attempt to appease his new populace, in the process making concessions to their Roman-Byzantine culture and religions.
Others have pointed to more personal reasons for Mu‘āwiya’s interest in Hammat Gader; his son, Yazid, suffered from gout in the feet, a condition that might have been treated by the therapeutic hot springs.[19] But whether prompted by altruism or self-interest, Mu‘āwiya’s decision to restore the bathhouse was certainly beneficial to many; the thermae would continue to serve locals and pilgrims for two hundred years to come.
Works Cited
Eliav, Yaron Z. “The Roman Bath as a Jewish Institution: Another Look at the Encounter Between Judaism and the Greco-Roman Culture.” Journal for the Study of Judaism 31, no. 4 (2000): 416–54.
Green, Judith, and Yoram Tsafrir. “Greek Inscriptions from Ḥammat Gader: A Poem by the Empress Eudocia and Two Building Inscriptions.” Israel Exploration Journal 32, no. 2/3 (1982): 77–96.
Hasson, Isaac. “Remarques sur l’inscription de l’époque de Mu’āwiya à Ḥammat Gader.” Israel Exploration Journal 32, no. 2/3 (1982): 97–101.
Hirschfeld, Yizhar. “The History and Town-Plan of Ancient Ḥammat Gādẹ̄r.” Zeitschrift Des Deutschen Palästina-Vereins 103 (1987): 101–16.
Hirschfeld, Yizhar, and Giora Solar. “The Roman Thermae at Ḥammat Gader: Preliminary Report of Three Seasons of Excavations.” Israel Exploration Journal 31, no. 3/4 (1981): 197–219.
Keshk, Khaled. “When Did Muʿāwiya Become Caliph?” Journal of Near Eastern Studies 69, no. 1 (2010): 31–42.
Nutzman, Megan S. “‘In This Holy Place’: Incubation at Hot Springs in Roman and Late Antique Palestine.” In Gods, Objects, and Ritual Practice, edited by Sandra Blakely, 281–304. Lockwood Press, 2017.
[1] Yizhar Hirschfeld and Giora Solar, “The Roman Thermae at Ḥammat Gader: Preliminary Report of Three Seasons of Excavations,” Israel Exploration Journal 31, no. 3/4 (1981): 198; Yizhar Hirschfeld, “The History and Town-Plan of Ancient Ḥammat Gādẹ̄r,” Zeitschrift Des Deutschen Palästina-Vereins 103 (1987): 108.
[2] Hirschfeld and Solar, “The Roman Thermae,” 214.
[3] Yaron Z. Eliav, “The Roman Bath as a Jewish Institution: Another Look at the Encounter Between Judaism and the Greco-Roman Culture,” Journal for the Study of Judaism 31, no. 4 (2000): 421.
[4] Eliav, “The Roman Bath,” 421.
[5] Hirschfeld and Solar, “The Roman Thermae,” 199.
[6] Hirschfeld and Solar, “The Roman Thermae,” 202.
[7] Hirschfeld and Solar, “The Roman Thermae,” 198; Hirschfeld, “The History and Town-Plan,” 105.
[8] Hirschfeld and Solar, “The Roman Thermae,” 202.
[9] Hirschfeld and Solar, “The Roman Thermae,” 202; Megan S. Nutzman, “‘In This Holy Place’: Incubation at Hot Springs in Roman and Late Antique Palestine,” in Gods, Objects, and Ritual Practice, ed. Sandra Blakely, 285.
[10] Nutzman, “‘In This Holy Place,’” 283; Hirschfeld, “The History and Town-Plan,” 113.
[11] Hirschfeld and Solar, “The Roman Thermae,” 203.
[12] Judith Green and Yoram Tsafrir, “Greek Inscriptions from Ḥammat Gader: A Poem by the Empress Eudocia and Two Building Inscriptions,” Israel Exploration Journal 32, no. 2/3 (1982): 85; Hirschfeld, “The History and Town-Plan,” 106.
[13] Hirschfeld and Solar, “The Roman Thermae,” 204.
[14] Eliav, “The Roman Bath,” 422.
[15] Isaac Hasson, “Remarques sur l’inscription de l’époque de Mu’āwiya à Ḥammat Gader,” Israel Exploration Journal 32, no. 2/3 (1982): 98; Khaled Keshk, “When Did Muʿāwiya Become Caliph?” Journal of Near Eastern Studies 69, no. 1 (2010): 32.
[16] Nutzman, “‘In This Holy Place,’” 283; Hirschfeld, “The History and Town-Plan,” 107.
[17] Hasson, “Remarques sur l’inscription,” 98.
[18] Hasson, “Remarques sur l’inscription,” 97.
[19] Hasson, “Remarques sur l’inscription,” 99.