Mystery Picture -- Where Was This Picture Taken?
A Satellite Photo Helped Find the Location
Is this Kibbutz Tel Yosef? Photo from the "Cigarbox Collection"
of Dr.Othniel Seidon
The composition of this photo is striking -- a new Jewish settlement
The composition of this photo is striking -- a new Jewish settlement
at the foot of a mountain ridge and at the bottom of a gorge. On the
back someone wrote "Tel Yosef 1921," apparently the year, the only
date found on a photo in the Seidon collection. The kibbutz was named
after Yosef Trumpeldor, a Jewish Zionist hero who died defending
the Tel Hai settlement in 1920.
The photo is an enigma. Tel Yosef is located in the Jezreel Valley in
The photo is an enigma. Tel Yosef is located in the Jezreel Valley in
northern Israel, not located at the base of mountain. Research into
Tel Yosef's history uncovered that the kibbutz was located a few
kilometers away in its first years, and was located where Kibbutz
Ein Harod is located today. But it too was not at the foot of a mountain.
Beit Alpha at the foot of the Gilboa Mountains. Note the
gorge (Google Earth)
Modern technology helped us locate the chalutzim's (pioneers)
settlement 90 years ago.
A Google Earth search of the Jezreel-Gilboa area quickly found a
A Google Earth search of the Jezreel-Gilboa area quickly found a
possible location of the mystery picture -- the Kibbutz of Beit Alpha.
The settlement at the foot of the mountain and the gorge appear identical.
We checked Beit Alpha's history and photo archives and confirmed
We checked Beit Alpha's history and photo archives and confirmed
that the Cigar Collection photo was Beit Alpha and not Tel Yosef. T
he picture below shows the same tents and buildings.
From Beit Alpha's archives. Note the same tents and cabins
From Beit Alpha's archives. Note the same tents and cabins
as the photo on top
