Watch: Ancient Roman Road Over the Jordan River

We visited the location of Old Kibbutz Gesher this week. The word “Gesher” means “Bridge.”

When the Kibbutz was founded in 1939 at the strategic location of the Byzantine stone bridge crossing the Jordan River, the kibbutz members chose the name “Gesher.” There was an Ottoman railroad bridge and a British road bridge at the site as well.

Children at Gesher in 1946

During the war in 1948, this was the obvious place for the Jordanians and Iraqis to mount an attack on the eastern front of the nascent State of Israel.

Children were evacuated and the the small band of kibbutzniks fought valiantly against the attacking Arab forces who destroyed most of the kibbutz. However the Israeli fighters were able to eventually repel the Iraqi forces since they were hunkered down in the nearby heavily fortified British Mandate Police Station.

After the war, the members rebuilt the New Kibbutz Gesher about a kilometer away to the west of the original site.

More info about Old Gesher here.