Jib Youseff (Joseph's Well)

Khan Jib Youseff

This picture is not awfully clear but it shows the relation of the khan to Jib Youseff (on the hill). This archeological site is on Amiad. For the more serious readers I have translated a booklet Gavriel Kohner researched on Jib Youseff and the khan. Khan is the Arabic word for caravansai. The "kh" is a gutteral sound and might correspond with the letter "g" in Dutch or German.

The khan is about a 2 mile walk from the kibbutz, through avocado groves and citrus plantations. There are many "walkers" on Amiad and this route is a very popular one. Almost everyone one speaks to, has a story of their own about the khan. There are the love stories, weddings and the stories of older children frightening younger kids there. A photographer has done an exhibition there, everyone's tourist get taken there. From the upstairs bedrooms one has the most magnificent view of the Sea of Galilee. More importantly, this is still a site of pilgrimage for the Muslims.

We, of course, then have the dreamers. The artist's studios that could be built here. Transforming it into a luxury hotel. A coffee bar, come art gallery. The khan just seems to be part of us and yet for the past few years new warnings appear about it becoming unsafe. Two years ago, sign boards went up warning of the potential danger. This year it is fenced off with signs reading "KEEP OUT".

And nobody can be blamed. The site is not important enough archeologically, and Amiad certainly does not have the money that apparently would be needed to restore this site. So now we still all manage to get there, some of the braver amongst us even pass the bulls on the way, and we slowly watch the decay.

Itamar did a caricature of the khan and I never included it in his collection, but kept it for you to see here. It just seemed more appropriate.

It is dated 6/1998. The flag reads "Amiad - tomorrow everything will be fine"