Wheel of Spirits (Israel)

In Israel, on the Golan Heights, sixteen kilometers east of the Kinneret Lake, otherwise known as the Lake of Gennesaret, in the middle of a large plateau there is one of the most mysterious and not so well studied places of Israel called the Wheel of Spirits, or the Wheel of Refa’im.

The Wheel of Spirits is a megalithic construction in the form of concentric circles laid out of basalt rocks, in the middle of which there is a tumulus over four meters high. The outer circle of the Wheel of Repha’im is more than two meters high and one hundred and sixty meters in diameter. Around the Wheel of spirits hundreds of dolmens are scattered.

This ancient monument was discovered for the first time by an Israeli archeological expedition in 1967-1968. Later, in the 1980s, the first professional expedition took place. In 2007, new archeological excavations started under the direction of two scientists from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Yoseph Garfinkel and Michael Freikman.

The scientists established that the construction dates back to approximately XXX—XXVII centuries BE. The purpose of the construction is still unclear. It is widely accepted that the Wheel of spirits was a site of religious worship and the tribe’s assembly point. In the center of the construction, within the dolmen, the researches discovered an ancient tumulus filled with treasures and other precious items. The tumulus is much younger than the Wheel of spirits itself and dates back to the end of the second millennium BE. Indeed, the structure itself is older than the tumulus, therefore, people who buried the deceased man could not be the construction’s builders.

In the spring of this year, 2013, together with our guide Slava Kim, we visited this mysterious megalithic object. We were even able to get inside the dolmen, which is the megalith’s center. On the very top of the tumulus there is a little portal with a corridor, leading into the very center of the construction. As we entered through a narrow opening, we found ourselves in a little stone chamber with several stone ledges in it that looked like jump seats in train cars. In the upper vault of the chamber there was a little opening in the form of a window, through which the light gets in. Inside the dolmen we were overcome by some unpleasant feelings. We felt like someone was watching us. Our fear and anxiety grew when our guide told us that this mysterious place is called by the local people The Wheel of Rephaims.

Rephaims, also called the anakites or avim, are a mythical Biblical people of giants, who lived in the times of Abraham (Book of Genesis 14:5; 15:20). They lived both in Palestine and in Jordan (Moab). Moabites called them the Emim (Deuteronomy 2:11); and ammonites – the Zamzummim (Deuteronomy 2:20). In the Bible the Rephaims are also mentioned under other names – in particular, as Anakites (sons of Anak, or Enak, Numbers 13:33; Deuteronomy 1:28), or avim.

Rephaims’ offspring existed for a long time after that. King Og in the times of Moses was their descendant (Deuteronomy 3:11). In the times of David several Rephaims’ descendants  lived in Gath and fought on the side of the Philistines (2 Samuel 21:22). Sometimes they were identified with the Nephilim.

Prophet Isaiah says that the Lord brought them to ruin, and wiped out all memory of them (Isaiah 26:14).

The apocryphal book of Enoch also mentions Rephaims (giants). Rephaims are described as anthropomorphic beings of giant stature and of semi-divine origin that constituted an entire separate people. Concerning them it says that they are bloodthirsty monsters 18 cubits tall (that is, almost nine meters tall), with sixteen rows of teeth. The ancient people believed that Rephaims created duodecimal system of numbers, because they had six fingers and six toes on their hands and feet.

According to the legend, Rephaims were the first to eat meat, for which purpose they killed animals. Soon, from killing animals the giants moved on to destroying humans, becoming the inventors of weapons and of the war in general. The people of Rephaims originated from angels that came down from the heavens to earthly women. Rephaims were sometimes identified with other descendants of the Sons of God and human wives – the Nephilim (derived from the Hebrew verbal root n-ph-l – meaning to destroy or to cause to fall), also mentioned in the Scriptures..

I would strongly recommend all the travelers who are going to Israel, if they want to have unforgettable experiences and a rush of adrenaline, to turn off from the well-trodden tourist routes and visit the Wheel of Rephaims.