View source for Sha'ar HaGolan

{{Short description|Place in Northern Israel}}
{{About|the modern ''kibbutz''|the archaeological site|Sha'ar HaGolan (archaeological site)}}
{{Infobox Kibbutz
| name = Sha'ar HaGolan
| hebname = {{Script/Hebrew|שַׁעַר הַגּוֹלָן}}
| image = PikiWiki Israel 18893 Dining hall in Kibbutz Shaar- Hagolan.JPG
| foundation = 21 March 1937
| founded_by = [[Czechoslovakia|Czechoslovak]] and [[Poland|Polish]] [[Hashomer Hatzair]] members
| country = {{ISR}}
| district = north
| council = [[Emek HaYarden Regional Council|Emek HaYarden]]
| affiliation = [[Kibbutz Movement]]
| popyear = {{Israel populations|Year}}
| population = {{Israel populations|Sha'ar Hagolan}}
| population_footnotes={{Israel populations|reference}}
| pushpin_map=Israel northeast#Israel |pushpin_mapsize=250 | pushpin_label_position = left
| coordinates = {{coord|32|41|11|N|35|36|12|E|display=inline,title}}
| meaning = Gate of the Golan
| website = {{url|www.shaar-hagolan.co.il}}
}}
'''Sha'ar HaGolan''' ({{langx|he|שַׁעַר הַגּוֹלָן}}, ''lit.'' Gate of the Golan) is a [[kibbutz]] situated at the foot of the [[Golan Heights]] in the [[Jordan Valley (Middle East)|Jordan Valley]] area of north-eastern [[Israel]]. Located less than 1&nbsp;km from the border with [[Jordan]], it falls under the jurisdiction of [[Emek HaYarden Regional Council]]. In {{Israel populations|Year}} it had a population of {{Israel populations|Sha'ar Hagolan}}.{{Israel populations|reference}}

==History==
Sha'ar HaGolan was founded on 21 March 1937 by members of the [[Hashomer Hatzair]] youth movement from [[Czechoslovakia]] and [[Poland]]. The founders met and were organized as a team in 1930 in [[Rishon LeZion]] and were called "Ein Hakore" until 1937, when they established the kibbutz as a [[tower and stockade]] settlement.

During the [[Battles of the Kinarot Valley]] in the [[1948 Arab–Israeli War]], the defenders of Sha'ar HaGolan and of neighbouring kibbutz [[Masada (kibbutz)|Masada]], after withstanding a first Syrian attack and further aerial bombardment and shelling, retreated due to lack of reinforcement and direction. The kibbutzim were captured and briefly held by the [[Syrian Army]], during which time they were looted and burned down. Although the members soon returned, a stigma was attached to them, and vindication in the form of released military records only arrived in recent years.<ref>Nadav G. Molchadsky (2015), "Living in the Shadow of Shame: Masada and Sha’ar ha-Golan," in History in the Public Courtroom: Commissions of Inquiry and Struggles over the History and Memory of Israeli Traumas (Ph.D. Dissertation, University of California, Los Angeles), pp. 76-118. Also see [http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/objects/pages/PrintArticleEn.jhtml?itemNo=703004 Zionist mythology destroys its children] Haaretz, 6 April 2006</ref>

==Economy==
The main source of income is a [[plastics engineering]] factory. The kibbutz also grows bananas, avocado and watermelons, and has a herd of [[dairy]] cows. Another economic sector is tourism, one of the attractions is a museum of [[Yarmukian culture]] exhibiting pre-historic [[Neolithic]] findings discovered along the banks of the [[Yarmuk River]].<ref>[http://archaeology.huji.ac.il/golan/index.htm Archaeological Excavations at Sha`ar Hagolan - A Neolithic Art Center in the Jordan Valley, Israel] Hebrew University of Jerusalem</ref> Established in the 1950s, it was Israel's first museum of prehistory.<ref name="haaretz">{{cite web|url=http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1041614.html|title=For All Tastes|publisher=[[Haaretz]]|author=Vered, Ronit}}</ref>

==Archaeology==
{{Main|Sha'ar HaGolan (archaeological site)}}
Excavations at [[Sha'ar HaGolan (archaeological site)|Sha'ar HaGolan archaeological site]] unearthed an 8,000-year-old village and artifacts that include the [[Pottery Neolithic|first pottery cooking pots]] found in the [[Land of Israel]]. This Neolithic [[Yarmukian]] village was inhabited by the people who [[Neolithic Revolution|abandoned their nomadic lifestyle]] in favor of [[permanent settlement]], marking the shift from [[hunting and gathering]] to [[agriculture]].<ref name="haaretz" />

In July 2022, archaeologists from the [[Israel Antiquities Authority]] (IAA) announced the discovery of an 8,000-years-old "[[Mother goddess]]" figurine at Sha'ar HaGolan archaeological site. Anna Eirikh-Rose, co-director of the excavation reported that the 20-centimeter long figurine covered by a bracelet with a red bottom was found broken into 2 pieces. It was sculpted in a sitting position with big hips, a unique pointed hat and what is known as 'coffee-bean' eyes and a big nose.<ref>{{Cite web |title=8,000-year-old Yarmukian 'Mother Goddess' figurine uncovered in Israel |url=https://www.jpost.com/archaeology/article-711462 |access-date=2022-07-31 |website=The Jerusalem Post {{!}} JPost.com |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=kayra |first=oguz |date=2022-07-08 |title=8,000-year-old Yarmukian 'Mother Goddess' figurine discovered in Israel |url=https://arkeonews.net/8000-year-old-yarmukian-mother-goddess-figurine-discovered-in-israel/ |access-date=2022-07-31 |website=Arkeonews |language=en-US}}</ref>

== Galleries ==
<br><gallery class="center" caption="Sha'ar HaGolan 1937">
File:מסדה - הקמת חומת המגן (מרחוק עין הקורא)-JNF009776.jpeg|Sha’ar HaGolan from [[Masada (kibbutz)|Kibbutz Masada]] 1937
File:שער הגולן (נוסד בידי חברי "עין הקורא") - מראה כללי-JNF009512.jpeg|Sha’ar HaGolan 1937
File:Sha'ar Hagolan 004.jpg|Sha'ar HaGolan 1937
File:Sha'ar Ha Golan 003.jpg|The watchtower being erected at Sha'ar HaGolan, 21 August 1937
</gallery>

<br><gallery class="center" caption="Kibbutz Sha'ar HaGolan 2010">
Kibbuz Sha'ar HaGolan-06-Gaestehaus-2010-gje.jpg|Guesthouse
Kibbuz Sha'ar HaGolan-36-Aloe-2010-gje.jpg|Canteen
Kibbuz Sha'ar HaGolan-16-Kindergarten-2010-gje.jpg|Kindergarten
Kibbuz Sha'ar HaGolan-18-Postfaecher-2010-gje.jpg|Postboxes
Kibbuz Sha'ar HaGolan-34-Chorisia Insignis-2010-gje.jpg|Chorisia Insignis
Kibbuz Sha'ar HaGolan-38-Aloe-2010-gje.jpg|Aloe
Kibbuz Sha'ar HaGolan-24-Kunst-2010-gje.jpg|Artwork
Kibbuz Sha'ar HaGolan-44-Sabbatfeier-2010-gje.jpg|Sabbath celebration
</gallery>

==Notable people==

* [[Miriam Roth]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.shaar-hagolan.co.il/ Official website]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20050921085253/http://www.elmulgolan.co.il/welcomeie.html El Mul Golan]
*[http://www.pexgol.com/ Golan Plastic Products]

{{Emek HaYarden Regional Council}}
{{Jewish_villages_depopulated_during_the_1948_Palestine_war}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Kibbutzim]]
[[Category:Kibbutz Movement]]
[[Category:Populated places established in 1937]]
[[Category:Jewish villages depopulated during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War]]
[[Category:Prehistoric sites in Israel]]
[[Category:Archaeological sites in Israel]]
[[Category:Neolithic settlements]]
[[Category:Populated places in Northern District (Israel)]]
[[Category:1937 establishments in Mandatory Palestine]]
[[Category:1948 disestablishments in Israel]]
[[Category:Czech-Jewish culture in Israel]]
[[Category:Hungarian-Jewish culture in Israel]]
[[Category:Slovak-Jewish culture in Israel]]
[[Category:Yarmukian culture]]