Learn about the picturesque agricultural community of Beit Zayit, just north of Jerusalem, founded by hard working Jewish immigrants, one of whom discovered ancient fossilized dinosaur tracks.
Learn about the struthiomimus, a two-legged dinosaur that once roamed the land. These are the only dinosaur track fossils discovered anywhere in Israel or the Middle East and one of the only such finds of this period in the entire world.
Meet Prof. Moshe Avnimelech who moved to Israel to become a paleontologist after serving in the Polish army in World War I and forming a Zionist group there.
Meet Mordechai “Motke” Sofer a veteran of the Lehi (Fighters for the Freedom of Israel) who was arrested by the British and later became a tour guide in Beit Zayit.
And the Schwarzwald family of Beit Zayit who only wanted to clean the land by the shed and dug up a breathtaking scientific discovery.
Thank you to Beit Zayit tour guide Yishai Ferziger.
NOTES:
Dinosaur Tracks Discovered in Beit Zayit - HaBoker news, 1962
Dinosaur footprints found - Beit Zayit History archive
Biography of Mordechai (Motke) Sofer - Lehi Heritage Association
Dinosaur Tracks in the Lower Cenomanian of Jerusalem by M. Avnimelech, 1962
Dinosaur Tracks in the Judean Hills by M. Avnimelech, 1966
Dinosaur Footprints Discovered in Israel - JTA, 1962
History the dinosaur tracks - official Beit Zayit website
