Our Recommended Itinerary for 2006
We have designed the following tour program for
maximum exposure to the land and the Bible while maintaining maximum
security.
Day 1
Arrival in Tel Aviv.
Day
2 We enter
Caesarea Maritima to explore this Roman bridgehead to the
East, which became the Christian springboard to the West. We ascend
Mt. Carmel, site of Elijah's confrontation with the
prophets of Baal. We then drive to the mound of
Megiddo,
har megiddo in Hebrew, which
gave its name to Armageddon. After surveying the
Plain of Jezreel, we end the day at the Arbel cliff,
which affords a view over the Lake of Galilee and the main sites of
Jesus' ministry.
Day 3 A day around the Sea of Galilee,
visiting the sites of Jesus' ministry. Depart for the
Yarmuk River and ascend the
Aphek Plateau for
an unobstructed view of the lake from the east. Visit the Mt.
of Beatitudes (Matthew 5-7),
then the black basalt city of
Chorazin. After lunch
(optional St. Peter's fish) we will drive to Tabgha
and Capernaum.
Then we shall view the remains of a fishing
boat from Jesus' day. From here we shall
spend an hour on the lake
in a wooden boat modeled after the one we have seen.
Day
4
We start
with
Sepphoris,
a stunning example of a mixed (Jewish-Gentile) city; it was the
capital of Galilee when Jesus was growing to manhood four miles away
in
Nazareth.
Lunch. We then proceed to his town, visiting
Mary's Well (the chief
springs of the ancient village). We shall proceed to a
view from the Nazareth ridge
over the Jezreel Plain, recalling stories from both
Testaments (Luke
4 and Judges 4). We then
return to the lake for a few free hours in the afternoon with an
opportunity to
swim in the Sea of Galilee.
Day
5 Passing
Hazor,
biggest of the Canaanite cities in the land, we drive to
Tell Dan.
Here we shall walk through the nature reserve at the headwaters of
the Jordan, then visit the ruins, including the high place
built at Dan by Jeroboam, son of Nebat (I Kings 12). We then proceed
to Caesarea Philippi
(Banias),
recounting Peter's Confession (Matthew
16) at the foot of Mt. Hermon.
We shall proceed to the ruins of
Agrippa's Palace.
Nearby at Kibbutz HaGoshrim we shall have a
chance to experience the Jordan in another way,
letting its
current carry us in rubber boats.
(Some may prefer instead to use the kibbutz swimming pool for a
fee.). We return to our lodging via the Golan Heights.
Day
6
We
visit
Beth Shean,
viewing the ruins of Roman
Scythopolis, under
which name it served
as capital for the Roman
Decapolis.
Above the mighty Roman ruins is the tell, on which we shall stand to
view the setting for the
last days of Saul.
(I Samuel 28 - 31). After lunch we shall drive up the Jezreel Valley
to the tell of Jezreel,
standing where Saul stood when he surveyed the Philistine army on
the Hill of Moreh.
We shall also recall here the story of Naboth's Vineyard and
Jezebel's fate, as prophesied by Elijah. We shall then gird up our
loins and make the trek to
Beersheba in the Negev
desert, where we shall spend the night.
Day
7 A
day in the
Negev.
We start with a visit at Abraham's
Well in Beersheba. We then drive
south to view the stupendous
wilderness
of Zin.
From here we shall drive, then walk, to the
spring of Avdat
(Ein Avdat), an oasis in the desert. (We can include an uphill climb
for those who wish.) Then we visit the well-preserved desert city
of Avdat, founded by
Nabatean
Arabs and developed by the Byzantines. We overnight again in
Beersheba.
Day
8 We
visit
the ruins of the ancient Israelite temple
at Tel Arad.
We then continue on to
Masada, including, amid Herodian
grandeur, the story of the Jewish revolt against Rome. After lunch
and a swim in the
Dead Sea, we drive up to Mount Scopus
in Jerusalem
to look at the city as
pilgrims to the Temple once did.
Lodge in
Jerusalem.
Day 9 We start the day with an
orientation to Jerusalem from the
Mt. of Olives.
We then follow the traditional Palm Sunday route to
the church known as
Dominus Flevit
("the Lord weeps"). After viewing the Golden Gate, we
walk downhill to Gethsemane,
where we take time to meditate on the
Gospel text. After lunch, we shall visit
St
Anne's, a medieval church with remarkable
acoustics, and the
Pools of Bethesda,
where Jesus healed one who had been ill for 38
years. We continue on the
Via Dolorosa,
which culminates at the Church of the Holy
Sepulcher. We will proceed to the Tombs
of the Kings, dating from the middle
of the first century AD.
Day 10
Today we shall drive to beautiful
Ein Gedi
and hike up to the waterfall.
From there we will backtrack to
Qumran
for a
visit to the site and a look at one of the caves where the Dead Sea
Scrolls were found. We finish with a visit to
Jericho,
if accessible.
Day 11 Free
day
Day 12
We visit the
Western Wall, Judaism's holiest
site. We walk through an
archaeological tunnel,
exploring the full length of the Herodian Temple wall. From here we
shall go to the grounds of
Peter in Gallicantu for an
excellent view of the original Jerusalem, the "City of David." Then
on to Mt. Zion,
City of David, Warren's shaft,
and Hezekiah's
Tunnel.
Day
13
We ascend to the
Dome of the Rock and the al-Aqsa Mosque, the third holiest
site of Islam, located on the traditional site of the ancient
Temple Mount. We then explore
the Jewish Quarter
excavations, including the
Byzantine main street (Cardo)
and
the
Broad Wall of King
Hezekiah. We follow this with the
(Ophel) excavations,
between the traditional Temple Mount and the original Jerusalem. After lunch, we go on
to Bethlehem.
Day 14 Garden
Tomb with communion. Then we proceed to the
Israel Museum and the
Shrine of the
Book, where the Dead Sea Scrolls are
kept. There we also survey the outdoor
model of Jerusalem
(scale 1:50), as it may have looked in 66 AD, just
before the Jewish revolt against Rome. Lunch. Then to the Holocaust Museum,
Yad Va Shem.
This
evening we drive to the airport for departure.
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