Set in the stark Judean Desert, just a few minute’s ride from Jerusalem, Genesis Land provides a small glimpse into the lifestyle of the biblical patriarchs from the time of the first book of the bible, Genesis. The site features biblical characters dressed in appropriate garb, camel rides and sumptuous meals served on the floor of open sided tents.
Jewish/Zionist Sites
Ein Hod Artists Colony
Nestled in the low hills overlooking the Mediterranean Sea, the artists village of Ein Hod sits just fifteen minutes down the old coastal highway from Haifa, Israel’s third largest city. But in Ein Hod’s idyllic serenity artists can focus on the creative process, aware that they live amongst leaders in their chose field. Indeed, ten Ein Hod residents have won the Israel Prize in painting, dance, literature and acting. Today the village has 22 galleries, 14 art workshops, and 2 museums. In addition their are eateries in the town square. Just up the hill from Ein Hod we can find the Arab town of Ein Hawd whose residents originally lived in Ein Hod but were displace during Israel’s War of Independence. It took many years but about ten years ago Ein Hawd was finally attached to the Israeli electrical grid.
Dig For A Day (Bet Guvrin)
The Bet Guvrin-Maresha National Park is a large (1,250 acres) beautiful park at the nexus of the Judean Hills and the lowlands by the coast. It is the geology of Bet Guvrin that makes it special for us today: a covering of chalk over a harder rock called nari. People in antiquity realized that if they could get past the tough exterior they could then utilize the softer interior for storage, burial and even their homes. Bet Guvrin and the surrounding countryside is filled with such caves, by the thousands and they were used to good effect as hideouts by the Jews against the Romans during the 2nd century Bar Kochva rebellion.
The bible tells us of the defense line which included Mareshah and other points along the low hills leading up into the heart of Judea by the capital Judea. Thus, Maresha served as a line of defense for Jerusalem. King Rehoboam of Judah fortified Maresha after the Egyptian Pharaoh Shishak fought a military campaign here: “And Rehoboam…built cities for defense in Judah…Gath, and Mareshah, and Ziph” (2 Chron. 11:5-8). Later the city reached its zenith during the Greek reign over the land. Heralding a short period of independent Jewish sovereignty, John Hyrcanus, of the Hasmonean line of kings conquered the city in the second century BCE. It’s inhabitants were forced to convert or leave. and forcibly converted its inhabitants.
Jewish Tours In The Desert
A Jewish tour in the desert can encompass several stops on the way to the southern port resort of Eilat.
The Gulf of Eilat, viewed from one of Eilat’s residential neighborhoods.
Katzrin Talmudic Village
Small stone homes abut the larger structure in the background, the community synagogue. Credit:www.goisrael.com
Tucked away from the Israeli capital of the Golan Katzrin, the Talmuic (Byzantine) era village takes us back to a typical mid–sized Jewish village of the time. The centerpiece of such a town would be the synagogue, in this case built with the local black, volcanic basalt stone.
Haifa, Megiddo, and Lower Galilee (Tzippori, Nazareth and Cana), Druze Carmel.
Throughout the Galilee biblical scenes such as this one will greet you.
Tour Duration: 8-10 hours
Using Haifa hotels or the port as our departure point and driving a total of only two hours over the course of the day we have the opportunity to see picturesque Galilean sites important to our understanding of both Old and New Testament history, as well as an appreciation of modern day Israel’s religious minority’s (Moslems, Christians, Druze and Bahai).
Itinerary
Haifa
Megiddo
Tzippori
Nazareth
Cana
Druze Carmel
Although it was last inhabited in the time of Alexander the Great in the 4th century BC, Megiddo still held a powerful grip on the imaginations of people several hundred years later to whom the book of Revelations assertions about a final battle at Armageddon rang true.
The amphitheatre at Ziporri, a remnant from Roman times.
Initially opposed, Jesus acquiesces to his mother’s requests to save the wedding hosts in Cana from embarrassment when they run out of wine. Thus Jesus’ reputation as a miracle worker begins to spread across the Galilee.
A mid-19th century view of Nazareth reveals a tiny village surrounding the Church of the Ascension, not much larger than what existed 2,000 years ago in the time of Christ. Today’s Nazareth contains the largest concentration of Christians in the Holy Land.
Druze Carmel
Israelis flock to Druze eateries in the Carmel montains just outside of Haifa on weekends.
Rosh HaNikrah: Grotto’s at the End of the Line.
Over millions of years, wave-battered rock has yielded to create grotto’s on Israel’s northern-most coast.
Rosh HaNikra is, in a sense, typical of many Israeli tourist destinations: a combination of ancient and modern history set in a placid setting with a hint of menace. In biblical times it was known as over land entry way to the Land of Israel and was known as the Ladder of Tyre, so named for the first large town just across the border in Lebanon. In modern times the British build a series of tunnels for a railroad that passed by here in order to move supplies and men between the Middle East and Europe. But beyond history, Rosh Hanikrah draws visitors for its sheer beauty. The Sea, with its present wildlife, including Sea Turtles which can be seen by the discerning eye from above, is always a present force. The caves, or grottos, the product of erosion over millions of years add an air of mystery to the site. We ride the steep cable car down from the road to the grotto’s entrance and enters the railroad tunnel where one walks upon the old rail road tracks. After an introductory film about the origins of the caves and the history of the place, we enter the grottos and eventually find ourselves on the massive white chalk rocks that can be seen from as far away as Haifa on a clear day. After we return to the road we take a left turn, walk a few meters and find ourselves at the border fence between Israel and Lebanon. As the sign says, we are closer to Beirut than to Jerusalem. Rosh Hanikrah represents the Israeli spirit, an insistence on celebrating beauty and nature, even amidst the environment of a hostile border.