BibArch--Tours and Touring in the Bible Lands

Tours & Touring

Travel in the lands of the Bible provides you with an exceptional opportunity to expand your understanding. To view our suggestions for "must-see" sites simply select the countries you plan to visit. Some of the sites have hyperlinks to more detailed information. The site links are under construction.

Guide Books | Passport & Visas | Advisories | Organized Tours
Must-See Sites: Egypt � Israel � Jordan � Palestine � Syria

As the center of Christianity, Islam, and Judaism the Bible lands make up the most popular tourist areas in the world. If you have not previously traveled to this region consider doing so. Whether you come to the Bible lands as an excavation volunteer, pilgrim, or tourist you will deepen your understanding of the arts, the Bible, culture, history, and western civilization itself. Carefully plan your trip and learn about the sites you intend to visit in advance.

Guide Books
We found the guide books listed below useful in bringing student groups to excavations in Israel, Jordan, West Bank and Gaza, and Syria. New and updated guidebooks are always coming on the market so the list we provide is certainly not complete. If you come across one you would like to recommend let us know.

Baedeker's Israel in the English Language edition by Jarrold and Sons Ltd.
Fodor's Israel by Fodor's Travel Publications, Inc.
Fodor's Jordan & The Holy Land by Fodor's Travel Publications, Inc.
Let's Go: Israel & Egypt by Lets Go, Incorporated.
Self-Guided Israel published by Langenscheidt Publishers, Inc.
Six New Testament Walks in Jerusalem by I. Martin and published by Harper & Row.
The Holy Land: An Archaeological Guide from Earliest Times to 1700 by Jerome Murphy-O'Connor and published by Oxford University Press (1992).

Passports & Visas
In addition to a valid passport from your own country you need to contact the consulates for the countries you plan to visit for visa information. The process can take months so start early. Do not skip this step unless you plan to be placed into detention and required to leave.

We also have spent many wasted hours at U.S. embassies helping international students renew student visas to return to the United States. If you are an international student realize the impact of your leaving the United States and be prepared to be treated quite poorly at any US embassy in the Levant. You will have to get beyond their rudeness. Take heart, they treat U.S. citizens with just as much insolence.

Travel Advisories
The US State Department and the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade provide currently travel advisory information for their citizens. We highly suggest your checking these notices while planning your trip. Check again just before you depart to be apprised of any last minute briefing information. Political conditions constantly change in the Levant and you need to know what is going on before you get there. Your safety is important and being forewarned is forearmed.

Organized Tours
This section of our Web site is still under construction. Sorry. If you represent a tour group or are a tour sponsor and would like the details of your tour to appear here contact us at [email protected] with the information.

Must-See Sites
Touring the Bible lands is similar to visiting a vast living museum. There is far more to see and do than we can accomplish in one visit. The sites we suggest as "must-see" sites are not only those which have special meaning to those of us reared in the Judeo-Christian tradition but are of significance in biblical archaeology.

Sites in Egypt
This section is still under construction.

Sites in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan

The Decapolis	The ten-city Greco-Roman league, with much of its ancient territory now lying in Jordan, which occupied all of Bashan and Gilead in northeastern Palestine.
Jerash	Best example of a Greco-Roman city in the Near East. The amphitheater is magnificent. The site is the venue of the Jerash Festival showcasing the culture of the region.
Madaba	Madaba is known as the city of mosaics due to the large number of mosaic floors found in the remains of its ancient houses and public buildings. The most important moasic is the Madaba Mosaic Map.
Pella	A city of the Decapolis cited in Christian tradition as a place of refuge for Judeo-Christians leaving Jerusalem before the 66-70 CE First Jewish Revolt.
Petra	The rose-red tomb city of the Nabataeans. Plan to spend a whole day and to hike a lot. Be sure to visit The Treasury and the Monastery (both were tombs).We suggest dinner at the Petra Forum Hotel.
Ain Ghazal	An important Neolithic settlement where investigators found human skulls and plaster statues.
Umm el-Jimal	Extensive ruins of a Roman-Byzantine Umayyad town built on an earlier Nabataean settlement.

Sites in the State of Israel

Bet She'an	A Greco-Roman city in the Decapolis.
Caesarea	A Roman city founded by Herod the Great. Check out the amphitheaters and the excavations.
Capernaum	Located on the Sea of Galilee (Lake Kinnereth). This city appears in the gospels several times. Visit the House of St. Peter and the White Synagogue. The White Synagogue is built over the ruins of the synagogue of Mark 1:21; 3:1; Luke 4:33-38.
Cenacle and the Tomb of David	For Jews the site is the traditional location of David's Tomb (the pseudo-tomb not the actual tomb) marked by a small synagogue on the first floor. Christians regard this location as that of the ancient venue of the Upper Room or Cenacle.
Dan	A fifty-acre tell Tel Dan lies at the foot of Mount Hermon. The city rose to prominence as the result of the division of the Solomonic kingdom into two nations--Israel and Judah. Jeroboam I, afraid to allow his people to go to Jerusalem to sacrifice, created a high place for worship here.
Hazor	Hazor is an important northern Israel Bronze Age site located north of the Sea of Galilee near Rosh Pina. Situated at a strategic point along the route connecting Egypt with Babylonia and Syria, Hazor was one of the most important cities of Canaan and ancient Israel. The remains of ancient Hazor constitute the largest archaeological site from the biblical period in Israel, covering some 200 acres.
Hezekiah's Water Tunnel	A magnificent tunnel created by Hezekiah to provide Jerusalem with fresh water during a siege. Bring a waterproof flashlight, a change of clothing, and be prepared to wade at times in water up to your neck. Children waiting to help you out of the tunnel expect a tip. They usually want your flashlight and they are known to grab your flashlight or your camera and run. Women tourists are particularly vulnerable and we advise that you plan to give a small tip.
Holy Land Hotel Model of Jerusalem.	A model of Herodian Jerusalem. This should provide you with a better concept of the ancient city as it was in the middle first century CE.. Remember that this is only a model, based upon considerable supposition, so do not assume that your exposure is absolute truth. Archaeology does not work in that manner.
Israel Museum and Shrine of the Book & the Bible Lands Museum	Both museums have excellent archaeological collections. Take a museum tour where a guide takes you through. This will make your visit a learning experience not simply an exposure to more pretty pots.
Lachish	A fortress city which fell to Nebuchadnezzar (see Jeremiah 34:7). Note the fortifications and the siege ramps.
Masada	The place of Jewish martyrs in the revolt against the Romans CE 66-73. The view and the ruins are breathtaking.
Megiddo	This royal city of the Canaanites, located 22 miles north of Shechem on the southern edge of the Valley of Jezreel, lies within one of the most famous battlegrounds in the world. According to the Bible it also has a future role.
Mount of Olives	We suggest you check the view of the Temple Mount from the Mount of Olives. The best view is the road immediately front of the hotel.
Temple Mount	The site of Herod's Temple. Visit the archaeological park on the south wall, the platform including the Dome of the Rock, and take the tour along the central to north end of the Western Wall. Visit the Western Wall (you may know it by the old name "The Wailing Wall"). Buy prints of artists reconstructions of the site in Herodian times from the vendors. These will help you conceptualize the site but do not ascend to the Temple Mount exposing such material. The Muslim security people frown on any exposed material that appears Jewish or has anything to do with the Temple (they probably will expel you from the site, confiscate your material, and in any case rough you up a bit.

Sites in Palestine

Bethlehem	This is the city of Jesus' birth. Claims that the cave in the Church of the Nativity is the site of Jesus' birth are outrageously speculative. Be sure to buy an olive wood souvenir to take home. Don't worry where to buy one you will find yourself recruited.
Jerico	Tell Jerico is an important Bronze Age site in the lower Jordan River Valley. According to the Hebrew Scriptures invading Israelites conquered and destroyed the city about 1400 BCE.
Qumran	The venue of a number of caves which housed the Dead Sea Scrolls preserved in earthen jars.

Sites in Syria
This section is still under construction.