Jerusalem Old City western wall, tb051908285

The title of this article at the Jerusalem Post will get your attention, but it’s a bit misleading. If you think of it primarily as ways to leave Jerusalem, it’s more accurate. The top 5 are:

  • Segway
  • ATV
  • Bike Tours
  • Jeep Tours
  • Horse-riding
The article gives more details and includes phone numbers. If you want to see Jerusalem, you really need to walk.

HT: Charles Savelle

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Much progress has been made on the 40-mile trail encircling the Sea of Galilee, reports Miriam Feinberg Vamosh in Haaretz:

Now, about 45 of the trail’s 60 kilometers (28 out of 38 miles) are cleared, and the path is returning the lakeshore to a natural treasure open to all. You don’t have to be a seasoned hiker to enjoy a walk on the Kinneret Trail; just follow the markers – a purple stripe between two white ones, guiding you through the lake’s premier natural, historical and religious attractions.
The trail is divided into seven segments, allowing a casual trekker to meander one segment for an easy walk and a more adventurous hiker to combine several into a full day’s outing. Part of the trail has been paved, and information and directional signs are on hand to guide you from site to site.
One segment that will appeal to heritage buffs and pilgrims is the two-hour walk from Capernaum National Park on the Kinneret’s north shore to the inlet of the Jordan River, a bird-watcher’s paradise. It takes in the little-known Greek Orthodox Church of the Apostles with its trademark red domes, and continues to the Ayish Ruins, where the very first lakeside cottage may have been built back in the second millennium BCE.

The full article is here. I agree that the northern shore is the most interesting for hikers.

Sea of Galilee from west, tb022107099
Sea of Galilee from the west (photo source)
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The Jerusalem Post suggests six tourist attractions you might have missed:

1. Camel Riders—Mamshit

2. Alpaca Farm—Negev Highlands

3. Deer Farm—Gush Etzion

4. Robotic Cowshed—Kfar Yehezkel

5. Hai Park—Kiryat Motzkin

6. Ma’ayan Zvi Fishing Park—Sharon Plain

The full article is here.

Gazelle in Nahal Paran, tb042107595
Gazelle in Nahal Paran.
Photo from
Cultural Images of the Holy Land.
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The Jerusalem Post describes a new program that will allow tourists with smartphones to watch videos instead of enjoying the ancient sites.

Visitors to Judea and Samaria should bring their smartphones along with bottles of water, if they want to learn about the biblical sites that dot Route 60.
Thanks to a program of the Council of Jewish Communities of Judea, Samaria and the Gaza Strip, new signs have been placed at selected spots along the highway, known as the Path of the Patriarchs.
Signs have also been posted at archeological sites in the settlements of Elon Moreh, Susisya and Shiloh as well as in Hebron and by the Lone Tree in Gush Etzion.
Each sign has a bar code that can activate smartphones, whose users have downloaded the free app Scanlife. Once activated, smartphone owners can view videos describing the sites.

The full story is here. Perhaps the plan is not as awful as it sounds.

HT: Charles Savelle

Lebonah valley, tb070507648
The Lebonah Valley along the Road of the Patriarchs
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Two Neolithic figurines were discovered at Moza (biblical Emmaus?) along the Jerusalem-Tel Aviv highway. High-res photos from the IAA are available. Two men were arrested for trying to steal bones from excavations in Beth Shemesh. The Israeli government has appealed the verdict in the case of the Jehoash Inscription, but the rationale for doing so is unclear. Shmuel Browns suggests a 10-day itinerary that will take you to many places you won’t see on a typical Christian tour. Stephen Gabriel Rosenberg provides a review of the archaeological stories in July. Aaron’s tomb near Petra is a “quiet, austere holy site.” There is a lot to see in the Kidron Valley of Jerusalem. Accordance 10 has some nice new features for photographs and maps. Now shipping: Alexander to Constantine: Archaeology of the Land of the Bible, by Eric M. Meyers and Mark A. Chancey. HT: Charles Savelle Neolithic figurine from Moza Neolithic figurine from Moza. Photo by Yael Yolovitch, courtesy of the Israel Antiquities Authority.

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The Israel Trail has been included in National Geographic’s list of the world’s best hikes. Tourists are returning to Shiloh, and the majority are evangelical Christians. Jerusalem firefighters have battled 5,000 fires this summer, the majority of them arson. Eight new animal species have been discovered in a cave 300 feet below Ramle. If approved, a new hotel rating system in Israel should cause prices to drop. The latest in the Top 5 series at the Jerusalem Post: Jerusalem hostels. Twelve new skyscrapers will change Jerusalem’s skyline. Wayne Stiles provides a history of the Garden Tomb. A bill has been drafted which would provide separate prayer times for Jews and Muslims on the Temple Mount. Accordance has a sale on the Anchor Bible Dictionary, marked down to $200 until August 21. Garden Tomb interior, tb010910352 Interior of the Garden Tomb (photo source)

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