A Biblical Archaeology Tour

Day 1  – Departure Day

• Group Flight Departure

Day 2 – Arrival to Israel

• Group Flight Arrival at Ben Gurion International Airport.
• Experience Jaffa – the ancient port and the house of Simon the Tanner
• Lodging & Dinner: Tel Aviv

Day 3  – The Coast

• Breakfast at hotel
• Explore Caesarea Maritima – Herod’s City, the home of Pontius Pilate, Peter, Paul & Philip (Theatre, Praetorium, Hippodrome & Aqueduct)
• See where Elijah fought the Prophets of Baal on Mt. Carmel
• Enjoy a comprehensive visit to Tel Megiddo in the valley of Armageddon
• Visit the newly discovered first century ruins of Nazareth & the Church of the Annunciation.
• Drive via Cana of Galilee
• Lodging & Dinner: Sea of Galilee

Day 4 – The Sea of Galilee

• Breakfast at hotel
• Set sail on the Sea of Galilee and hear the music of Dani Carmel, a local Messianic
• Dock at Ginnosar (Lake Gennesaret)
• Visit the 1^st century ‘Galilee boat at Ginosar’ s Yigal Allon Museum
• Delve into the archaeological remains at Capernaum, mentioned more times in the New Testament than any other city.
• Lookout over the road to Damascus and Mount Hermon
• Lodging & Dinner: Sea of Galilee

Day 5 – Masada and Dead Sea

• Breakfast at hotel
• Visit the Jordan River at Qasr el Yahud, the most likely area where Jesus’ was baptized by John
• Visit Qumran, where some of the Dead Sea Scroll caves were copied and Cave 11.
• End the day at the Ein Gedi Nature Walk to the lower waterfall
• Experience Masada, Herod the Great’s desert fortress
• Enjoy the rest of the afternoon relaxing and swimming at the Dead Sea
• Drive to Jerusalem
• Lodging & Dinner: Jerusalem

Day 6 – Samaria

• Breakfast at hotel
• See Herodian Jericho
• Begin the day at Mt. Gerizim (see where the Samaritans perform their sacrifices) and lookout over Shechem Explore the city of Nablus which rises above the Valley of Shechem.
• See Joseph’s Tomb and Tel Shechem
• Explore the ruins of Samaria (the capital of the Israelite Empire under Omri and Ahab)
• Experience ancient Shilo and see where the tabernacle once had been stationed
• Lodging & Dinner: Jerusalem

Day 7 – Jerusalem

• Breakfast at hotel
• Walk onto the Temple Mount to see the site of the former temple and today’s Dome of the Rock and Al Aqsa Mosque
• Visit the Temple Institute
• Have a late lunch in the Jewish Quarter
• Visit the Jewish Quarter to see Hezekiah’s Broad Wall & The Cardo
• Go underground to visit the 1^st century Herodian Quarter
• Visit the Western Wall Tunnels
• Visit the newest excavations in the City of David and wade through Hezekiah’s tunnel or the Canaanite tunnel
• Lodging & Dinner: Jerusalem

Day 8   – Herodian

• Breakfast at hotel
• Climb up the artificial hill of Herodian to see Herod’s fortress, tomb and tunnels from the Great Revolts
• Visit Hebron including the Tombs of our ancestors
• Journey to Beit Guvrin (ancient Maresha, the home of the prophet Micah) and participate in an archaeological excavation and crawl through caves & tunnels
• Lookout from Tel Beth Shemesh (where the ark was returned by the Philistines) and over Zorah and Eshtaol (Samson’s birthplace)
• Lodging & Dinner: Jerusalem

Day 9   – Modern Jerusalem

• Breakfast at hotel
• Enjoy a leisurely morning of shopping on your own in the Old City.
• 11:00 – Visit Gordon’s Calvary and Tomb.
• Journey to the Israel Museum’s Shrine of the Book & Model of the 2^nd Temple, the Dead Sea Scrolls and also have some time on your own in the new Archaeology wing.
• Drive through the town of Ein Kerem, the traditional birthplace of John the Baptist
• Free time in Jerusalem in the afternoon
• Lodging & Dinner: Jerusalem

Day 10– Bethlehem/Departure

• Breakfast at hotel
• Explore Bethlehem (Shepherds’ Fields).
• Drive to the Elah Valley, where David fought Goliath, and gather your own 5 smooth stones
• Walk along the Road to Emmaus in the town of Abu Ghosh
• Enjoy a farewell dinner in Abu Gosh
• Transfer to airport