Jerusalem
Jerusalem comes up so often in this blog that it has its own category. The posts here range across the city’s layers, from the Iron Age remains of the City of David and Second Temple-period archaeology through Crusader and Mamluk Jerusalem, the European-power buildings ringing the Old City from the late 19th century, the British Mandate years, and the divisions that shape the modern city. Specific sites (the Western Wall, the Holy Sepulchre, Ammunition Hill, Yad Vashem) sit alongside more reflective pieces about what it’s like to guide people here.
21 articles
21 articles
The Priestly Blessing (Birkat HaCohanim) at the Western Wall
The unified Priestly Blessing (Birkat HaCohanim) at the Western Wall: a personal reflection on the service that takes place twice a year, when hundreds of cohanim recite a blessing dating back to the First Temple.
The Hebrew University on Mt Scopus
A walking tour of the Hebrew University on Mt Scopus with a local guide: the botanical gardens, the Cave of Nicanor, the tombs of Ussishkin and Pinsker, and the amphitheatre.
Jerusalem: a summary and a conclusion
The final field trip of the course: a day around Jerusalem taking in the tomb of the prophet Samuel at Nabi Samuel, the Jaffa Gate, the Tower of David, Christ Church, a walk along the Old City ramparts, and Nachlaot and the Machane Yehuda market, before reflecting back on the past year and a half.
The Battles for Jerusalem
A Jerusalem field trip across two wars: the Greek Orthodox monastery of San Simon and its 1948 battle, Kibbutz Ramat Rachel with its First Temple palace remains, and Ammunition Hill, the memorial to the 1967 capture of the Old City.
The Road to Jerusalem in 1948
A field trip along the 1948 road to Jerusalem: the Masrek viewpoint over Shaar Hagay, the snow-covered Castel, the Kiriat Anavim cemetery for the Harel Brigade, the Yad Lashiryon Armoured Corps memorial at Latrun, and the Burma Road that finally broke the siege.
Jerusalem in the British Mandate Period
A day touring buildings of the British Mandate period in modern Jerusalem: the Hansen House lepers' home, the garden neighbourhoods of Talbiye and Rechavia, the Tomb of Jason, Yad Ben Zvi, the National Institutions Building, Ratisbonne Monastery and the original Betzalel.
Roman and Byzantine Jerusalem
A field-trip day tracing the Roman and Byzantine layers of Jerusalem: Zedekiah's Cave by the Damascus Gate, the arches at Alexander Nevsky, the Byzantine corners of the Holy Sepulchre, the cardo, and the ruins of the Nea Church.
Leaving the Old City walls of Jerusalem
A field trip outside the western Old City walls: the old train station, St Andrew's Church, the Montefiore windmill in Mishkenot Sha'ananim, Yemin Moshe, the King David Hotel and YMCA, Machane Yisrael, Nachalat Shiva and the Mamilla cemetery.
The European Powers in Jerusalem
A walking tour of Jerusalem outside the walls in the 19th century: Mahanaim House and St Paul's Church, the Italian Hospital, the Ethiopian Church, Tabor House and the legacy of Conrad Schick, Beit Ticho and Beit HaRav, the Russian Compound and the Museum of the Underground Prisoners.
The Jewish Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem
A walk through the modern history of the Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem's Old City, visiting the Ramban, the Four Sephardi Synagogues, Tiferet Yisrael, the Karaite Centre and the Hurva, and closing at the memorial for those who fell in 1948.
If you are going to Israel, you would be mad not to give him a call.
Amol Rajan, BBC presenter and broadcaster
Having been on trips in Israel with seven different tour guides, Samuel stood above all the rest.
Seasoned Israel traveller
Samuel is one part walking encyclopedia, one part storyteller, one part stand-up comedian.
Berkeley Haas Business School student