Herod
Herod the Great’s building programme left fortresses, harbours, and palaces scattered across the country in the late first century BCE. Posts here cover Herodion, the artificial cone-shaped fortress and burial site south of Bethlehem, alongside the Herodian remains along the road down to Jericho in the northern Judean Desert.
12 articles
12 articles
A Return to the Northern Judean Desert
A return trip to the northern Judean Desert with my friend and fellow guide Ori, taking in the Inn of the Good Samaritan, Herodian ruins, Qumran, Kalia beach, the cliffside monastery of St George in Wadi Kelt and the Dead Sea Balcony at Mitzpe Yericho.
The Israel tour guide exam, Part Two: the oral exam
The oral exam is the final stage in qualifying as a licensed Israel tour guide; here are the questions I can remember being asked, covering my itinerary, the Hermon, Jerusalem itineraries and a few curveballs.
Caesarea
A day around Caesarea: the Byzantine flour mills at Nachal Taninim, the Hadrianic aqueducts at Beit Hanania, the national park itself with Herod's port, hippodrome, theatre and bathhouse, and the birds mosaic to the north.
The Sea Peoples
Following the footsteps of the Sea Peoples along the southern coast: Tel Qasile in the Land of Israel Museum, Izbet Sartah, the Crusader fortress of Migdal Tzedek, Tel Afek / Antipatris, ancient Ashkelon and Jonah's Hill above the Ashdod port.
Eastern Lower Galilee
A field trip around the eastern lower Galilee, the basalt-cliff region between the Sea of Galilee and the central Galilee: Mount Arbel and its ancient synagogue, the Druze shrine of Nabi Shu'aib, ancient Korazim, Domus Galilaeae and Tel Mutilla.
Masada
A return visit to Masada, the desert fortress and UNESCO site above the Dead Sea: the cistern network, the Roman ramp, the Byzantine church mosaic, the Western Palace, the Northern Palace and one of the world’s oldest synagogues.
Jerusalem Institutions
A field trip around the institutions of Givat Ram in west Jerusalem: the Knesset menorah, the Knesset itself, the Supreme Court and a whistle-stop tour of the Israel Museum's archaeology wing.
Herodion
Tiberias
A day in Tiberias, one of Judaism's four holy cities: the Sapir Station of the national water carrier, Ottoman ruins from Daher el-Omar's era, Roman and Byzantine remains, and the ancient synagogues of Hammat Tiberias.
Campus Golan Day 2: the Lower Hermon and the Northern Golan Heights
Day 2 of our Golan Heights course: Tel Dan's salamander, the world's oldest arch, the Hellenist temple at Banias, the Yom Kippur battlefields at Mt Bental and the Valley of Tears, and a kumzitz to close.
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