Cultural Travel Guides to Israel

We have hand-selected Approach Guides relevant to travel in Israel, with a particular focus on Jerusalem.

The Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem: A Historical and Architectural Understanding

The Holy Sepulchre, the most famous church in Christendom (although perhaps on par with St. Peter’s in Rome) encloses the sites of both the crucifixion and burial of Jesus Christ. The site of the church was originally selected by Helena, the pious (and politically supportive) mother of the 4th C Roman Emperor, Constantine. The church has since undergone several evolutions since Helena’s visit and now, in addition to the current church, visitors can see the remains of three earlier edifices. Read more

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Ancient Mediterranean Mosaics: Connecting the Dots

The Middle East is a treasure trove of high quality mosaic art, brought initially by the Byzantines and later by the Christan crusaders.  Mosaic art began as a long-lasting (not to mention an easy-to-clean) floor covering in Mediterranean cultures. The first evidence we have of the use of mosaics is in the 10th century BCE in Mesopotamia (Turkey), but the art form was quickly passed to the Greeks who created gorgeous, highly realistic mosaics (in an attempt to imitate paintings). Some of the world’s greatest ancient mosaics can be viewed in Egypt (Mount Sinai), Jordan (King’s Highway), Syria (Damascus), Turkey (Istanbul) and Italy. This travel guide reviews the stylistic development of mosaics in the Mediterranean over a 1000-year period (400 BCE to 1453 CE) and gives detailed review key mosaics sites throughout the Mediterranean. Read more

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The Temple Mount (Haram Es-Sharif): Its Structures and Significance

Called the Haram Es-Sharif by the Arabs and the Temple Mount by the Jews, this is probably one of the greatest historical-religious sights in the world. This is also site of two earlier structures: the original Temple of Solomon and the greatly expanded Second Temple constructed by King Herod the Great. It is our goal with this document to offer greater insight into the hallowed position this location holds for followers of the three great Abrahamic faiths: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Read more

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Note that free previews reveal only a small, yet representative, portion of the content available in the complete Approach Guides document. All images and photos in these Approach Guides and on www.approachguides.com were taken on location by David and Jennifer Raezer.

Click here to see our Suggested Reading List for the Middle East

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