Israel Guide Lorne Newman

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Israel Guide Lorne Newman

Shalom! I am a Licensed Tour Guide in Israel since 2017. Welcome to my page.

I update it regularly sharing pictures and words about sites all over Israel which I guide.

05/01/2024

I visited Caesarea Maritima, a site only about an hour north of Tel Aviv with a friend. As it had recently rained I knew the mosaic floors would look fresh and clean.

15/12/2023

Israel 101

In 1208 BCE Pharaoh Merneptah put up this stone tablet. He boasted of cities and lands he pillaged mentioning how “Israel is laid waste its seed is no more”. The hieroglyphic symbol for Israel was of a settled People. If the Bible’s mentioning of Israel can be considered as a primary source, this Egyptian text becomes a secondary source. Scientifically we can now state that at a minimum there was a settled people in this Land who called themselves Israel at least since the 13th century BCE.

10/12/2023

This week Jews around the world are celebrating the holiday of Hannukah. It marks the establishment of an independent Jewish country in the Land of Israel in the 2nd century BCE. Scholars refer to this time as the Second Commmonwealth, the first being the Biblical Kingdom. Since 1948 we have been living in the Third Commonwealth.

08/12/2023

In 1947 the UN voted in favor of Resolution 181 offering both Jews and Arabs independent countries based on this map. The Jews accepted it and declared Israel. The Arabs rejected the vote and never declared a free Palestine.

23/10/2023

6th century CE mosaic from a synagogue in Jericho. The inscription is a timeless prayer more important than ever. It reads ‘Peace onto Israel’.

03/10/2023

Leda & the Swan. Popular pagan imagery decorated on a stone coffin of a Jewish merchant from the 2nd century CE. Displayed at the Rockefeller Museum in Jerusalem

02/10/2023

Poppies flourishing among the ruins of an archaeological site in Samaria about 25 miles east of Tel Aviv.

01/10/2023

Abundance displayed at the open air markets in Israel like here at the Carmel Market in Tel Aviv.

27/09/2023

Olive Trees in the Kidron Valley of Jerusalem. The golden top of Dome of the Rock can be seen just above the Eastern Wall of the Old City.

24/09/2023

Pool of Arches in Ramle. Built in 789 CE as a reservoir for the city these are the oldest pointed arches in Israel. The Arabs mastered the geometry of the pointed arch which was only recognized by Europeans 300 years later. They brought the idea back to the Continent and launched the Gothic Movement.

22/09/2023

Sunset over Akko

21/09/2023

“The place of Trumpeting”. This inscribed stone was discovered in excavations at the foot of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. It marked a place above where Jewish priests would blow trumpets announcing the beginning of Shabbat and other holidays. Now displayed at the Israel Museum.

19/09/2023

8th century CE stone latticework. Discovered in Jericho and now displayed at the Rockefeller Museum in Jerusalem.

18/09/2023

Off the Beaten Path is the Rockefeller Museum in Jerusalem. Built in the 1930s just outside the Old City this space has a wonderful collection of antiquities and free admission.

10/09/2023

With a group visiting the impressive remains of the Roman city of Beit She’an. Starting with the theater on the right we toured the site in 37 degrees C (100 degrees F)! The mountains of TransJordan can be see in the distant background.

05/09/2023

Hidden in a canyon in the Judean Desert the 5th century monastery of St. George seemed like a spectacular site to end my last tour.

04/09/2023

Beautiful day to start our tour at the (very 🥵) Dead Sea!

02/09/2023

The Damascus Gate in the Old City Walls of Jerusalem is stunning on a beautiful Saturday morning.

31/08/2023

Mount Arbel as seen from a sailing boat on the Sea of Galilee. In the 1st century BCE rebels resisted King Herod from a cave in this mountain. His loyal soldiers lowered themselves by using rope ladders from above putting down the rebels and allowing him to take the throne.

29/08/2023

View from Above

Adjacent to the South Wall of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. Looking East towards the Mount of Olives.

27/08/2023

Along the Israeli Egyptian border are the remains of a 5th century church at Nizanna. Located in the southern Negev Desert it served as a way station for pilgrims continuing the trek south to Mount Sinai.

22/08/2023

King Herod’s architectural style constantly defied nature. Here he built a fresh water pool over the salty water of the Mediterranean so he could grow gardens at his Palace in Caesarea.

17/08/2023

Herodion is a mountain located between Jerusalem and Bethlehem. Named after King Herod it was a palace and final resting place when he died in 4 BCE. I was excited when asked to guide a group there.

15/08/2023

Ein Keshatot was a Jewish community in the Golan Heights just east of the Sea of Galilee. Named after the large Arches built here the wealthy community raised flax seeds in the area from which they could spin linen. An earthquake in the mid 8th century CE destroyed the town.

12/08/2023

Tomb of Apollophanes. Located around 30 miles south of Tel Aviv this 2nd century BCE tomb belonged to a clan of people who settled here from Sidon (Phoenicia). They adopted the local Idumean god KosNatan whose name appears below. The mythical creature is a manticore.

11/08/2023

Rosh HaNiqra is a grotto at the northernmost tip of Israel on the border with Lebanon. Called ‘The Ladder of Tyre’ in antiquity it is a beautiful place to visit.

10/08/2023

Mikve is a Jewish ritual requiring adherents to enter a pool of water for complete immersion. This one located just below the Temple Mount in Jerusalem was carved out of the bedrock in the 1st century BCE. If you peed in the pool though you guaranteed a one way ticket to HELL.

08/08/2023

The Ark of the Covenant recreated here resides at an obscure museum in Jerusalem called the Temple Institute. The original of course rests in a warehouse in the western US.

06/08/2023

Lintel of a 6th century church at Shivta in the Negev Desert. Christian iconography in the center with the Chi Ro. Flanked on either side by Rosettes, a symbol for the Land of Israel. Famously recreated at the modern church of Tabgha in the Galilee.

05/08/2023

Napoleon himself could not breach the impenetrable walls of Akko during a campaign in 1799.

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