TOUR-GUIDE [return to top]
Purpose
Tours to various countries in the Middle East, including Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Turkey, Greece, Cyprus; with special emphasis on the archeology of the region and particularly in the periods from the Greek and Hellenistic periods through early and late Roman to the Byzantine periods. Most tours focus on the connections between history, religion, architecture and culture.
This Year'sTour
Cancelled. Replaced with Khirbet Cana Excavation
July-August 2000
Previous Tours
Brochure covers of previous tours
The
Middle
East
1988
Next Year in Jerusalem (Israel, Jordan, Egypt)
Next Year in Jerusalem (Israel, Jordan, Egypt) 1988
The six-week study-tour combined study of Christianity and Judaism in the ancient period, through site visits, with comparative ethics, as observed in Israel and the West Bank, focussing especially on questions of peace and conflict, justice, human rights, roles of women.
Credit courses were available through the University of Toronto.
1993
Understanding the Middle East (Syria, Jordan, Israel)
Understanding the Middle East (Syria, Jordan, Israel) 1993
The five-week study-tour focused on the religion and architecture of the region in the late-Hellenistic and early-Roman periods, and on comparative ethics, especially concerned with the three religions of the book and their respective approaches.
Credit courses were available through the University of Waterloo.
1996
The middle east: then and now (Jordan, Syria, Turkey)
The middle east: then and now (Jordan, Syria, Turkey) 1996
The three-week study tour moved through three Islamic countries that, in the ancient period, were cross-roads of competing cultural currents, dominated by the influences of Hellenism, Rome, and indigenous traditions. The study-tour focused on urbanism, architecture, art and religion.
Credit courses were available through the Univesuity of
Toronto.
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This Year'sTour
The following tour is in the planning stage.
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2000
Lebanon,Syria, Jordan and Israel
Lebanon,Syria, Jordan and Israel plus
intensive archaeological introduction
This tour is aimed primarily at persons intensively interested in Biblical Studies, especially Early Christianity, to tour the main sites of Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Israel, between approximately 4 July and 4 August 2000. The sites visited will include Baalbek, Byblos, Beirut, Tyre, Sidon,Damascus, Aleppo, Apamea, Palmyra, Canatha, Bostra, Jerash, Gadara, Iraq al-Emir, Petra, Aqaba, Avdat, Nessana, Mampsis, and four days in Jerusalem. Unusual in tours of this kind is the inclusion of a two-week introduction to scientific archaeological excavation at the site of Khirbet Cana in the Galilee, staying at Kibbutz HaSolelim, near Sepphoris. Students can earn either a graduate or undergraduate credit through the University of Toronto.
For further information, including a complete itinerary, please email me.
Draft itinerary; the list of sites is approximately correct; their order needs adjustment to fit the dates of the SNTS meeting in Tel Aviv.
. . . . . . VISIT NIGHT . . . . Wednesday Day 1 travel . Thursday Day2 Beirut Beirut Friday Day 3 Tyre, Sidon and south Lebanon " Saturday Day 4 Baalbek, Byblos and north Lebanon " Sunday Day 5 cross Lebanon-Syria border: Damascus Damascus Monday Day 6 Apamea, Limestone Masif Aleppo Tuesday Day 7 Palmyra Palmyra Wednesday Day 8 South Syria (Philipopolis, Qanawat, Bosra) Qanawat Thursday Day 9 Cross Syria-Jordan border: Gadara, Gerasa Amman Friday Day 10 Day in Amman (or Araq al-Emir, Madaba, Mt.
Nebo) Amman Saturday Day 11 Petra Petra Sunday Day 12 Petra, Aqabah: cross Jordan-Israel border Eilat Monday Day 13 Oboda, Nessana, Elusa Tel Aviv or Jerusalem Tuesday Day 14 Society for New Testament Studies or Visit
Jerusalem " Wednesday Day 15 " " Thursday Day 16 " " Friday Day 17 " HaSolelim Saturday Day 18 Khirbet Cana Archaeological Excavation " Sunday Day 19 " " Monday Day 20 " " Tuesday Day 21 " " Wednesday Day 2 " " Thursday Day 23 " " Friday Day 24 " " Saturday Day 25 " " Sunday Day 26 " " Monday Day 27 " " Tuesday Day 28 " " Wednesday Day 29 " " Thursday Day 30 travel to Toronto
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Syria
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Palmyra, the Tetrapylon, marking the intersection of Cardo Maximus and Decumanus |
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St.
Simeon, a very important and impressively large
early Christian monastic site near
AleppoFuture
Other tours will be developed in future years, some in connection with intensive experience on archeological sites.
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