Time flies, I became a licensed guide in 2007 so I’ve been guiding visitors for 17 years. The last few years have been challenging as Israel was closed down and there were no tourists due to Covid. Just as we were recovering Hamas infiltrated the south of Israel on October 7th killing and raping innocent civilians and taking hundreds of prisoners. In fact, I was guiding on Saturday morning October 7th and met my clients at their hotel at 8:30am. The security guard asked me where did I think I was going? I said we were going to be in the Old City and then visiting the Israel museum. He said no, you should stay at the hotel where there is a protected shelter against rockets. So it seemed that the Old City was not going to be possible but I thought that we could still do the Israel museum so off we went. Within a few minutes there was a lot of rocket fire over Jerusalem (the first time I had seen rockets above the city) and we could see the trails of Iron Dome and then the explosions taking out the rockets. We made it to the museum but their security team was outside and told us that the museum was closed for the foreseeable future (I’m happy to report that they have re-opened). That was the end of guiding for 2023.

“What about 2024?” you ask. Well, there are some tourists. I’m ready to guide you but not everyplace you might want to go will be possible to visit. You can contact me by using the information on my business card (Cell is also WhatsApp and Telegram).

For more information there are 359 blog posts on this website/blog, in words and pictures (more than 1000 of my photos). People have viewed my pages 678,225 times. I wonder how long it will take to reach 1 million views?

For those who may not know, I have an Israel Tours page on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/IsraelToursbyShmuel/ that I update often and for those interested in photography and tours on a page at https://www.facebook.com/iphotosandtours/

What have I been up to? I’ve guided the site of the Ummayad Hisham’s palace and the incredible mosaics in the bathhouse there. Recently I climbed the mountain overlooking Jericho and the Quarantal monastery to the Herodian site Dagon.

I also climbed Sartaba, Hyrcania and Machaerus in Jordan so that completes the set of King Herod’s desert fortresses and I can guide you at Alexandrium (Sartaba), Dagon, Cypros, Hasmonean & Herodian palaces near Jericho, Hyrcania, Machaerus, Herodium and Masada. There’s also another fortress currently being excavated overlooking highway 1 down to the Dead Sea near the museum at Inn of Good Samaritan which is a site that I really like showing people and I spent a week doing conservation work there on the mosaics. I worked with a team from the Israel Parks Authority on a mosaic from the 6th century synagogue in Gaza and a floor from a Byzantine Church in Jiflik that was moved there for safekeeping.

I did an in-depth 16 days with a couple where we covered historical (Caesarea, Acre, Nimrod fortress, Mount of Beatitudes, Capernaum, Jerusalem, Herodium, Masada) and nature sites (Banias, Saar falls, Gamla to photograph the Griffon vultures, Agamon HaHula, Mitzpe Ramon, Hai Bar, Eilat Bird sanctuary) throughout the country, with some great food and wine along the way and 3+ days from Eilat to see Dana BioSphere Reserve, Petra (also Little Petra), new Petra museum and Wadi Rum. This is an email from the clients:

With Shmuel as our guide we visited well known sites as well as special areas “off the beaten path”. Shmuel provided great information and interpretation everywhere we went. We highly recommend Shmuel for anyone wanting great insights in visiting Israel.
As I said, we could never have done this amazing of a trip without you. Take care Andy and Paula

I also volunteered with Haifa University and excavated the Burnt Church at Sussita. Besides working on cleaning the mosaic floor in the narthex I also got to do some conservation work. Here I’m repairing a basalt Ionic capital.

I look forward to your next trip to Israel and the Holy Land. I’ll be ready and delighted to guide you.

I have a DJI Mavic Air 2 drone and wrote a post in February 2021 about sharing a few photos taken with the drone in a post. It’s taken me 3 years but here it is.

Sent the drone up to get this aerial shot of the entire Hirbet el-MInya site, the palace built by the Ummayads on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee.

Archaeological park at Mount Gerizim, site holy to the Samaritans. The site is really incredible with a rectangular walled area with a tower and inside an octagonal Byzantine martyrium/church (even with some mosaics).

Great to have a drone to capture the site from above!

I love to take photographs down at the Dead Sea.

Mosaic from a Byzantine church at Tel Shikmona, a site just south of the city of Haifa on the coast that existed from the Late Bronze Age to the Late Byzantine period. This mosaic looked like a landing marker so I let the drone down there.

Today we drove off road in the Judean desert to high above Jericho to get within reach of a mountain fortress called Dagon (by Josephus), then we still had to climb up and down over 3 mountains and take the “snake path” that zigzagged to the top.

On the way up you can look down the mountain and see the corner of the monastery below you.

On the top is an enclosure wall with an open gate built before World War I to protect the church which was never completed.

Inside the walls there are a few capitals and architectural elements scattered on the surface from the Herodian period.

The church is an interesting shape, an apse, no columns, a narthex? but two semi-circular areas on either side by the apse and one rectangular area across from a semi-circular area at the entrance. At first I thought maybe it was a cruciform church but I wonder if the shape is like an old key and that the church is somehow tied to the story of Saint Peter who was given the keys to the Kingdom.

That completes the set of desert fortresses and I can guide you at Alexandrium (Sartaba), Dagon, Cypros, Hasmonean & Herodian palaces, Hyrcania, Machaerus (that’s in Jordan), Herodium and Masada.

For anyone seeing this post I would encourage you to also check my Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/IsraelToursbyShmuel/ where I share information and photos about tours and sites that I’ve visited with clients.

Here’s the itinerary I put together for the client, a combination of exploring nature and archaeological sites with the opportunity for taking photographs, the clients were specifically interesting in birds.

Day 1

Day 2

• Nahal Meshushim
• HaHula Reserve

Day 4      

• Nimrod fortress
• Archaeological Banias 

Day 5      

• Waterfalls in Nahal Ayun, Metulla
• JNF Agamon HaHula

Day 6

• Tour of Acre: Underground Crusader city, Hamam, Ramchal synagogue
• Aqueduct at Caesarea & Bird Mosaic

This post is to announce the completion in 2022 of the restoration work and building of a walkway and roof over the ruins of the hammam at Hisham’s palace in Jericho at an estimated cost of $11.4 million with financial support from Japan. Covered since 1930, the mosaic floor of the hammam or bathhouse is now displayed in all it’s glory. It is one of the largest mosaics discovered, measuring 827 square meters in 38 panels, in 21 colors with a total of 7 million tesserae. The mosaics are mostly complex geometric designs, here are some photographs of the newly uncovered mosaics.

The palace gets its name from one of the sons of Abd el-Malik who built the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem, Hisham (who ruled from 723-743) because of an inscription containing his name, in ink on a marble slab, found at the site by archaeologist Dmitry Baramki. Based on the artwork in mosaic and stucco including human figures that decorated the palace, Robert Hamilton who was Director of Antiquities at the time under the British argued that the palace was a residence of al-Walid b. al-Yazid (ruled 743-744), a nephew of Hisham who was well-known for his extravagant lifestyle. 

With the uncovering of the incredible 7th century Ummayad mosaic floor, Hisham’s Palace has become a must-see site and I would be happy to take you there on your next visit. The stucco was mostly removed from the site under the British and can be viewed at the Rockefeller Museum in Jerusalem.

Client emailed me with a list of some of the sites on their bucket list and I built the itinerary from there.

• √ Jerusalem (enough days to get a good feel for the city including major Jewish and Christian sites as well as Herodium
• √ Hula Valley and Eilat area for bird migrations 
• √ Negev Desert for solitude, scenery & desert mammals – Mitzpe Ramon
• √ Bahai Gardens in Haifa
• √ Sea of Galilee, Capernaum, Mount of Beatitude
• √ Beit Alpha Synagogue
• √ Masada and Dead Sea
• √ Petra
• + and more

Mar 14-15 Arrival & overnight at Tel Aviv hotel [Leonardo]

• Visit to Caesarea park, aquaduct and Bird mosaic
• Bahai Gardens (Haifa & Akko)
• Akko; dinner at Uri Buri!
• Overnight in Akko [Alma]

Mar 16

• Rosh Hanikra & coast sunrise
• Akko tour: Crusader city; Al Jazzar mosque; Hamam; Templar tunnel; Ramhal synagogue!
• Drive to Agamon HaHula (birds at sunset)
• Overnight [Vibe Naftali]

Mar 17

• + Chastellet (Jacob’s Ford), Crusader fortress on Golan
• + Gadot Lookout War Memorial
• Nimrod fortress
• Banias falls
• + Lupines
• + Saar falls
• Overnight [Kinar]

Mar 18 Full Moon

• + Archeology museum in Katzrin
• Gamla & Griffon vultures
• Mount of Beatitudes
• Capernaum
• Sea of Galilee
• – Bet Alpha synagogue
• Drive to Jerusalem [3 Arches]

Mar 19 Shabbat

• Israel museum
• + Old City tour

Mar 20

• Temple Mount
• Lions Gate
• Golden gate
• Gethsemane & Church of Agony
• Kidron valley to City of David
• + Western Wall Great Bridge tour

Mar 21

• + Katisma church
• Herodium
• + Wadi Qelt, St George monastery
• + Hisham’s Palace, Jericho
• driving down to Dead Sea for sunset
• 2 nights [Ganim, En Boqeq]

Mar 22

• Photoshoot at sunrise
• Masada & museum
• – En Gedi (hiking) in afternoon
• Float in Dead Sea   

 Mar 23

• Moa fortress on Spice route; winery?
• Judean palm trees from 2,000 year old seeds at Kibbutz Ketura
• Hai Bar     
• Timna park
• + Hidden valley
• + Eilat Bird sanctuary
• Overnight [Soleil hotel]

Mar 24

• + Eilat bird sanctuary
• Cross to Jordan (3+ days)
• Drive to Dana BioSphere Reserve w Ali
• hike of reserve w Ahmed
• Overnight [Dana Guest House]

Mar 25

• Walk around Dana
• + Frosted trees at high elevation
• Little Petra/Baydeh
• + Neolithic site
• + Petra museum
• Overnight [Amra Palace hotel]

Mar 26 Shabbat

• Petra tour w Prof. Sami El Hasanat
• + Temple; Petra church
• Wadi Rum jeep tour w Mohammed
• + Star gazing
• Overnight [el Sultanah Beduin camp, Wadi Rum]

Mar 27

• cross back to Israel from Jordan
• + Underwater Observatory, Eilat
• Red Canyon hike
• Pundak Smadar
• Drive to Mitzpe Ramon & 2 nights [Ibex ]

Mar 28

• + wildflowers along <171> to Loz cisterns
• + Hemed cistern and Nabatean terraces
• + Bio Ramon
• Makhtesh Ramon: Carpentry, colored sands, old quarry

Mar 29

• + Avdat
• En Avdat reserve; saw Egyptian vultures on their migration
• + Beersheva
• + Covid test
• drive to Jerusalem [Villa Brown, Greek Colony]
• Israel Museum

Mar 30 Drive clients to airport